A knowledge hub for Europe's sustainability skills - the people's university

How do we make sustainability education open, inclusive, and accessible to all?

This question guides the People’s University Foundation, an initiative to build a digital library and knowledge hub dedicated to sustainability and human rights. 

The project rests on two core beliefs. First, every citizen today needs a basic level of eco-literacy and green competences. Second, Europe’s green transition depends on professionals trained to meet new standards and close the widening skills gap.

From Vision to Structure
The hub is built in layers that make knowledge easy to find and use.

• The Library already holds more than 5,000 curated resources. These are organised by type: books, courses, webinars, podcasts, research articles, reports, networks, and events.
• The Knowledge Hub for Professionals brings together repositories on compliance and technical topics. These include ESRS reporting, EU Green Deal, EU regulation and taxonomy, finance and risk management, GHG accounting, assurance, metrics, impact assessment, corporate responsibility, governance, etc. The aim is to support professionals who need clear, practical knowledge to work with complex legal and regulatory frameworks.
• The Knowledge Hub for Citizens focuses on competences and soft skills. Here, repositories cover climate change, environment, biodiversity, nature, systems thinking, futures thinking, resilience, adaptation, well-being, global citizenship, democracy, diversity and inclusion, climate justice, gender equality, social inclusion, human rights, community, indigenous knowledge,  the SDGs and many more. These collections help learners link global challenges with local realities and daily life.
• Landing Pages open each repository with a visual guide — a map, a timeline, or an infographic — to make every topic easy to enter and explore. These visuals lower the barrier for first-time learners while guiding more advanced users toward deeper content.

Concrete Actions So Far
We have consulted experts to shape repositories and are working with artists and designers to create the first landing pages. Sharing parts of the library on LinkedIn has sparked strong interest. Every week, educators, professionals, citizens and storytellers reach out with feedback or collaboration requests. These exchanges proof extremely fruitfull and have already led to new contacts, collaborations and speaking invitations.

Why This Matters for Europe
Europe needs both citizens who understand sustainability in their daily lives and professionals trained to meet new reporting and compliance demands. By hosting both in one hub, the People’s University connects competences with compliance, and soft skills with hard rules. It is designed as a collaborative project, drawing on contributions from educators, experts, and artists across Europe.

Next Steps and Call to Action
We are preparing to release the first version of the hub, complete with short video walkthroughs. Our goal is to create a shared resource that grows with its users. We invite teachers, students, citizens, experts, artists and storytellers to explore, contribute, and help shape the hub. Together, we can make sustainability education a common good for Europe’s green and digital transitions.