Sustainability calls for a new kind of university leadership

In a world facing geopolitical tensions, economic instability, AI disruption and accelerating climate change, universities are being called upon not just to adapt to external pressures but to lead transformative change. Recognising this distinction is central to the very purpose and long-term resilience of higher education institutions as well as to the future of our wider societies and economies.

This was the message I shared at the recent European University Association gathering of university leaders in Riga, Latvia, drawing on insights from a forthcoming 120-page policy study commissioned by the European Commission on university leadership for sustainable development.

After 18 months of evidence-gathering, analysis and case study analysis, the research delivers a clear call to action: university leadership must evolve strategically, systemically and courageously.

Sustainability is not a side project

One of the study’s first and most important tasks was to position sustainability within the broader landscape of pressures facing universities. Higher education institutions today are navigating a volatile world marked by economic and energy instability, threats to academic freedom, and digital disruption. Climate change and biodiversity loss are not isolated challenges; they are interconnected with these wider socio-economic transformations.

University leaders must draw out these connections in ways that enable a more systemic approach to sustainability, no longer treating it as a separate agenda.

Sustainability can no longer be treated as a side project, add-on or a thematic concern; it must form part of the change narrative that comes with internationalisation, digitisation and competitiveness. These are not seeking to be embedded into university life – they are challenging and changing what higher education institutions offer, who they engage with and how they operate. Sustainability must be seen in the same light, questioning how we learn, live and work.

Crucially, these change agendas cannot simply exist as standalone institutional strategies. They require deep shifts in governance structures, leadership cultures and operational practices if universities are to remain resilient and relevant.

Signs of meaningful leadership

Evidence suggests that, while sustainability commitments are widespread, many universities fall into the trap of ‘window dressing’, limiting their actions to installing water refill stations, promoting cycling schemes and recycling initiatives without addressing core systemic change. This means that sustainability often lives on the fringes of the institution, not at its heart.

Perhaps more alarmingly, we find that higher education institutions are treating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as thematic checklists, merely mapping where they appear across the curriculum or institution rather than fundamentally rethinking educational, research and operational models.

You can tell when a university truly embraces sustainability. Leaders with a strategic understanding move beyond carbon neutrality slogans to invest in renewables and cut fossil fuel dependencies.

They implement circular economy principles, like banning single-use plastics and prioritising sustainable procurement, and leverage green finance tools, like environmental, social and governance investment strategies and green bonds, to manage university assets.

They move beyond specialist institutes and standalone research initiatives, ensuring that research itself reduces environmental impact and is free from fossil fuel dependencies. They include sustainability in staff induction, career development and curriculum design, cultivate learner competencies, real-world experiences and future-ready graduates.

Equally, resilient leadership is visible when universities adapt infrastructure for climate risk, harness AI for disaster preparedness and address climate anxiety through mental health programmes. Sustainability and resilience are two sides of the same leadership coin, as outlined in the European University Association’s Outlook on Sustainability Strategies Findings, presented at its recent annual conference in Riga.

Leadership competency model

What is clear is that university presidents, rectors and senior managers need more than strategic insight and must become systemic leaders and effective change managers. This is no small task.

Governance structures often reinforce siloed thinking and short-termism. Leaders must connect sustainability to the wider policy landscape, challenge rigid hierarchies and nurture a culture of collaboration and innovation.

Drawing on leadership frameworks, the study proposes a sustainability leadership competency model centred around:

• Learning to Know: Building deep understanding of interconnected sustainability challenges.

• Learning to Be: Cultivating values-driven leadership aligned with long-term public good.

• Learning to Change: Embracing transformative change rather than cosmetic or incremental adaptation.

• Learning to Work with Others: Developing teams, engaging meaningfully with students and fostering partnerships beyond the institution.

Governance structures

Another key finding is the urgent need to address university governance structures and the needs of governing bodies. University boards, senates and councils must play an active role in leading sustainability. Higher education institution leaders cannot be successful in this agenda without their support. Yet, no formal sustainability training for governing bodies currently exists.

Leading institutions have started recruiting council members with sustainability expertise, assigning sustainability responsibilities to rectors and vice-rectors, and embedding sustainability in vision statements and strategic plans. These first steps must now become widespread best practice.

The future demands that universities stop merely reflecting societal change and instead help drive it. As the study concludes, we need higher education institutions to move from being ‘mirrors’ to ‘lighthouses’, illuminating new pathways, inspiring action and leading by example.

Today, there is too much focus on solving the problems of the present and too little vision for the future alternatives that we so urgently need. We must dare to imagine and create new futures, not simply predict them.

Concrete actions, such as the University of Cambridge’s removal of beef and lamb from its menus, reducing the carbon footprint of its food services by 33%, show what is possible when leadership embraces systemic change. At the same time, universities must confront tough funding decisions.

Recent investigations revealed that higher education institutions across eight European Union countries received at least €90 million (US$102 million) from fossil fuel companies between 2016 and 2023. Divestment, ethical funding and responsible investment will dominate policy debates over the next decade.

What will be your lighthouse moment?

The sustainability journey in higher education has evolved: from an early science and policy advocacy (1980s-1990s) to campus greening (2000s), to specialist sustainability appointments and institutes as well as institutional reporting (2010s), and now, in the 2020s, to a focus on living laboratories, SDG mapping and graduate competencies.

The question facing university leaders today is clear: What impact will your leadership have on shaping the future of the sector? Will your institution help society understand the change or will it be the change?

Professor Daniella Tilbury is an international thought leader in higher education policy, leadership and sustainability. She has been a vice-chancellor, dean, research chair and Marie Curie Fellow at universities in Asia, Australia and Europe. She currently advises UN agencies, the European Commission, national governments and higher education institutions on transforming education systems for sustainability. A pioneer in embedding sustainability into higher education, she has led major research initiatives and authored influential global frameworks in the field. This article is based on her recent participation in the European University Association annual conference in Latvia. Her report,Higher Education for Sustainable Development: Learning and development of senior teams,will be published shortly by the European Expert Network on Economics of Education.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.