With only 17% of the UN Sustainable Development Goals on track, a new initiative is putting higher education at the center of the push for progress. The Leaders in Higher Education Alliance and Programme – For Accelerating Sustainability Transformations (LEAP-FAST), launched at the 2024 UN Summit of the Future and backed by UNESCO, UNITAR, and international partners, is equipping faculty and academic leaders with the skills to embed sustainability across curricula and institutions.
The first training programme, hosted in Riyadh in May 2025, gathered participants from 15 universities worldwide, fostering collaboration on how to turn sustainability commitments into practical transformation. At the 2025 UN High-Level Political Forum, UNESCO and UNITAR leaders hailed LEAP-FAST as a bold step towards a new model of inclusive and purpose-driven universities.
From establishing sustainability centres in Mauritius and Kenya to building regional networks in Africa, Latin America, and small island states, the initiative is already sparking applied change. With its second edition launching in September 2025, LEAP-FAST is shaping universities not just as educators, but as catalysts for global sustainability.
