Universities Providing Upskilling and Reskilling Opportunities for Sustainable Future

The fourth set of articles from The Future of Universities Thoughtbook | Universities During Times of Crisis introduces President of Santander Universities, Matías Rodriguez Inciarte, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, Dhanjay Jhurry and Vice President for Utilisation and Innovation at Chalmers University of Technology, Fredrik Hörstedt. 

In his article ‘IMAGINE the Future Digital University’, Matías Rodriguez Inciarte imagines the university that is fully digital in its nature and provides ultimate access to upskilling and reskilling opportunities. A university that also provides digital skills to its alumni and the society in general, to make everyone in the society digitally literate. 

In his article ‘Universities to Intensify Efforts to Keep SDGs of Track Post COVID-19’, Dhanjay Jhurry envisions universities leading the way in digitalisation and implementation of sustainable development goals and getting our society closer to achieving the 2030 Agenda. Universities can play a more prominent role now that it is time to act taking into account lessons drawn from the pandemic. 

In his article ‘IMAGINE Smart Policymakers and Funding Organisations Stimulating Entrepreneurial Competence of Universities AND Improving Their Investment Yield at the Same Time’, Fredrik Hörstedt discusses the need for entrepreneurial competence amongst both faculty and students, to ensure universities go from providing input to impact. He also identifies it as a smart investment, as entrepreneurial competence is also a mean for policy makers and funding organisations to increase the return on investments. 

The Future of Universities Thoughtbook | Universities During Times of Crisis is a compilation of 45 perspectives of international thought and practice leaders. 

The Thoughtbook has gathered the perspectives of leaders and champions at the forefront on how universities can shape the world during times of crisis, presenting a range of possible futures. This edition creates a vision for the future of higher education institutions and how they will impact their communities during times of crisis, complementing the inaugural international Future of Universities Thoughtbook and the Australian and North American editions. The contributions are divided into six thematic sections – Imagine a University…, Crisis as a Driving Force, Disrupting Teaching and Learning, Collision of Technology and Humanity, Socially Engaged University and Entrepreneurship and University-Industry Interaction. Together, the articles provide a 360-degree view of universities from the perspective of different stakeholder groups. 

For more information and to order or download your copy of The Future of Universities Thoughtbook | Universities During Times of Crisis visit our website www.futureuniversities.com 

Header photo by laimannung on Unsplash