The GET-AHED project was presented in the sustainability track of the EAIR 2023 Conference in Linz by project coordinator Verena Régent.

Particular focus was given to the HE Green Assessment tool, a dedicated sustainability self-assessment tool for higher education institutions which will be developed for the GET-AHED platform. 

Only six months into the project, initial results could be presented with view to the dimensions and indicators underlying the self-assessment tool which were derived from a meta-study of existing tools conducting in the frame of the project. Sustainability self-assessment is considered a core solution when it comes to lifting the topic of environmental sustainability to the strategic level of higher education institutions. GET-AHED will combine its HE Green Assessment tool with two additional tools for environmental sustainability training and increasing energy efficiency in higher education institutions, and will thus support them to increase their visibility and performance in our common societal endeavour of the green transition.

Abstract: 

Many higher education institutions (HEIs) are pursuing greening measures and activities, but few have fully integrated environmental sustainability into their institutional strategies. One way to support the strategic embedding of greening activities is through sustainability self-assessment. Since the early 2000s, sustainability assessment tools for HEIs have emerged and are nowadays numerous and widespread. However, recent studies have found existing tools lack the capacity to assess the entire university spectrum and to facilitate HEIs’ prioritisation of the topic at a strategic level. The EU-funded project GET-AHED aims to support HEIs in this endeavour and focuses on the enhancement of HEIs’ capacity as transformative agents of the green transition by providing them with a comprehensive digital self-assessment tool. Through a meta-study of existing tools accompanied by case studies of pioneering HEIs, GET-AHED will develop a set of relevant and usable sustainability dimensions and indicators, which will be core to the GET-AHED tool.