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Redefining Education:

Navigating Sustainability and Innovation in a VUCA World
University of Westminster Hybrid Conference
July 16-18, 2025 with extended access

Redefining Education:

Navigating Sustainability and Innovation in a VUCA World

In a world increasingly subject to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) the goal of sustainability is aspirational, yet elusive.  A UN report published in 2024 notes that “intensifying, interconnected challenges continue to endanger the realization” of the seventeen sustainable development goals identified by the UN Sustainability Conference twelve years ago in Rio de Janeiro.  This is especially true in education, which the report correctly terms “the bedrock of sustainable development.”   It notes the negative effects of the COVID epidemic, regional conflicts, climate shock, and economic turmoil and paints a picture of a planet struggling to make progress towards them. While the big picture may be less than perfect, there is still much cause for hope, as we strive towards a better future.

Against this backdrop, the International Conference on Improving University Teaching seeks to address the challenge of sustainability, equity, and innovation as they affect higher education. In particular, we are exploring how to prepare students for a “VUCA world” in which they will have to contend with multiple challenges, while at the same time ensuring their wellbeing—and that of all academic staff—in the present. By definition, a future subject to uncertainty and ambiguity will require flexibility and adaptability on the part of students.

Our 51st conference will explore both the challenges the VUCA world poses to the traditional university curriculum and possible positive responses. Once again this year’s conference will be a hybrid event. Our in-person host for 2025 is the University of Westminster in London. Founded in 1838 and serving 19,000 students drawn from over 160 countries, the university cultivates a rich array of industrial partnerships that offer placements and work experience in more than 180 different sites, thereby presenting an instructive example of how university education can be redefined.  Other sessions will be held within the hybrid format we have successfully used since 2020. We hope many participants will attend the conference in person in London, but also warmly welcome those who choose to participate in the limited remote programme.

51st Annual Conference:
July 31-Aug 2, 2024 + Extended Access

Our four subthemes this year are:

Education for sustainable development:

Student, teachers and staff need to ensure their wellbeing in the present while at the same time preparing to play a leadership role in confronting the VUCA challenges in the future.  This balance is all the more difficult to attain in conflict zones, where even a bare minimum of support and educational continuity are hard to achieve. How can we best prevent student and staff burnout?  What specific knowledge, skills and values should we be fostering among students faced with climate change and ongoing military conflict?

Enduring relevance of education:

Higher education becomes most significant when it enables students to function well in their careers after graduation. This can be achieved by helping students to develop a range of skills while still at university through community engagement and academic partnerships with industry, NGOs, or the Third Sector. Given the unpredictability of the “VUCA world” in which we live and work, what can best ensure that the learning they experience ensures higher education remains relevant?

Transformative learning:

The premise of transformative learning is that learning should help students become aware of the frame of reference within which they reach their judgments through self-reflection and thus broaden their capacity to engage with other points of view.  In an increasingly diverse campus, where equity and equality are viewed differently by different groups, how can we best help students both identify, remain true to or develop and change their own values while at the same time expanding their ability to understand and communicate with “the other” in a genuine and meaningful way?

Technological and digital emerging trends:

Though the rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has often outstripped our capacity to grasp its potential both as an aid and as an obstacle to learning, those who fear its effects in academe seem more numerous than its supporters.  What new knowledge tools do AI and other digital technologies offer that might be of use?  And how can we best integrate technological innovation into the existing curriculum to prepare our students for the current world of work, while safeguarding against its dangers?

Expect to enjoy:

Sharing tips on resources
Collaborating with colleagues
Virtual and real meetups
Exchanging materials
Asking for advice or help
Innovative strategies
New technologies and methods
Friendly, easy, stress-free networking
Accelerate your growth

IUT 2024 group photo
University of Westminster

Hello from 2024

A group photo of the Milwaukee attendees at the 2024 conference.

Scenes from the 2023 Conference

Feedback from Attendees:

“An amazing end to a dreary year. The conference lifted my spirits.”

“Inspiring experience! Thank you for organizing such a wonderful conference!”

“This was like therapy. I felt energized to be with people from all over the world who are working in their own ways to improve university teaching. Thank you for the inspirations I have gained.”

“Thank you for a great conference — the organization was PERFECT, the timetable great, with lots of informative sessions… I really enjoyed the conference and hope to attend again.”

“Thank you so much for the experience. I really enjoyed the conference and meeting so many informed people. The conference team were excellent, and Janina and Anne were magnificent.”

Presenter Award

IUT Poster Prize:

IUT poster prize logoThe IUT Poster Prize is awarded each year by a vote of the conference participants and recognizes the effective interplay between content and design. Winners will receive a certificate and a 50% reduction in the registration fee for next year’s conference, given to a person of their choice.