Project: ESG Impact Index in Higher Education (Shift)

Project information

Project coordinator
Miguel Perez Valls, Universidad de Almería
Project coordinator at Linnaeus University
Carmen Amaddeo
Other project members at Linnaeus University
Natalia Berg, Jörgen Forss, Brigitte Pircher
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University
Universidad de Almería, Spain
Uniwersytet Łódzki, Poland
Visokoskolska Ustanova Metropolitanuniverzitet U Beogradu, Serbia
Impactsci, Unipessoal, Lda, Portugal
HelixConnect Europe S.R.L., Romania
ISQ e-Learning, SA, Portugal
ACEEU GmbH, Germany
Financier
EU Erasmus+
Timetable
Sept 2023–Febr 2026
Subject
- Building technology (Department of Building Technology, Faculty of Technology)
- Management accounting (Department of Management, School of Business and Economics)
- Sustainable built environment (Department of Built Environment and Energy Technology, Faculty of Technology)
- Political science (Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences)

More about the project

The aim of the project is to design and implement a strong international approach to Higher Education Institutions' (HEI) ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) dimensions. This will increase the European HEIs' capacity to foster strategies, policies, practices and initiatives that ultimately position them as drivers of change towards the Agenda 2030 goals, leading the implementation of the European Green Deal & the New European Bauhaus Initiative.

Shift also aims to produce results that are complementary to the HEInnovate tool, further contributing to the European Higher Education Area on the topic of sustainability.

Shift general objectives

Objective 1

Increase the capacity of Higher Education Institutions to contribute to SDGs by assessing and implementing ESG strategies and policies through the Shift platform. This will be made by developing and testing the ESG Impact Index (platform), which is a comprehensive tool for higher education institutions to implement and monitor their environmental, social, and governance standards and practices. The ESG Impact Index will measure the university's impact on the environment and its natural resources, assess the governance practices and policies related to decision-making and responsible actions, and evaluate the university's social impact in terms of community engagement and diversity management.

Objective 2

Equip Higher Education Institutions' students, academics, researchers and staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to implement and monitor ESG practices. This will help to advance their integration into operations and activities and promote the development of a culture of sustainability, inclusion, diversity and participation. This objective will be achieved by the development of the asynchronous e-learning training (through a mini-learning approach) and the respective certification, being complemented by the online University ESG Awareness serious game for a wider audience in the HEI ecosystem.

Objective 3

Reinforcing transnational cooperation by facilitating the sharing of best practices and knowledge among HEIs and promoting the development of common approaches to ESG practices. This objective will be achieved by the project activities that involve external participants, with key emphasis on the foundation and moderation of an online community of practice on the topic of ESGs in HE and the development of a sustainability strategy based on the new ESG Maturity service.

The establishment and strengthening of the networks of HEIs (committed to ESG/SDG) will also be achieved through the development of the Stakeholders' Engagement Strategy and the implementation of the project communication and promotion plan. All the objectives identified above are strongly correlated to the selected priorities as they actively contribute to the support of the digital and green transition in the HE sector, and strongly target the fight against climate change while embedding a lens of inclusion and diversity throughout.

Staff