ALIGN - Embedding Inner Student-Centered Exploration and Development in Higher Education

The values and capacities of tomorrow’s leaders reflect the priorities of today’s universities.

Universities must prepare students not just for a career (as they do today), but to become empowered change agents — equipped to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future. This means cultivating not only professional and technical expertise, but also inner capacities such as agency, compassion, courage, hope, and meaning-making.

To put this into action, ALIGN seeks to transform higher education by integrating inner development into academic curricula and structures. To achieve this, the project aligns established academic frameworks with inner development goals, pilots innovative and integrative student programs, creates accessible digital learning guides, and provides educator training and capacity building across partner institutions and beyond.

This approach equips both students and educators with the inner capacities and tools needed to foster resilience, navigate complexity and drive sustainable solutions in a rapidly changing world.

ALIGN is funded by ERASMU+ and is connected to the International University Coalition for Student Inner Development: https://universityinnerdevelopment.org/

For more information about ALIGN, please see: https://www.contemplative-sustainable-futures.com/general-1-1