EXPANDIA: Our new project to empower and train faculty
Higher education plays a pivotal role in preparing students with the knowledge and skills needed for a sustainable future. While sustainability has gradually become part of curricula worldwide, transformative change is still limited: many faculty lack the training, tools, and support needed to integrate sustainability effectively into their teaching.
To address this challenge, we are proud to announce our new project, EXPANDIA. Launching in 2026 in France, this four-year initiative aims to engage 6,000 higher education faculty members. Approved under the French ministerial "Call for Expressions of Interest: Skills and Professions of the Future" (AMI CMA, France 2030), the project aims to address a central question:
"How can we inspire, support, and equip an entire faculty corps to teach sustainability, while respecting the diversity of knowledge, experience, and attitudes across institutions?"
A consortium built for impact
EXPANDIA brings together a consortium of leading organizations:
- Sulitest, leveraging our experience in sustainability assessment, facilitating collaborations, and inspiring systemic change.
- Université Paris-Saclay and Nantes Université, renowned French universities, serving as pilot institutions to co-construct training strategies and materials.
- Campus de la Transition, a French training and research centre on ecological and social transition.
- Ticket for Change, a nonprofit empowering individuals to become changemakers and innovators in societal transformation.
Together, this consortium combines expertise in pedagogy, sustainability, and transformative education, ensuring that EXPANDIA is both practical and scalable.
A pathway for faculty engagement at scale
EXPANDIA unfolds across four stages:
- Build faculty support by embracing the great diversity of faculty profiles and backgrounds through a progressive, rhythmic, and hybrid engagement pathway that goes beyond “preaching to the choir.”
- Equip instructors with tools, including personalized pathways, self-assessment tools, and access to academic and pedagogical resources.
- Teach transformative curricula to at least 600 teachers, while training 300 “ambassadors” to spread the pedagogical approach and ensure continuity.
- Consolidate and leverage results
Towards a global movement
EXPANDIA aims not only to mainstream sustainability education in France but also to contribute to a global movement empowering educators worldwide. Its combination of technology, pedagogy, and strategic faculty engagement offers a replicable model for higher education institutions aiming to meet the urgent challenges of sustainable development. With faculty supported, empowered, and equipped, EXPANDIA demonstrates that transformative change in higher education is achievable—and scalable.
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