Where Sustainability Meets Experience: A PPGIS Study of Students’ Perceptions on a University Campus

This study applies Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) to explore students’ spatial experiences and perceptions of sustainability on the campus of the University of Pannonia (Veszprém, Hungary), ranked by the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking system. Using the free Map-Me platform, an online participatory mapping survey was conducted in November 2025 among 235 students of the Faculty of Business and Economics. Due to the nature of the free platform, the number of responses to certain questions varied. Respondents identified locations associated with positive experiences and places where sustainability principles are perceived on campus. Spatial data were processed and analysed in QGIS following the exploration–explanation–modelling framework of Fagerholm et al. (2021). Methods included point clustering, heatmap visualisation, buffer and proximity analyses, overlay techniques, and logistic regression modelling to examine the factors influencing positive experiences. Results reveal spatial concentrations of positive experiences primarily near green and communal spaces, while perceived sustainability hotspots only partially overlap with these areas. Proximity to parks and natural features may increase the probability of positive experiences. The findings highlight the importance of green infrastructure and accessible communal areas in shaping students’ campus experiences. The study demonstrates the applicability of PPGIS in campus-scale sustainability assessment and provides spatially explicit insights to support evidence-based campus planning and green university development.