Enhancing education for sustainable development, ESD, in higher education is a global challenge. Most countries have national quality assurance demands for higher education that could benefit ESD. This innovative way to develop ESD has not been investigated before. The authors studied how different higher education institutions enhance ESD, in particular with quality, environmental and integrated management systems. The research was done as an exploratory comparative study. The results in earlier research about curriculum development for ESD from the last years were studied. Based on the results a model of a process for enhancing ESD, which can be used in the management systems, was developed. 27 higher education institutions from the Nordic countries answered a survey and eleven institutions wrote reports of how they are enhancing ESD. The results from the research, survey and institutions were presented at a seminar, where the model was further developed. The authors found that in none of the Nordic countries indicators for SD are included in the quality assurance models of higher education, even though there are demands for enhancing ESD. The majority of the replies stated that the institutions have a clear connection between ESD and quality assurance and it is implemented differently in many parts of the management systems. The findings from the survey and the pilot institutions are restricted to faculty involved in enhancing ESD in higher education the Nordic countries. The findings can be used by the responsible for developing ESD and/or management systems in different higher education institutions.