SHIFT Launches: New Leadership Programme to Strengthen Sustainability Leadership across Higher Education

Posted: 4 September, 2026

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has today announced the launch of SHIFT — Sustainable Higher Education Innovation, Futures and Transformation — a new 12-month leadership programme designed to support higher education institutions to further embed Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) across institutional strategy, governance and academic practice.

SHIFT is being delivered in partnership by the HEA, the Technological Universities Association (TUA) and the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) ESD Academy. The programme combines strategic learning, executive coaching and collaborative innovation to support teams in strengthening whole-of-institution approaches to ESD.

SHIFT builds on the recently launched HEA Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Framework for Higher Education, developed to support higher education institutions in strengthening, connecting and making visible their approach to ESD across institutional activity.

Tim Conlon, Head of Policy and Strategic Planning at the HEA, said:

‘Education for Sustainable Development is an important part of how the higher education sector responds to wider social, economic and environmental change. SHIFT complements the considerable work already underway across the sector by creating a space for institutions to consider how sustainability is reflected in institutional strategy and decision-making.’

The programme will support institutions to connect ESD activity across curriculum, governance, research and institutional strategy, with a particular focus on leadership and whole-of-institution approaches.

Claire McGee, CEO of TUA, said:

‘SHIFT is an important opportunity for Irish higher education to move from ambition to impact, embedding sustainability into the decisions and actions that shape our institutions and the communities they serve. TUA is proud to help lead this national initiative and to strengthen the collective capacity of the sector to deliver lasting impact for students, enterprise and society.’

SHIFT is co-led by Professor Daniella Tilbury, former Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Sustainability and architect of UNESCO’s executive leadership programme for Vice-Chancellors, and Dr Alex Ryan, a UK National Teaching Fellow, former university Sustainability Director and executive coach.

Professor Tilbury said: ‘Universities are being asked to respond simultaneously to climate change, artificial intelligence, demographic change, geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly evolving labour markets. These are not isolated challenges. Together, they represent a profound shift in the purpose and practice of higher education; and leadership is the key to unlock it.’

Dr Ryan said: ‘Transformational change doesn’t happen through policy commitments or grassroots academic innovation alone. It happens when leadership teams build shared understanding of where they’re going and the confidence to pursue that ambition collectively. SHIFT is built around that impulse: using coaching, peer learning and practical delivery to add value to each institution’s existing strategy.’

Leadership teams will work in cross-functional groups to develop tailored action plans, build cross-sector partnerships and contribute case studies that can support learning across the wider sector.

Dr Mark Kelly, Head of the ATU Centre for Sustainability and co-lead of the ATU ESD Academy, said:

‘SHIFT gives Irish higher education institutions a rare opportunity to work through these defining challenges of our time together and fulfil their role in societal change. We expect it will leave a lasting legacy for the sector.’

SHIFT begins today, with a 12-month implementation and learning cycle. A national event will take place in Dublin in November 2026, with the programme concluding in 2027 with a showcase of institutional achievements and sector insights.

The seven participating higher education institutions are Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), South East Technological University (SETU), Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Munster Technological University (MTU), the Institute of Art, Design + Technology (IADT) and Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT).

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About SHIFT

SHIFT (Sustainable Higher Education Innovation, Futures and Transformation) is a national sectoral partnership programme coordinated by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the Technological Universities Association (TUA) and the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) ESD Academy. Over twelve months, it supports institutional leadership teams to embed Education for Sustainable Development across governance, teaching and learning, research, academic operations and student experience, strengthening the capacity of Ireland’s higher education sector to respond to the green and digital transitions.