Changes

Modern science has reached a paradoxical position, in which the international community has acquired overwhelming amounts of knowledge by the means of ever-increasing specialization. However, those insights, oftentimes separated by discipline, leave us with little understanding to fight our current time’s structural disconnects (Scharmer 2013[^Scharmer2013]). We argue that life in the 21st century is one of dynamic complexity that asks for non-linear and organic thinking to engage in sustainable and effective problem-solving efforts, often called sustainable development (Holling 2001[^Holling2001]). At Olin College of Engineering, the disruption caused by the 2020 pandemic created a moment of campus-wide reflection that led to an independently organized micro-campus of 15 students at a family-owned off-grid permaculture farm in North Carolina. This social enterprise showed a need for an integrated understanding of science all the sciences and served as evidence that immersion into nature, sustainable living, and an intentional community can lead to a better understanding of our ecosystems and social-ecological systems. We see an opportunity in higher education to leverage our collective ability to create change and initiate social innovation by teaching an integrated, transdisciplinary understanding of science and opening up spaces and time for students to act upon emerging opportunities to contribute to and scale-up social innovation.