Building Trust Through ESG in Higher Education

The study aimed to identify the role of trust in ESG adoption, based on the strategies and development plans of six state universities in Europe. The study involved a literature review and an analysis of the strategies, development plans, and degree programs publicly available on the websites of selected state universities in various European regions. The study reveals both convergence and divergence in their approaches to ESG and building trust. Leading institutions, such as the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) and Wageningen University & Research (WUR), implement ESG across multiple dimensions – strategy, teaching, and research – while maintaining strong external credibility. Stockholm University (SU) demonstrates a strong commitment to specific ESG areas (climate science, governance, and social inclusion), but clearly lacks the scale, visibility, or comprehensive integration of European leaders (WUR, ECPH). Universities such as the Jagiellonian University (UJ) and the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) illustrate the development trajectory in Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, SGGW and Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT) provide valuable examples, emphasizing how ESG directly relates to food security, agriculture, and biodiversity – sectors of direct societal importance. However, AUT is still building the institutional foundations for comprehensive ESG implementation.