The end of a project is a good moment not only to look at what has been produced, but also to ask a more important question: what has actually changed because of it?
During the two years of HEI GreenPath, partner institutions developed guidelines, brochures, teaching materials and assessment tools, but the project’s impact goes beyond individual outputs. Sustainability and green skills have entered university courses, teaching practices and institutional discussions in practical and, in some cases, permanent ways.
The sustainability plans prepared by the partners show that many of these changes will remain in place after the formal end of the project.
Agricultural University of Athens: sustainability integrated into existing courses
At the Agricultural University of Athens, sustainability topics and green skills were integrated into three existing courses: Rural History, Sociology and Marketing / Digital Marketing. The activities covered issues such as climate change and agriculture, social responsibility, active citizenship and responsible environmental communication. Altogether, 148 students participated in the pilot activities.
The experience also gave lecturers an opportunity to test different ways of introducing sustainability into their own subject areas. Importantly, all three lecturers indicated that they would use the materials again and supported extending the approach to other courses.
After the project, AUA plans to continue using the materials in the three courses, distribute the student and staff brochures and encourage exchanges between lecturers interested in introducing sustainability topics into additional subjects.
ISSBS: green skills formally embedded in curricula
At the International School for Social and Business Studies in Slovenia, the project led to an especially strong institutional change.
Three piloted courses — Management of Human Capital, Business Finance and Project Management — enriched with green skills were formally approved by the university Senate. Green topics were also integrated into the course Social Responsibility and Volunteering, which was likewise Senate-approved.
More than 110 students participated in the pilot courses, while educators gained practical experience in connecting sustainability, ESG and social responsibility with business-related subjects through case studies, discussions and practical activities.
What is particularly important from the sustainability perspective is that the changes are not temporary. The green topics have been formally embedded in course syllabuses, WP3 materials are available through Moodle, and the modified courses are expected to continue as part of regular teaching from the 2026/2027 academic year onwards.
Frederick University: green skills in teaching, assessment and university practice
At Frederick University in Cyprus, green skills were introduced into three courses: Statistics II, Strategic Marketing and Business Research Methods. Sustainability and SDG-related content was incorporated not only into teaching activities, but also into course outlines, learning outcomes and assessment. The pilot involved 62 students at the Nicosia and Limassol campuses.
The project also strengthened staff experience in embedding green skills into teaching and contributed to the development of resources that can support broader institutional change, including the guidelines, student and staff brochures and self-assessment tools.
Frederick University plans to continue delivering the green-skills components of the three piloted courses and to update them with additional real-life cases and sustainability datasets. The institution also intends to use the Green Campus checklist and practical recommendations from the staff brochure to identify feasible improvements related to energy and resource use, waste reduction and sustainable travel.
WSPA: green skills embedded in non-technical courses
At the University College of Enterprise and Administration in Lublin (WSPA), HEI GreenPath demonstrated that green skills can be successfully integrated into non-technical university subjects without major changes to existing curricula.
Three existing courses were enriched with sustainability-related content: Humanitarian and Development Aid, European Integration and EU Law, and International Territorial Marketing. Together, they accounted for 61 course-level student participations during the pilot implementation.
The green-skills content was closely connected with the original focus of each subject. Students explored issues such as climate-related humanitarian risks, sustainable resource use and community resilience; the European Green Deal, Fit for 55 and CBAM; as well as systems thinking, sustainable territorial marketing and ecobranding.
The approach was strongly practice-oriented. Students worked with real-life case studies, projects, discussions and policy analysis. For example, students in Humanitarian and Development Aid prepared projects on real humanitarian and environmental crises, while students in European Integration and EU Law analysed current EU climate-policy instruments and their implications for Poland and other Member States.
Feedback from lecturers was very positive. All three educators indicated that they would use the materials again, while the feasibility of integrating green skills into existing subjects without major curriculum changes was rated 4.67 out of 5.
For WSPA, one of the most important lessons from HEI GreenPath is that sustainability can be introduced effectively into courses that are not traditionally considered “green”. Practical case studies, project-based learning and links to students’ future professional roles proved particularly valuable and provide a strong basis for further use and replication in other subjects.
From project results to lasting change
The examples from the partnership show that the impact of HEI GreenPath is not limited to publications or individual project activities.
In some institutions, green skills have already become part of formally approved curricula. In others, the project has created reusable teaching materials, introduced new approaches to existing courses and opened discussions on everyday university practices. Across the partnership, lecturers have gained practical experience, students have been exposed to sustainability in relation to their own fields of study, and institutions now have tools that can be used well beyond the project lifetime.
This is precisely the kind of sustainability HEI GreenPath aimed to achieve: not creating temporary project activities, but helping universities introduce practical changes that can continue, develop and inspire further action.
Although HEI GreenPath officially end on 30 September 2026, many of the changes initiated during the project are only beginning their longer institutional life.