Creating Sustainable Collaborative Spaces for Professional Growth: A Cross-Institutional Study in Higher Education

Addressing the urgent need for sustainable transformation in higher education, this paper explores how a collaborative action research group of teacher educators from different institutions contributed to higher education transformation through sustainable education approaches. Drawing on cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT), we analyze how cross-institutional partnerships fostered personal and professional development through digital collaboration, regular online meetings, and reflective dialogue. The study employed participatory action research, using weekly reflective journals and group meetings as mediating tools supporting sustained professional learning. Findings indicate that building common ground across institutional contexts and investing in trust-building cultivated a meaningful collaborative environment, a “third space” that mediated expansive learning and professional transformation. Within this space, the diversity of institutional backgrounds enriched the activity system, and productive contradictions served as generative mechanisms that catalyze expansive learning by exposing participants to diverse institutional perspectives. The study further shows that sustainable collaboration emerged not from formal institutional structures but from shared ownership, cultural alignment, and relational commitment. These social and cultural processes supported the development of systems-thinking, strategic-thinking, and interpersonal competencies supporting sustainable professional development. The study highlights the potential of sustainable cross-institutional spaces as a model for professional growth in higher education.