The article presents experiences in developing key sustainability competences in the context of universities’ collaboration projects. Examples of education for sustainable development principles’ implications in the process of teaching foreign languages are described. The analyses of cooperation of a Russian university with a regional university and an international university are given. The emphasis is made on possibilities of using modern digital technologies and online technologies for students’ communication at distance. Students’ perception of participating in cooperation projects is outlined. Ways of teaching staff collaboration are discussed and analysed. The results demonstrate the possibility of establishing mutually beneficial academic relationships allowing effective implementing principles of sustainable development in practice.