Accessibility Tools
Many higher education institutions in the EHEA are actively involved in a range of forward-thinking activities in the area of environmental sustainability, both to green their own footprint and to contribute to their surrounding communities as responsible societal actors. Their experience in this field makes them key in the transition towards carbon neutrality and sustainable societies.
Environmental sustainability and the green transition are central goals of European societies and economies, a key aspect of the SDGs, and therefore an important call for Europe’s universities. EUA has reiterated its commitment to the 2030 Agenda in its Strategic Plan (Priority 1), and its 2030 vision “Universities without Walls”.
EUA engages in initiatives to promote the contribution of the European higher education sector towards carbon neutrality and towards more sustainable European societies and economies. It also works to foster collaboration and peer learning between members and partners in the development of sustainable higher education institutions, with a view to enhance the wider societal impact through education and research, and engagement with society, at local and global levels.
EUA contributes to making the work of members more visible through data collection and events. It also contributes to European greening policy and instruments, for example by supporting the development of the MSCA Green Charter and by gathering and sharing information on institutions’ approaches and activities in the field of greening.
These efforts are linked to EUA’s work in promoting the role of universities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Association’s role in shaping EU research and innovation programmes.
The European Green Deal is an ambitious initiative to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050. It comprises various policies and regulations primarily aimed at carbon-intensive industries, with a view to transforming production and consumption patterns, while still ensuring economic growth.
In terms of consistency across sectors and within society at large, the Green Deal is yet to demonstrate a truly holistic approach, where the emphasis on continued growth is balanced by a focus on values and incentives that go beyond consumption. The ability of universities to bring together expertise from these different areas can be used as a model to realise systemic approaches throughout the EU. Additionally, social sciences and humanities can enable policies that are more attuned to the complexity of behavioural change, social acceptance and the influence of value and belief systems. Universities want a Green Deal that is evidence-based, and they have the capacity to offer strong, reliable data to this end. Universities must be recognised as critical Green Deal stakeholders that can help foster impactful narratives for citizen mobilisation and avoid the fragmentation of policies across different domains.
EUA is working towards these objectives based on the university vision for the Green Deal launched in 2022 and the roadmap for universities in the Green Deal developed in 2023.
Discover EUA’s Green Deal roadmap for universities
The wide-ranging ambitions of the European Green Deal provide a policy framework to integrate the scientific, educational, and institutional dimensions of universities’ contribution to the green tra ...
This report provides in-depth analysis of the results of the first-ever Europe-wide survey on universities and innovation. ...
A European Green Deal that achieves its purpose must be science-driven, with suitable mechanisms for the provision of scientific advice and the boosting of scientific literacy among citizens and polic ...
Given their education, research and societal missions, universities are important actors in the transition towards carbon neutrality, sustainable societies and economies. They are well placed to play ...
This EUA position outlines the preliminary findings of a major study on innovation at European universities. It captures the different levels of innovation capacity at universities, as well as how the ...
This publication focuses on geopolitical changes, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, as well as the course of democracy, and how they may impact Europe’s universities. It outlines possible ...
Higher education institutions are key actors in the transition towards carbon neutrality and sustainable societies, as well as in reaching the objectives of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the E ...
The 2020 EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group on “Environmental sustainability of learning and teaching” discussed how learning and teaching can embrace and promote sustainability, and ...
Tento kľúčový dokument je výsledkom rozsiahlych konzultácií a rokovaní s členmi a partnermi EUA počas šesťmesačného obdobia v roku 2020. Presadzuje víziu odolných a efektívnych univer ...
This seminal document is the result of extensive consultations and deliberations with EUA members and partners over a six-month period in 2020. It sets out a vision of resilient and effective universi ...
EUA Strategic Plan The need for strong universities has never been greater in addressing societal challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, resource scarcity, ageing populations, migration a ...
Sustainable development is crucial to the future of Europe and the entire planet. The framework of the Sustainable Development Goals ensures social cohesion, economic prosperity and protection of the ...
The European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), the EUA Energy and Environment Platform (EUA-EPUE) and EIT InnoEnergy urge the European Institutions to keep sustainable energy as a top priorit ...
The European University Association (EUA) and its Energy and Environment Platform (EUA-EPUE) are at the helm of an extensive Europe-wide effort to address the Energy Transition by focusing o ...
Energy Research, Innovation and Competitiveness is a Energy Union policy priority. As the European Commission explains, “Research and Innovation (R&I) must be at the very heart of the Energy ...
This document was presented on 1 December 2016 at the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) Conference in Bratislava, Slovakia. More than 300 university leaders contributed t ...
EuroScience has opened the call for bids to host the EuroScience Open Forum edition in 2026. ...
The 33rd EAIE Conference and Exhibition will take place from 26–29 September, at Rotterdam Ahoy convention centre. This year’s conference theme is ‘Connecting currents’, celebrating the mariti ...
GRANteD is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, investigating the existence and emergence of gender bias in the decision-making processes of resea ...
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is offering a new programme to help institutional leaders address the reputational, funding and strategic challenges facing universities tod ...
Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for 50 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellows (PFs) (two levels of experienced researchers) (25 positions available in Call 1) at CÚR ...
The Global University Network for innovation (GUNi) is launching a HE Leadership & Management Hub designed to become a permanent platform for reflection, dialogue and professional training among h ...
The European University Association (EUA) and the Latin American and Caribbean Space for Higher Education (ENLACES) have published a joint statement ahead of a summit between the two regions’ leader ...
EUA member Coventry University and the European Business & Innovation Network (EBN) are partnering up on a webinar series dedicated to the transformative power of innovation through Simulation, Im ...
After two consecutive years of virtual “What’s new in Brussels?” seminars, the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) is holding the event in Brussels on 2-3 February. EUA Deputy Director of Gov ...
The International Association of Universities (IAU) is organising a virtual launch event on Tuesday 31 January 2023 at 14.00 – 15.30 CET to present the third survey on Higher Education and Research ...
On 13 January 2022, the European Commission published a Proposal for a Council recommendation on learning for environmental sustainability. EUA welcomes the initiative as it acknowledges the crucial c ...
EUA has joined SDG Watch Europe to provide input into the upcoming European Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation on education for environmental sustainability. The Recommendation will look ...
Sustainable learning and teaching was at the centre of the 2020 EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Groups, which have wrapped up their cycle of work. ...
EUA member in Ukraine Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, together with the NGO “Sustainable Development Landmarks”, organise the 1st Virtual International Conference on Sustain ...
The School of Human Rights in Turkey, an EU-funded project that started during the state of emergency in Turkey, organises the International Online Conference of Academic Freedom as a Human Right on 1 ...
EUA partner Scholars at Risk (SAR) organises “Free to Think 2020: Responding to Attacks on Higher Education” on 19 – 20 November 2020. ...
The nominations for the 2020 edition of the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the use of Information and Communication Technologies in education are open until 18 December 2020 (midnight, ...
Doctoral candidates from EUA members are invited to contribute to one of the 17 volumes of the Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the largest editorial project on matters related to ...
The 24th United Nations climate change conference (COP24) took place from 3 to 14 December in Katowice, Poland. It focused on the implementation of the Paris Agreement (2016) and on advancing the Tala ...
If we want universities to make a leap in transnational cooperation, policymakers must take their own leap in implementing reforms that work towards creating the necessary framework conditions. In Res ...
EUA’s Clare Phelan and Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik take a closer look at the results of the third Erasmus+ call for European Universities and explain the importance of balance between the expansion and c ...
In May 2022, the world of higher education met for the first UNESCO World Higher Education Conference in over a decade. Here, after returning from the event in Barcelona, EUA’s Thomas Jørgensen rec ...
Higher education systems across Europe currently use a variety of funding instruments, with increasing levels of complexity evident. This piece highlights some of the main issues involved, as describe ...
Global challenges call for “universities without walls”. Drawing from his experience in the Higher Education Reform Expert (HERE) teams, Chafic Mokbel discusses the future of the sector from a Leb ...
As geopolitical tensions grow, the work of universities comes under pressure. This piece looks at academic cooperation in a new world and what policy makers and university leaders can do to respond. I ...
EUA recently conducted an internal study mapping the impact of its learning and teaching activities. This article offers insights into the findings and how they might be useful to institutional, natio ...
All universities need more autonomy to be innovative, not only those engaged in the European Universities Initiative. EUA expert Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik writes that limiting flexible collaboration opti ...
On the occasion of EUA’s 20th anniversary, Cardiff University President and Vice-Chancellor Colin Riordan analyses the role of the Association in a changing world. The piece highlights that while so ...
As we look forward towards a future of “Universities without walls”, this article by EUA President Michael Murphy points out that universities need better and coordinated communication of their wo ...
With the rapid growth of the student body, the need to refurbish university real estate and the changing balance between block grants and project-based funding, an in-depth discussion is needed about ...
From EU funding programmes, to travel and data transfer, the pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place for universities post-Brexit. EUA’s Thomas Jorgensen provides an update on the situat ...
As universities strive to realise human potential, preserve the planet and promote health and prosperity, the new Magna Charta Universitatum offers a fresh opportunity to adhere to fundamental princip ...
Higher education institutions in Europe are highly engaged in addressing environmental challenges through education, research and their own greening initiatives. However, sustainable procurement may b ...
With billions of euros on the table, Next Generation EU could be a game changer for research and education – especially in countries like Italy where underfunding is already a cause for concern. The ...
The EU recovery plan offers an immediate chance to invest in education and research as we approach the economic fallout of the Covid-19 crisis. This article, informed by the latest EUA data on public ...
The idea of a European degree is fascinating and attractive, but it also raises many conceptual and practical questions. What does a European degree mean? How would it differ from the current degrees ...
Finding a compromise on the EU’s next budget is no doubt a highly complex task. But after the lean years since the 2008 crash, there must be a commitment to increasing investment in research, innova ...
Doctoral education has a major role to play in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. EUA-CDE Head Alexander Hasgall explores this, as well as how the goals, in turn, can benefit doctor ...
With a disorderly Brexit now a real and fast-approaching threat, detailed technical guidance from the European Commission is crucial for those participating with UK partners in EU programmes like Eras ...
The continuous development of teaching competences needs commitment at all levels. It is a systematic process that requires a framework for teaching performance, a professionalisation body, preferably ...
How can higher education institutions model open, democratic and engaged communities? How can they initiate social and cultural change? Those two questions are vital in today’s world, particularly b ...
Thomas Estermann from the European University Association examines the university efficiency debate, explaining that behind the push to save money there is actually much more, including a silver linin ...
Research and education should be among the easier elements of the Brexit negotiations, argue Paul Boyle and Rolf TarrachCountries from outside the EU can participate in EU programmes and both sides ha ...
With the headline terms of the future UK-EU relationship to be agreed by October 2018, it is vitally important that future research and education co-operation is prioritised in the final agreement ( ...
Investment in research and education not only brings the highest European added value, it is also the most effective long-term, future-oriented commitment that the EU can make towards its citizens, wr ...
Since the beginning of time scientific research has been based on exchanges between peers: personal letters, books, articles in specialised journals. But the last 70 years have seen a burst in this se ...
With nearly 40 per cent of Europeans aged 30-34 now holding tertiary qualifications, universities have their work cut out delivering good learner-paced education to increasingly large and diverse popu ...
Europe needs more ambitious research funding, or risks losing precious knowledge, writes Rolf TarrachThe European Union is currently defining its priorities for the next decade. The scientific communi ...
EUA President Rolf Tarrach outlines what the future of Europe could look like from the Universities perspective.Europe’s universities want to do much more together. This is the essence of a discussi ...
An inventory of higher education supporting refugees. ...
The UNI-SET (UNIversities in the SET-Plan) project aims to mobilise European universities to contribute to the ambitious European energy goals spelled out in the European Strategic Energy Technol ...
The South African government has expressed its ambition to substantially increase the number of doctoral graduates by 2030. Graduates will be prepared for a world that is more connected in both cultur ...
...