Purpose: Calculating an organization's carbon footprint is crucial for assessing and implementing emission reductions. Although Finnish higher education institutions (HEIs) aim for carbon neutrality by 2030, limited research exists on plans to reach a similar target in any country. This paper aims to address the shared and individual challenges Finnish HEIs have with carbon footprint calculations, reductions, resources and offsetting. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was targeted to sustainability experts in all 38 HEIs in Finland to identify key patterns and trends in the focus fields of the study. SWOT analysis was used to classify main strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats, based on which a series of policy recommendations was drafted. Findings: Finnish HEIs are committed to carbon footprint tracking (97%, annually by 87%). The lack of standardization and the number of external stakeholders complicate accounting indirect emissions, impeding comparability and reliability. Only 39% had set separate emission reduction targets, suggesting a preference for carbon footprint over other environmental impact indicators. Insufficient monetary and human resources emerged in 23% of institutions, especially those smaller in size. Only 52% had clear offsetting plans, with shared concerns over trust and responsibility. Originality/value: By including both research universities and universities of applied sciences, the findings provide an unprecedented outlook into the entire Finnish HEI sector. The policy recommendations guide HEIs both locally and globally on how to improve their transparency and scientific integrity, reflect on core successes and weaknesses and how they complete their objectives of education, research and social impact while promoting stronger sustainability.

With the simultaneous rise of concern about the climate crisis and the growing internationalization of research institutions, academic mobility poses an “academic paradox”: knowledge of the environmental harm of aviation does not necessarily translate into action. Universities must make changes to their mobility habits if they wish to comply with governmental carbon neutrality targets and lead with example. This research looks at Finland’s 14 universities and identifies the patterns and trends of academic mobility from a series of reports provided by the universities and their travel agencies. Moreover, we mapped the travel destinations to understand the scope of Finnish academic travel. The data revealed that Finnish universities are in different states of sustainability: some acting as clear trendsetters and others lagging. The results show that although the universities are performing well in some areas, as in preferring European destinations over intercontinental ones, there are still areas of improvement related to stopover reduction, the number of 1- and 2-day trips, and alternative transport forms to aviation. There is also a need for the standardization of targets and emission calculators. These key development areas are posed as recommendations through which the universities could easily reduce the carbon footprint of their mobility.