This article describes how a group of language undergraduates in a local university in the periphery in the Global South conceptualised and enacted the notion of the 'ecological university'. Theoretically grounded in critical and post-humanist perspectives on education, and language education in particular, and notions of the ecological and the measured university, this qualitative study was conducted in 2018-19. Students created artistic multimodal works to portray their visions of the ecological university prompted by a language course syllabus and an arts-based methodology. They complemented their creations with concrete activism in their social milieu to contribute to making their university ecological. Combining discourse, content and post-qualitative analyses, findings show that the students envisioned three essential elements to enact the transformative role of their university: a) love for and commitment to others; b) a human rights education foundation; and c) a basis in local activism. Implications for pedagogy are considered, centred on the significance of arts-based pedagogies and methodologies to challenge predominant characterisations of the accountable university in the setting and foster student activism.