In May 2026, UZH published a report titled “Towards More Sustainable Student Mobility Best Practices, Challenges and Leverage Points for European Higher Education Institutions”. It addresses different ways European universities collect emissions data on student mobility and offers further ideas for making Erasmus student mobility more sustainable.
The study found that emissions from student travel remain less systematically addressed than those from staff travel, with data availability the central bottleneck for accurate calculations. Methodologies of emissions calculation vary, but overall, HEIs rely on pragmatic assumptions for distance-based calculations to establish a consistent internal baseline. While this is a good starting point, a shared approach or tool could improve comparability of emissions across HEIs.
Regarding support measures and incentives, sustainable travel funds are generally considered insufficient to offset the high costs of train travel relative to flights. To address the additional complexity of planning sustainable travel, HEIs raise awareness and provide information in various ways, such as through podcasts or workshops during welcome events. However, a systemic approach to reducing complexity is needed, along with policies for sustainable student travel for HEI-funded travel, as a solid foundation to act upon. Collaboration between European HEIs and the exchange of best practices offer great potential to advance such systemic solutions.
By interviewing representatives of sustainability and international (student) offices at eight renowned European HEIs about their current practices, challenges, and ideas, this report aims to provide inspiration and guidance for HEIs across Europe that want to reduce emissions caused by student mobility and want to shape awareness on sustainable travel of their students, the academic staff and leaders of tomorrow.
You can read the full report in the Resources section of the SET project website.