Higher education institutions contribute to the SDGs, not only through educational curricula for students but also through research and sustainable campus management. Several UN entities and the higher education community launched the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) in 2012, in the lead-up to the Rio+20 Conference. More recently, UNESCO launched the Greening Education Partnership to tackle multiple crises caused by climate change.

     Within this policy background, this paper examines the “sustainability campus” operation by universities. A sustainable campus is “one that develops process or management systems that help create a vibrant campus economy & high quality of life while respecting the need to sustain natural resources and protect the environment,” according to UNEP’s “Sustainability University Framework”. 

     First, many universities are reducing energy consumption on campus and transiting to renewable energy. Second, curriculum reform has been accelerated, incorporating sustainability. Third, institutional leadership is still weak, with notable exception of legally mandated universities in the EU.