There is increased interest in understanding how sociotechnical systems can be conceptualized beyond corporate-customer service relationships. Digital ecosystems support flexible, fluid interaction, enabling participation and engagement. In the context of societal integration, these systems can create inclusiveness and ultimately contribute to a more sustainable society. To obtain these benefits, we argue that sociotechnical systems must be deliberately and responsibly designed and that such an approach needs to be integrated into the training of future designers. This paper draws on the Nordic sociotechnical approach to design and theories on digital ecosystem. Building on a qualitative case study on integration and language learning, involving students as designers, we discuss three existing principles of sustainable digital ecosystems: part-of-ness; systemic wisdom and; information ecology. The paper contributes an extended understanding of the design of sustainable sociotechnical ecosystems and a discussion of the role of students in the design.