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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine sustainability-related challenges in the two Western Balkan countries – Albania and Kosovo. It discusses the opportunities of local higher education institutions (HEIs) taking responsibility to tackle these challenges by providing professional development through science–society collaboration in innovative training sessions for university educators. Design/methodology/approach A literature review on actual challenges and transformations of higher education for sustainable development (ESD) in Albania and Kosovo will be the starting point of this paper. Subsequently, experiences from the on-going European Union (EU) project “ConSus” will be used to draw both a competence framework for ESD within science–society collaboration based on the training sessions, as well as possible scaling opportunities. Findings The paper draws possible approaches of training sessions for university educators promoting sustainable development and science–society collaboration in higher education. They will be concluded by addressing possible scaling opportunities of the project’s activities. Practical implications The experiences of the ConSus training sessions will outline competences of university educators in ESD gained in relation to transdisciplinary collaboration in research and teaching. Originality/value The paper will contribute to ESD approaches in higher education in Albania and Kosovo. Furthermore, scaling possibilities will be discussed to systematically implement ESD approaches also in higher hierarchical levels and other HEIs.

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Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Albania and Kosovo have invested considerable efforts to tackle present regional sustainability challenges on a research-based and strategic level. This happened through their traditional role as a provider of research and education. Additional activities fostering HEIs as a driver for sustainable regional development and innovation have been initiated as part of their third mission. However, customized education approaches were missing in order to fulfill specific regional demands of different research and learning projects in collaboration with regional actors. This paper explores the recently finished project “Connecting Science-Society Collaboration for Sustainability Innovation—ConSus” which focuses on the efforts of HEIs in Albania and Kosovo to tackle present regional sustainability challenges in both countries. An analytical framework regarding collaborative learning opportunities towards sustainable regional development and innovation has been drafted based on five key elements (capacities of HEIs in regional development, planning, learning and implementation theory, and action research). This framework has been applied to analyze the learning activities of the ConSus project. As a main finding, customized education approaches in the contexts of sustainable development (SD) and collaboration of scientific and regional actors are important elements to cope comprehensively with real-world problems.