The future of the University and the University of the Future. Ecosystems of continuous training for a learning and teaching society sustainable and responsible

Abstract

Today's society is characterized by its complex, interdependent, dynamic and informational nature, in which individuals and legal entities that are integrated into a political, social, economic, ecological, physical-finite environment and with limited resources concur. In this context, different macro-trends are temporarily and interdependently consolidated, accelerating processes exponentially in all areas. This leads to the emergence of new economic, political and social models that require people to permanently adapt their skills, which are necessary to avoid generating polarization, exclusion and insurmountable literacy gaps. Universities that have been places of generation and transmission of knowledge must understand, accept and adapt to the emerging context and anticipate future situations, since if they do not do so, their missions will become irrelevant and they will be displaced as educational agents and references. In this article, we take a look at all these questions and propose an ecosystem model for training and learning contextualised to the new demands of the European Higher Education Area, taking into account the principles that guide the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and which is being materialised in the Institute for Educational Research and Innovation (Spanish acronym: INIE) of the University of Oviedo through educational research and innovation projects and transversal training programmes.