Responsible Futures International
Responsible Futures is a whole-institution approach to embed holistic sustainability in student learning at educational institutions. It is a supported change programme and accreditation mark, delivered in partnership with students. Responsible Futures puts sustainability at the heart of education. The Responsible Futures framework assists in creating an environment for staff and students to work together, in partnership, to embed sustainability throughout teaching and learning. The programme legitimises and mainstreams education for sustainable development (ESD), ultimately helping to ensure students leave education with the knowledge, skills, and attributes needed to create a more just and sustainable society.
The International Programme
Responsible Futures was developed by Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) in 2014. Since it’s inception, 53 institutions across the UK and internationally have joined Responsible Futures. Collectively, these partnerships represent nearly 1,100,000 students students. Following the success of the Responsible Futures UK programme, SOS-UK and the IAU partnered in 2023 to develop an international edition of the programme. Since then, another cohort of ten institutions took up the work in 2024/25. The latest programme overview can be found here.
Experiences from the Pilot Cohort
The IAU and SOS UK kicked off the international pilot of the RF programme in 2023 with the first cohort of seven institutions. The six universities and one college invited on board had all a strong pre-existing commitment to sustainable development and were working with an SD strategy at the whole institution. They played a leadership role in working with IAU and SOS to co-create an international RF framework and shape how the international programme is designed and delivered. Read more about the outcomes and testimonials from the International Pilot in the Report here.
“[Responsible Futures International] brings universities across the world together to share learning and best practice through a common framework and language. It’s advantageous to have a programme like this, which ensures from the start that students can be engaged without having to go through the internal design through the university. ”
Why Responsible Futures International?
The IAU strongly advocates for the role of higher education for the 2030 Agenda and for the importance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a backdrop for action in HE. The IAU decided to endorse the Responsible Futures programme based on its focus on student engagement and co-development so as to accelerate and ensure both medium- and long-term success of sustainability initiatives at the participating universities. Thanks to the diverse group of institutions from different countries, higher education systems, and backgrounds involved in the pilot group and framework co-design process, the IAU is convinced that the international RF programme is helping HEIs to advance their sustainably efforts.
Next Steps
The pilot programme concluded in summer 2024, and its results were presented at the IAU International Conference in November 2024 in Tokyo. The cohort 2024/25 is currently concluding its activities with some undergoing the student-led audit and institutional mapping based on the unique RF framework.
IAU Members interested in participating in the next cohort of Responsible Futures International in 2025/2026 are invited to contact Isabel Toman to receive further information on requirements and timelines.