Students Organizing for Sustainability International

What Students Organizing for Sustainability International does

SOS International (Students Organizing for Sustainability International) is a UK-hosted, non-profit membership organization that coordinates a global network of student-led sustainability initiatives. Its primary customers are higher education institutions (Green Offices and Chapter Institutions), student and youth organizations, NGOs, and national/regional student unions across Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and North America. The organization operates with a 2-year rotating presidency (2025-27 held by OCLAE) and a small core staff of 9, hosted in-kind by founding member SOS-UK and the All-Africa Students Union.

The organization's core product is the Green Office Model — a student-led, staff-supported sustainability hub that drives a whole-institution approach to embedding sustainability in higher education. Originally developed by students at Maastricht University in 2010, the model was inherited by SOS International in 2022, is UNESCO-award winning, and has been applied at over 100 universities globally. The organization complements the model with monthly member networking sessions, webinars, training, annual summits (100+ delegates), and advocacy at UN forums including COP conferences and the UN High-Level Political Forum.

Revenue is generated primarily through event ticket sales (e.g., summit registrations via Eventbrite with tiered pricing such as the Copernicus Alliance Summit at 20-40 EUR), while membership is free. The organization benefits from in-kind hosting of staff by partner organizations, formal partnerships with UNEP, ILO, UNICEF, the Global Student Forum, the Copernicus Alliance, and Times Higher Education, and a 2-year rotating presidency that distributes governance across member organizations. In 2026, SOS International launched a new Chapter Institutions membership category and is scheduled to host its flagship summit at the University of Konstanz, Germany.

Name

Students Organizing for Sustainability International

Legal name

Students Organizing for Sustainability International

Website

https://sos.earth

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SOS International is a UK-hosted non-profit that coordinates a global network of student-led sustainability initiatives across higher education institutions and youth organizations, scaling impact through the UNESCO-recognized Green Office Model and free membership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Education and Student Network Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Political Organizations (81394)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Intergovernmental Education Cooperation & Bilateral/Multilateral Programs (EDADALAA), Technical Committees, Working Groups & Expert Panels (BPADANAB)

Keywords

• Sustainability education
• Student organization networking
• Green office programs
• Nonprofit membership network
• Environmental capacity building

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockport

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Membership is free for organizations and institutions. The organization supports members with outreach, collaboration, learning, inspiration, support, and access to resources at no cost.
2. Event tickets and registrations: The annual SOS-International summit sells tickets via Eventbrite with various delegate packages including single-day passes, whole-event tickets, and add-ons for evening meals and social events. Group bookings available via purchase order and invoicing.
3. Event registration fees: Copernicus Alliance Higher Education Summit partnership: 40 EUR for non-members, 30 EUR for members, 20 EUR for students, with fully-funded scholarships available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

SOS International operates a global, free, membership-based network that connects student-led sustainability initiatives at universities, schools, and supporting NGOs across Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and North America. The organization inherits and disseminates the UNESCO-recognized Green Office Movement, an office-based sustainability engagement framework, and runs capacity-building activities including an annual international summit, monthly member networking calls, webinars, and workshops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Green Office Movement: A student-led, staff-supported sustainability hub program that drives a whole institution approach to embedding sustainability within higher education institutions. The Green Office Model was developed by students at Maastricht University in 2010 and has been applied at over 100 universities across Europe and globally.

Products and services

• SOS International Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 Green Office implementations across Europe and globally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Copernicus AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 November 2025SOS International partnered with the Copernicus Alliance board to organize the Higher Education Summit on 19-20 November, along with oikos international and Students for Sustainability (Bern).
• OxfamminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2025Oxfam worked in close partnership with the All-Africa Students Union Environment & Climate Action Working Group to organize a tree planting exercise at Ghanata Senior High School, Ghana.
• Times Higher EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 June 2025Times Higher Education organizes the Global Sustainable Development Congress and supports and sponsors the Student Action Groups' attendance at GSDC events including Jakarta 2026.
• SulitestminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 June 2025Sulitest sponsored student representatives' attendance at the GSDC Istanbul 2025 workshop.
• Kedge Business SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 June 2025Kedge Business School sponsored student representatives' attendance at the GSDC Istanbul 2025 workshop.
• International Labour Organisation (ILO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024The Green Jobs for Youth Pact (GYJP) is a collaborative initiative by ILO, UNEP, and UNICEF. SOS International collaborated on the Green Skills Workshop and research report as part of this initiative.
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024UNICEF co-leads the Green Jobs for Youth Pact with ILO and UNEP, working with young people, governments and partners to create meaningful learning and employment opportunities by 2030.
• Global Student Forum (GSF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSOS International is an associate member of the Global Student Forum (GSF). The organizations are working together on supporting students' unions around the world to take action on climate emergency and ecological crisis.
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSOS International is a formal educational partner of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The organizations work together to garner insight about the attitudes and opinions of young people towards sustainability while also collaborating on a joint advocacy program on campuses across the world. Collaborated on Green Skills and Jobs research project.
• Higher Education Sustainability Initiative, Student Action Group (HESI-SAG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSOS International is a member organization of the UN Higher Education Sustainability Initiative, Student Action Group (HESI-SAG), an open partnership between several United Nations entities and the higher education community. The organization sits on the monthly assembly and several sub-groups.
• All-Africa Students Union (AASU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAll-Africa Students Union is a partner organization that kindly hosts SOS International's communications officers as part of their presidency. AASU and SOS International collaborate on events including the GSDC Jakarta 2026 student delegation.
• European Students' Union (ESU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Students' Union is a partner organization. ESU and SOS International co-organized the panel session and workshop 'From Frameworks to Practice' at the GSDC Istanbul 2025.
• oikos internationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partneroikos international is a partner organization. They co-convened the student delegation at GSDC Jakarta 2026 with SOS International and other organizations.
• Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSOS-UK is the founding member that hosts SOS International. SOS-UK is a registered charity in the UK (charity registration number: 1184011). The staff team is currently hosted by SOS-UK.
• International Climate Students MovementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization co-convening student delegation at GSDC Jakarta 2026.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• European Students' Union (ESU): ESU represents over 20 million students across Europe and is a strategic partner of SOS International. Both organizations work on sustainability transformation in higher education, with SOS International providing student-engagement expertise while ESU provides policy advocacy muscle on the same topic.
• All-Africa Students Union (AASU): AASU represents students across Africa and hosts SOS International's communications officers. The two organizations co-convene events and collaborate on environmental and climate action working groups, making AASU a directly comparable student-led continental sustainability advocacy network.
• Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK): SOS-UK is the founding member of SOS International and operates as a registered UK charity (1184011) running parallel sustainability programs in higher education. It hosts the SOS International staff team and shares the same mission of embedding sustainability across universities through student-staff collaboration.
• oikos international: oikos international is a global student-led sustainability network with chapters at universities worldwide, focused on transforming economics and management education for sustainability. It is a core strategic partner of SOS International, co-convening events like GSDC Jakarta 2026, making it directly comparable in mission and student-led network model.
• Copernicus Alliance: Copernicus Alliance is a network of European higher education institutions committed to sustainable development. SOS International partnered with Copernicus Alliance board to organize the Higher Education Summit 2025, making them directly comparable as a higher education sustainability network.
• Global Student Forum (GSF): Global Student Forum is a coalition of student unions worldwide representing over 150 million students. SOS International is an associate member, and both organizations collaborate on climate emergency and ecological crisis advocacy, making them comparable as global student-led advocacy networks.
• Climate Students Movement: Climate Students Movement is a youth-led global organization coordinating student climate strikes and advocacy. It is a minor strategic partner of SOS International co-convening GSDC Jakarta 2026, and shares the mission of mobilizing student voices on climate and sustainability.

Regional players

• National Union of Students UK (NUS): NUS UK is a UK-based student union confederation, with SOS-UK and SOS International operating from within the NUS charity structure. It represents the broader student representation ecosystem from which SOS International's sustainability-focused work has emerged.

Broad incumbents

• UNESCO Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI): UNESCO HESI is the broader UN-led partnership that includes the Student Action Group (HESI-SAG) where SOS International sits as a member organization. It represents the institutional incumbent in higher education sustainability policy that SOS International operates within and helps shape.
• UNEP Youth and Education Network: UNEP is the formal educational partner of SOS International and operates its own youth engagement programs globally. As the UN system entity setting the global environmental agenda, UNEP represents a much larger incumbent player with overlapping mission focus on youth environmental leadership.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xinstagram.com/sos_dot_earth
• Facebookfacebook.com/sos.dot.earth
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/students-organizing-for-sustainability-international
• Instagraminstagram.com/sos_dot_earth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Students Organizing for Sustainability International