Introduction: In response both to the fundamental changes in the state of the world we are living in and an increasingly closer connection between nature and society, the idea of sustainable development has emerged on the political agenda over the last thirty years, challenging both science and politics. Based on the definition laid out in the so-called BrundtlandReport, sustainable development is about meeting fundamental human needs while preserving the lifesupport systems of planet earth (Kates et al., 2001). According to Grosskurth and Rotmanns (2005), a focal point of the sustainability discourse is marked by the integrative examination of the threat to natural resources and an economic development that is both environmentally friendly and socially just. It is obvious that the journey towards a more sustainable world requires fundamental societal transformations that may only take place as a social learning process (Glasser, 2007). Thus, in the Agenda 21, agreed upon at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, education, both formal and informal, is seen as crucial to achieving a more sustainable development. In this process, educational institutions are named as a key factor for the dissemination of the idea of sustainable development. Consequently, in 2002 the United Nations (UN) proclaimed the years from 2005-2014 the World Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, thus underlining the role of education for sustainable development. Among the various educational institutions, universities are increasingly recognized as playing a crucial role in the context of sustainability by generating, transferring and communicating new knowledge as well as offering education and training as one of their key tasks (Cortese, 2003, Fien, 2002). To meet the challenges mentioned and to support research and network building in higher education for sustainability is the mission of the UNESCO Chair “Higher Education for Sustainable Development”, established at the University of Luneburg. In 2009 the Chair played joint host with the University Sains Malaysia in Penang to the Third International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainability, its topic being the specific implications for higher education in education practice, research and learning. Choosing as its regional focus the Asia-Pacific region, the conference emphasized its international orientation and highlighted its commitment to a crosscultural dialogue.2009 marked the half-way stage of the UN Decade ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ and one of the Conference’s goals was to provide an opportunity for critical reflection on what had been achieved so far and what tasks and challenges remained to be addressed. The conference theme centered around the question of what value is added by integrating questions of sustainability into teaching and learning in higher education. Attended by some 130 participants from more than 20 countries, the Conference aimed to bring together experienced colleagues as well as those newly interested in exploring how higher education is responding to the challenge and opportunities of sustainability. In a 3-day programme of lectures, workshops, poster presentations and round tables, the state of the art in research on higher education was presented. Selected presenters were invited to contribute to a special issue of this journal, and in the end, ten contributions were chosen for inclusion in the present issue. The articles correspond to the three thematic lines that the conference was focusing on: