The pedagogical practices developed in articulation with the extension office called "architectural consulting" attached to the architecture program of Caribbean University Corporation in Sincelejo, Colombia, are presented in order to reflect on the exercises developed in the light of one of the functions inherent in the university in the 21st century: innovation, specifically speaking of recent trends in social sustainability and its relationship with pedagogical practice in architecture. The adopted methodology, with a participatory approach, was developed in 4 phases: problem identification, work criteria, conceptualization, and implementation. Examples of the participatory works developed by students of the architecture program are shown, which generate alternatives for local development in the city, in places where the municipal administration and its planning structures do not reach to arrive in an effective way. Changes are identified in the role of pedagogical practices focused on social innovation and the new functions they assume, students, teachers and communities involved in the critical construction of the new citizenship.