This article focuses on two experiences of training leaders for collaborative social-environmental management in the Amazon as a contribution to the generation of approaches for strengthening graduate education for creating innovative paths for sustainable development. The inter and transdisciplinary approach applied was adapted from programs for graduate study and leadership training at the University of Florida. The approach seeks to integrate theories and methods of complex social-ecological systems with concepts and experiences of participatory management, as well as elements of collaborative and experiential learning for adult education. Lessons learned point to opportunities and challenges for the joint construction of knowledge between academia and society as an innovative paradigm of education for sustainability in the Amazon, integrating the perspectives and the knowledge of diverse social actors.