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The purpose of this paper is to test an architectural studio pedagogy that originates from an experiment of a Summer School collaborative design studio, with participation of students, academicians and practicing architects, from seven Universities and five European countries.

This pedagogical method follows recommended education for sustainable development (ESD) model, by linking formal and informal learning, and targeting development of the key competences needed for promoting sustainable progress: participation and collaboration, along with inter- and trans-disciplinarity. Combining active participant observation method with descriptive survey research, the paper evaluates the perspective of a small sample size of 27 participating students, who worked with 15 professors alternately, during a two-week design studio course.

The results indicate that such a form of non-formal education has positive impact on acquisition of targeted competences, confirming the strategic role that non-formal education has in reaching quality education learning outcomes, and advocating for the adjustments of existing curricula towards a more collaborative educational approach in architectural design.

The modest sample size presents a limitation in reference to generalization of results, neverthless its data are valuable, particularly within the context of maximizing the development of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This endeavour was a part of an on-going Erasmus + CBHE (Capacity Building in Higher Education) project entitled transforming architectural and civil engineering education towards a sustainable model (TACEESM). Organized non-formal educational model is seen as a testing laboratory that blends a conventional methodology of a design studio with a highly collaborative, international and multi-disciplinary approach.