Education in the 21st century faces the challenge of adapting to rapid technological and social change. Developing sustainability and digital competencies is crucial, however it is also important to go beyond traditional teaching methods and promote innovative and interdisciplinary approaches. Higher education must adapt to change, but every innovation requires thoughtful, didactically appropriate integration. Teaching staff face new demands, yet many enter higher education sector without prior pedagogical education and pedagogical competencies. The need for 21st century skills made everything even more challenging. Higher education institutions should support continuous professional development of their teaching staff, offer basic pedagogical training, promote innovative didactic approaches, and address key topics like use of digital technology, concern for sustainable development. The focus of the present research is on university teaching staff and their professional development. Within the pilot project Strengthening Learning and Teaching for the Sustainable Society of the Future (INOVUP ULTRA), training programs are organized to enhance knowledge transfer among university teaching staff. The project includes courses and workshops aimed at developing teaching competencies in innovative approaches, sustainability, and digital competencies by implementing innovative teaching approaches, engaging students in innovative learning experiences, and ensuring the didactically correct integration of digital, information, and communication technologies into courses, as well as sustainability content into degree programs

The following research questions will be addressed:
1) How do university teaching staff perceive their own teaching competencies?,
2) In which content areas do they lack additional training?,
3) What key factors influence their decision to participate in a specific training?,
4) What are their expectations for an effective training program?, and
5) How do training programs enhance sustainability and digital competencies of participants?

This study uses a quantitative research approach. A questionnaire was designed to investigate teaching staff’s self-perceived teaching competencies, their desire to develop teaching competence and their perspectives on designing an effective training program at the university level. A total of 236 university teaching staff from the University of Ljubljana participated in the study, and a total of 25 training programs were performed. The results showed that participants lack more structured, hands-on training with examples of practical integration into curricula. Participants expressed strong interest in further training on advanced AI tools and sustainability-focused teaching strategies. The results showed that they primarily participate in training programs to gain as much practical, applicable knowledge on effectively integrating new content into their teaching process (88%). Effective training should balance theory and practice, encourage interaction, and provide opportunities for questions. It must be well-structured, accessible, with hands-on learning, clear objectives and delivered in a didactically appropriate way. Some respondents requested more practical application of digital tools and how to integrate sustainability content into curricula.

Keywords: Higher Education Training, Teaching Competencies, Sustainability competencies, Digital Competencies, Professional Development, Higher education teachers.