If they want to adapt to the accelerating pace of global and technological change, universities around the world would benefit from reinventing themselves. What assets do they have to assert themselves as “laboratories of transition” in the face of current challenges?

Today we are facing what Edgar Morin called a “polycrisis.” Global challenges of all kinds are facing us, threatening many of our global commons, and thus the viability of our species. By global commons, we mean natural commons such as climate and biodiversity; cultural commons such as trust, democracy, and education; and new digital commons such as open-source data .

In this context, the university is also at a crossroads. With a centuries-old history of resilience and adaptation, heir to the ideals of the Enlightenment and anchored in the paradigms inherited from the Industrial Revolution, it must today adapt its fundamental missions – education, research, and societal development – ​​to the challenges of our time.

If they want to adapt to the acceleration of global and technological change, all universities across the planet would benefit from reinventing themselves.

The traditional university model is running out of steam

The golden age of the university seems to be over. A product of modernity in the West, of its advances in ideas and technologies, it also bears its limitations and perpetuates (often unconsciously) disciplinary paradigms, and sometimes a colonial , patriarchal and extractivist legacy, rooted in European history .

But this is only one aspect of the multidimensional crisis that universities are going through today, a crisis that affects their fundamental missions of education, research and contribution to the development of societies as a whole.

The educational mission of the university is being called into question: students expect to be trained in skills that will enable them to be agents of change (in entrepreneurship, sustainability, digital technology, society), but university structures, sometimes rigid, do not always manage to adapt their content and formats quickly enough to the needs of young people faced with the urgency of transitions.

Conversely, academic paths remain largely within disciplinary frameworks that are not very open to a diversity of knowledge. However, the future of education rests on “polyversity,” a model that encourages collaboration between communities to address global challenges.

The university’s research mission is also in crisis. Research professors operate within a system that values ​​hyper-productivity (“publish or perish,” the race for funding, etc.) and competition (measured by the volume of scientific output or institutional reputation) in order to be the best in the world, when they should aspire to be “the best for the world.”

On the other hand, universities are now facing competition from agile and hybrid players (companies, NGOs, think tanks) who are better able to offer concrete solutions to current challenges, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), which is nevertheless essential.

The university’s ultimate mission, that of contributing to the development of society, is also eroding. Academic institutions lack the resources to respond quickly and broadly enough to the major challenges of today and are too often constrained by political or economic interests, as the situation in the United States demonstrates .

The emergence of artificial intelligence exacerbates the university crisis

The accelerated evolution of AI models capable of performing the majority of intellectual and cognitive tasks is forcing universities to take on an even greater challenge. They are already on the verge of losing their educational monopoly with personalized learning offered by AI and, in the long term, risk losing their role as knowledge producers as AI now achieves Nobel Prize-worthy expertise in ever more fields.

As knowledge ceases to be a “competitive advantage” for universities, students, and researchers alike, they must rethink what makes them unique and demonstrate the added value of their humanity. Moreover, in a world saturated with AI, young people, already struggling with fragile mental health , will be affected by the technological changes underway, which intensify their anxiety.

The university has all the assets to accept its global mission

Faced with this polycrisis, universities have no choice but to redefine their purpose: “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we have only one,” said Confucius. Universities are entering their second life: some are already being forced to close, and many more will disappear if they don’t adapt.

However, the university institution holds all the cards to reinvent itself and contribute to the world of tomorrow. It is a place where future generations gather and where change is born, a space where the common goods of humanity are cultivated (natural, cultural, and technological commons), a crossroads of intelligences (personal, collective, artificial intelligence), and a place where we can imagine new models of participatory governance.

Faced with the environmental, societal, cognitive, social, and technological polycrisis that we face, a large-scale transition is necessary, and the university, if it knows how to transform itself, seems to be the only organization that can act as a “builder of the future.” Indeed, it alone holds knowledge in all disciplines, connects generations, sectors, and communities, is anchored locally, connected globally, and is driven by the general interest.

Interdisciplinary, intergenerational, intercultural, socio-ecological: the university has the capacity to take on the role of weaver of links, at the origin of ecosystems of learning and innovation capable of repairing, reweaving and regenerating the social fabric and the planetary commons.

This weaving role supports the university’s new mission: to facilitate transition. This mission—transnational and global—integrates and revitalizes the university’s original functions: education, research, and societal development. It ensures that universities around the world embrace the urgent task of leading humanity toward sustainable, equitable, and peaceful futures.

The university must first reinvent itself from within

Universities cannot serve as laboratories for transition if they do not enter into transition themselves. They must first conduct research to reinvent their own structures, be able to evolve with the arrival of each new generation of students, and think not only on a national scale but also on a global scale, with the well-being of the planet at the heart of their strategy. But above all, they must embody the ethics of the future, an ethic based on compassion and solidarity.

Many examples already exist around the world: historic universities like Oxford University are developing core programs on futures and global issues. Other universities like Arizona State University are integrating sustainability, innovation, and interdisciplinarity into their curriculum, while entrepreneurial universities Utrecht and Aalto are focusing on ecosystem management, sustainability, and regenerative design.

Finally, ecoversities like Universidad de Medio Ambiente (UMA) or UCI are adopting regenerative approaches for local and global communities, and institutions like the Learning Planet Institute , in partnership with the United Nations University and UNESCO, are based on the need to co-construct the future with younger generations and principles of collective intelligence and open source collaboration.

Every university, regardless of its size, region, or position in “best in the world” rankings, can make a profound change in its mission to become “best for the world.”

This is a historic opportunity that all stakeholders in the global university system can seize.

Author Bio: François Taddei is President (Chief Exploration Officer) and Pavel Luksha is an Associate Researcher both at the Learning Planet Institute (LPI)