The article discusses the internationalising of informal experiential learning as a pedagogical intervention for sustainable development education in the curriculum of built environment disciplines in the United States (US). A group of American students in the School of Planning, Design and Construction at Michigan State University participated in an overseas study incorporating a visit to the World Expo 2010 held in Shanghai, China. The analysis of the impact of the experience points to the need for a transnational perspective as an effective pedagogical intervention for sustainability education in the curriculum of built environment disciplines. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)