The CDR project, led by the UFGD University in the central-west of Brazil, consists of a multidisciplinary team of university students, junior and senior researchers and extension practitioners. The project has supported progress in the rural settlement of Itamarati, the largest in Latin America. Valuable innovations have been made to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mainly through the integration of teaching and extension in the design of research, which has led to curricular innovation in the university and rural schools (RSs) of Itamarati. The aim of this study is to make the adopted co-design approach explicit to the scientific community, by systematizing the workflow and accessing the minutes and field records of several in-presence activities in the RSs. This is referred to as a modality of our IPE methodology. Some of the reported results and lessons learned confirm that the school community is part of a network of strong referral sources that support the assertiveness of decision making and project (re)orientation. Some challenges are identified, such as maintaining the conceptual background and overcoming top-down diffusionism. In this sense, the SDGs need to be properly assimilated and appropriated by rural communities in order to promote stronger cooperation and overall progress.