Fostering whole institution approach to sustainability in HE through systems thinking

2026-07-22

Sust-HEIn project aims to boost the transition of HEIs in Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Spain to green, sustainable institutions, by fostering the whole-institution approach to sustainability through systems thinking. More specifically Sust-HEIn aims at: 1. Enhancing the implementation of whole-institution sustainability policy in HE using systems thinking 2. Implementing innovative approaches to teaching on sustainability through systems thinking 3. Enhancing the skills and competences of educators, staff and students to integrate sustainability and engage in sustainability activities/processes, especially fostering the inclusion of vulnerable groups 4. Strengthening cooperation of HEIs with local communities and other partners in developing and implementing local sustainability initiatives for the inclusion of vulnerable groups 5. Promoting the adoption of national guidelines for sector wide sustainable transition of higher education through whole-system approach 6. Promoting the establishment at EU level of common principles and guidance on HE whole-institution approaches for sustainability. The objectives will be achieved through the implementation of the following clusters of activities: - Mapping and review of the state of the art of institutional sustainability self-assessment and integration of systems thinking - Development of whole-system sustainability model - Piloting of whole-system sustainability model - Promotion of national guidelines and common principles on sustainable transition of higher education at EU level - Dissemination and Exploitation of the proposed solution. Over 40.000 persons (HEIs students, academic & administrative staff, policy-makers, local actors and communities) are expected to benefit from the project, by increasing their skills on systems thinking and sustainability, by being involved in local community sustainability for the inclusion of vulnerable groups, by raising their awareness on sustainable transition of HE etc.

Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Ireland

2025-12-15