Reframing organisational sustainability in European University Alliances: From managerial models to policy futures

What does organisational sustainability mean when environmental aspects are deliberately set aside? This paper reframes sustainability from a managerial model towards a policy-oriented understanding, focusing on organisational dimensions such as longevity, resilience, viability, adaptability, and persistence. As sustainability remains central to political and institutional agendas, an exclusive ecological focus constrains our ability to grasp how organisations – particularly in higher education – sustain continuity and strategic relevance under shifting socio-political and economic pressures. The paper examines European University Alliances (EUAs) – a flagship initiative of the European Commission that promotes transnational cooperation among higher education institutions. Conceptualised as meta-organisations (inter-organisational networks), EUAs encounter enduring challenges of governance, funding, coordination, and legitimacy. Analysing their sustainability, therefore, requires a framework that connects sustainability dimensions with enabling managerial, financial, legal, and ethical factors, while integrating meta-factors such as organisational culture, process management, and power dynamics. Based on an integrative review of literature across management, organisational studies, sociology, and higher education research, the paper synthesises existing conceptualisations of organisational sustainability and reinterprets them through the lens of European higher education policy. The findings reveal that managerial approaches to sustainability remain underdeveloped both in theory and practice. The paper proposes a conceptual framework for assessing the sustainability of European University Alliances. It provides policy-relevant insights for researchers, institutional leaders, and policymakers seeking to enhance the resilience and viability of complex higher education networks.