Sustainability has become one of the key dimensions of higher education performance, as reflected in global sustainability rankings such as UI GreenMetric, QS Sustainability Rankings and THE Impact Rankings. These systems influence institutional strategies and governance across Europe, linking institutional performance to sustainability expectations. In Hungary, participation and performance levels vary significantly across universities, raising system-level questions about how sustainability processes operate in the national higher education sector and what organisational factors shape them.

The study focuses on three questions:
(1) How do Hungarian universities perform in major sustainability rankings, and what methodological or institutional factors shape their ranking positions?
(2) Which governance models, strategic documents and institutional processes influence sustainability work within the Hungarian higher education system?
(3) What impact can academic libraries—as organisational hubs of knowledge management, educational support and research support—have on institutional sustainability performance, and how can this impact be measured?

The study is based on document analysis and literature review. It examines institutional development plans, sustainability strategies, ranking-related data reporting and library service portfolios. Two internationally recognised standards provide a background framework for interpreting library contributions: ISO 16439:2019 — Information and documentation — Methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries, and ISO 2789:2022 — Information and documentation — International library statistics. These standards support comparability and align with performance measurement perspectives relevant to higher education research.

Understanding the international context is essential: Hungary currently does not appear in either the IFLA SDG Stories or the EBLIDA E-PANEMA sustainability showcases. This indicates that Hungarian libraries’ sustainability activities are not yet visible in the international discourse, even though they engage in work—such as open science support, SDG-focused educational activities, research data management and green operations—that is increasingly valued in sustainability rankings.

Preliminary findings point to fragmented sustainability governance, inconsistent documentation practices and uneven SDG integration across Hungarian institutions. Although several universities appear in global rankings, their positions are significantly influenced by methodological differences across ranking systems (environmental indicators, governance metrics, SDG performance). The contribution of academic libraries is not yet well recognised, but they hold substantial potential—especially when their activities are documented and communicated through evidence-based, standard-aligned approaches.

This study contributes to understanding system-level developments in higher education by analysing organisational and evaluation mechanisms that shape sustainability ranking performance. It also demonstrates how academic libraries, through clearer visibility of their evidence-based contributions, can become measurable actors in strengthening sustainability efforts within both the Hungarian and the broader European higher education landscape.

This study employs a qualitative, document-based methodological framework to examine how Hungarian universities perform in major international sustainability rankings and how academic libraries may contribute to institutional sustainability outcomes. The research design integrates four complementary components: (1) comparative analysis of ranking positions, (2) document analysis of university-level strategic materials, (3) the construction and categorisation of a combined service portfolio of Hungarian academic libraries, and (4) SDG-based mapping supported by international library standards. First, a comparative analysis of ranking performance was carried out using data from Hungarian universities listed in UI GreenMetric, QS Sustainability Rankings and THE Impact Rankings. Rather than comparing ranking methodologies, the analysis focused on institutional positions, score distribution patterns, ESG- and SDG-related performance dimensions, and recurring strengths and weaknesses across institutions. This step aimed to identify where Hungarian universities tend to perform well or poorly and which performance domains may be influenced by library activities. Second, a document analysis of universities’ strategic materials was undertaken, including institutional development plans, sustainability strategies, SDG commitments, organisational descriptions and governance structures. This analysis was complemented by a content analysis of current academic library strategies to determine how sustainability, SDG-alignment, open science, community engagement or environmentally responsible operations appear within library-level strategic objectives. Together, these materials provided insight into how sustainability is integrated—or not integrated—into institutional governance and how libraries are positioned within institutional sustainability frameworks. Third, the study developed a combined service portfolio of Hungarian academic libraries, synthesising activities identified across institutions. The portfolio included major service categories such as open science and repository support, research data management, SDG-related training and information literacy programmes, green operations, accessibility and inclusion services, and community engagement. The portfolio was subsequently subjected to SDG mapping, aligning each library service category with relevant Sustainable Development Goals to identify areas where library contributions can be made visible and potentially measurable. Fourth, two international standards—ISO 16439:2019 (methods for assessing library impact) and ISO 2789:2022 (international library statistics)—served as conceptual references for classifying and interpreting library activities. While not used as full analytical frameworks, they supported the categorisation and comparability of library contributions. The methodological design was complemented by a review of international sustainability-related library practice repositories (IFLA SDG Stories; EBLIDA E-PANEMA), providing context for the limited international visibility of Hungarian libraries. Together, these methodological elements enable a comprehensive analysis of ranking performance, institutional governance, and the potential influence of academic libraries on sustainability outcomes.

The study’s findings indicate that Hungarian higher education institutions display considerable variation in sustainability performance, reflecting fragmented governance, uneven strategy implementation and inconsistent SDG integration. At the same time, the analysis highlights a largely underrecognised institutional asset: the potential contribution of academic libraries to sustainability outcomes. This potential becomes especially visible when contrasted with the wider Hungarian library sector, where three public libraries have already received the Green Library Award, and all 17 SDGs are represented through documented good practices. The visibility and maturity of sustainability work in public libraries thus underline the gap—and opportunity—within academic libraries to articulate their impact more clearly. The content analysis of university strategies and current academic library strategies, together with the combined service portfolio compiled from the examined institutions, shows that substantial, sustainability-relevant content already exists within academic libraries. Activities such as open science support, research data management, SDG-focused training, information literacy development, community engagement, green operations and inclusive services all map onto sustainability dimensions valued by rankings. These activities align with core library functions—collecting, organising, describing and providing access—suggesting that what libraries have historically excelled at can directly support sustainability metrics when strategically coordinated. Expected outcomes of the study include recognising the need for academic libraries to align their existing services with institutional strategic goals, and to strengthen their visibility through systematic SDG and ESG mapping, as well as through integration with the Hungarian library quality framework (KMÉR). Although international standards such as ISO 16439 and ISO 2789 serve only as conceptual tools, they provide definitional clarity for demonstrating library impact. Overall, the findings suggest that academic libraries are well positioned to contribute to improved institutional sustainability performance—provided their competencies are embedded into governance, reporting and quality development structures that shape universities’ sustainability trajectories.

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