ENQA webinar: Quality Assurance and Learning for Sustainability

This webinar presented the findings of a recent survey to QA agencies on the role of QA in supporting learning for sustainability in higher education.

Higher education has long been recognised as a vital driver of sustainable development, with many universities now placing sustainability at the heart of their institutional strategies. Yet there is growing concern that sustainability is too often incorporated superficially within universities as a label or add-on rather than as a driver of meaningful transformation in teaching, research, and institutional practice. Quality assurance (QA) agencies have a potentially critical role to play in strengthening the credibility and depth of sustainability within higher education. However, the question of how QA agencies can effectively support this agenda remains underexplored.

To address this gap, ENQA and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Steering Committee on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) have begun a collaboration to examine how sustainability and Learning for Sustainability are currently understood and addressed within QA systems. Their first joint activity was a survey of ENQA members and affiliates undertaken in late 2025, designed to map current approaches, identify barriers, and explore the roles agencies consider they can play in advancing sustainability within higher education.

The webinar presented and discussed the study’s findings and explore practical pathways for the sector.

Programme

11:00  Opening & webinar protocol

• Anna Gover, ENQA Director

11:05 Background and rationale for the study

• Anna Gover, ENQA Director

11:20 Presentation – The findings of the ENQA-UNECE survey

• Prof Daniella Tilbury, UNECE SC and Quality Education Lead

11:35 Panel Discussion

• Dr Alex Ryan,  Director of Student Led, Anti-Greenwash Education project funded by QAA (UK)
• Dr Isaac Galobardes, Director, Agència de Qualitat de l’Ensenyament Superior d’Andorra (AQUA)
• Dr Yuma Inzolia, UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC)

12:20 Closing

• Dr Aravella Zachariou, Chair, ESD Steering Committee, UNECE SC ESD
• Prof Cristina Ghițulică, ENQA President

Resources

The recording of the event is available on ENQA’s YouTube channel.