Highlights• The current study offers a people-focused systems approach to promoting environmental sustainability in organizations.• We describe a case study of a sustainable social system and its 11-year trajectory at a bicultural high school.• The current study uses complex systems thinking and methodology to map the sustainable social system.• Findings suggest a democratic process for change designed to empower and connect sustainability advocates.

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We suggest that the transformations which inspire true eco-leadership are nourished by being immersed in the values and practices of a more sustainable way of living. We explore this using a case study of a New Zealand youth sustainability leadership program called Make A Difference (MAD). Run by Auckland Council, the program is centered on a 3-day hui (social gathering) for selected high school students. We observed the hui in 2011 and 2012, ran workshops with the coordinators and participants from previous years, conducted an online survey with MAD graduates, and interviewed two participants during the 2012 hui. Six key elements were identified as underlying the hui's power: it is residential, it is held in a nature setting, it brings together inspiring role models, it models ecofriendly living, it helps participants develop their own ideas for action, and it endorses a positive approach to sustainability. We explore each of these in turn. In combination, we suggest these elements immerse participants in an alternative world that is psychologically transformative and helps them feel hopeful about the sustainability movement. We recommend these elements are considered when planning eco-retreats designed to promote sustainability leadership, particularly those for young people.

This article describes an action research project in which community psychologists worked with a school community to promote environmentally sustainable practices. Our research team had five guiding principles: strengths-based, empowerment, role modeling, communication, and measurement and feedback. Here we describe a phenomenological study of how we experienced our principles and how key participants from the school perceived our professional practice. Each research team member completed a self-reflective survey and key staff and students from the school were interviewed. Amongst other benefits, the principles were valuable in promoting coherence within the research team, guiding decision-making and providing a framework for critical reflection. Recommendations are given for researchers and community practitioners interested in initiating sustainability projects with local organizations or using a similar principles-based approach in other collaborative endeavors.

The Maui's Dolphin Challenge was a litter reduction project that was run twice at a secondary school in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project drew on a theoretical framework encompassing four psycho-social principles: values, embodied learning, efficacy, and perceived social norms. It challenged students to reduce the litter at the school by offering to donate $200 a week for 3 weeks to help protect the endangered Maui's dolphin. However, for every piece of litter found, $1 would come off this total. The challenge was accompanied by feedback on progress, posters, assemblies, and videos. Both times it was run, litter dropped by approximately half. After the first iteration, a survey found that students (n = 275 surveys) appeared motivated not to litter primarily due to a desire to care for the Maui's dolphin. Interviews and a focus group with staff and students (n = 14) after the second iteration also found the dolphins were important, but there was a cultural norm against picking up litter. The limitations of the project, its impact on the school's sustainability culture, and implications for other whole-school environmental projects, especially those with a waste focus, are discussed.