Sustainable development is one of the main challenges our societies faces. However, as point out, sustainability must be understood on a triple environmental, financial and social basis.

In September 2015, the United Nations (from now on UN) presented the document “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which had the unanimous support of world leaders. This agreement implied a new international agenda that, from 1 January 2016, should aim at advancing in the fulfilment of the 17 objectives for the year 2030. This path, classified as one of the most relevant global agreements in our recent history, aspires to progress in an alliance towards a more sustainable future. Therefore, the 2030 agenda has become a horizon from state to local, for public institutions, companies, organisations, and also for universities.

Ending poverty in all its forms is the first of these objectives (from now on SDG1), and the UN defines it not only as a human rights problem that affects hunger but also as the absence of opportunities, limited access to essential services and social participation . Furthermore, a European consensus agrees on using the AROPE indicator (At risk of poverty or social exclusion) to measure this phenomenon. This indicator compiles the population who are either at risk of poverty, materially and socially deprived or living in a household with a very low work intensity (Those people who live with a low income (taking as a threshold 60% of the median equivalent income), who suffer from severe material deprivation (at least 4 of the nine defined elements) and/or those who live in households with very low or no employment intensity (in a household with two adults it is equivalent to only one person working part-time). . This is the primary indicator to monitor the goal of the 2030 horizon. As a result, the fight against poverty implies building a more just and inclusive society and contributing to eradicate the inequalities present in our societies . The UN encouraged that the different social agents must work towards this objective, involving their environment and their own capacity for action to promote inclusive growth, responsible and sustainable consumption and promote a fairer society with opportunities for all people. In the search for answers to these complex challenges, the universities’ role has become a key component so are influential spaces with leadership capacity and influence in decision-making life .Moreover, universities offer a wide variety of academic services to their territory, not only because of their educational potential, also because of their research capacity, their opportunities for sustainable governance and the projection they develop in their territories through volunteer actions and engagement, among others .

In this sense, they have the ability to advance towards the goals that the UN attributes to SDG1 through its four main lines of action. (1) Its productive capacity can contribute to students applying this approach to all their professional activities. (2) Moreover, its research potential supports innovation to build a more sustainable society, disseminate results, promote debates on poverty’s consequences, and participate in developing strategies and inclusive regulations. (3) The territory outreach of universities makes them leaders in promoting public-private alliances, offering to volunteer, cooperating with the environment, accompanying sustainable growth models, and helping social economy companies. (4) Finally, its internal policy also has the capacity to create a more inclusive university model towards its community, preventing poverty from being a reason for dropping out, promoting equality policies, responsible consumption and the promotion of social clauses on businesses.

The literature review shows that a good part of these actions has been analysed from the social responsibility perspective at the university . However, universities have other opportunities in teaching, research and attention to their students that must be analysed. Similarly, the studies found on the contribution of SDG1 tend to present isolated experiences in some of the lines of action, especially in teaching and research . This study aims to address this research gap by conducting a case study that comprehensively addresses the four lines of action of universities: teaching, research, their relationship with the local environment and their internal policies.

The Public University of Navarre (from now on UPNA) was born 33 years ago in Navarre, a northern Spanish region. It currently has 8431 students, 1104 research faculty, offers 31 undergraduate degrees and 29 master’s degrees, collaborates with 385 companies and public institutions in the territory on the teaching and research framework, and has trained almost 40,000 graduate students ^[1]. This university is located on three campuses, two in its capital, Pamplona, and a third campus in the 2nd city, Tudela, located in the southern part of the region. This implies that the university’s presence is divided into two geographic areas of reference, the South and the North. Since its inception, the Public University of Navarre tried to generate strong links with its territory. The regional proximity and size of its university allowed for closer ties with the environment and generated a dynamic contribution to the economic and social development of the area. As a result, in 2020, this institution topped the Knowledge and Development of universities ranking as the centre that most contributed to the regional development of universities in Spain .