VUCA World: How Universities should address it

VUCA initials (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) refer to the actual world: unpredictable, changing, complex, confusing and difficult to read. The term was first used back in the 90s to define the world after the Cold War. Later it was applied to companies.

CEU Universities sense this VUCA or liquid environment as a challenge rather than a threat. In fact, to behave fluently in these circumstances it is vital to learn from our mistakes and consider failures as opportunities to learn. Therefore, resilience and the capacity to outdo oneself turn out to be essential to adapt to this ever changing environment.

The keys: innovation and internationalization

To contribute with the best education of our students for this uncertain future, we have to adapt the way we teach, applying new technologies and always focusing on educational innovation. The objective is that students from CEU Universities will be capable of organizing themselves and creating, in addition to translate into practice their knowledge. All of it oriented to improve both their own lives and the society as a whole. This goes in line with the basic principles governing the educational model of our University centres based on Christian Humanism.

Therefore, CEU Universities prepare our students to be capable of:

• Quickly adapting to changes.
• Being flexible.
• Handling uncertainty.
• Foreseeing problems.
• Being capable of making agile decisions establishing priorities.
• Being resilient.

Moreover international approach turns out to be the key. Only by providing the students with a global overview will they be successful in a world with faded frontiers. Thus they will be able to adapt to multicultural working environments being able to develop professionally in other countries and cultures without difficulty. Therefore they have to rely on competences and skills to eliminate psychological constraints such as the environment or insecurity. Only this way will they make the most of the opportunities they may have and enrich themselves with every step they take.

Our times require deep changes in the ways to access knowledge, developing and transmitting it. Therefore, Universities assume the responsibility of creating the necessary thinking to serve as a guide for these changes. Therefore it is necessary to bear in mind that:

– The professor is the main transformation actor so Universities have to attract and retain the best academic talents.

– Research is key and has to be transversal to all activities and academic processes affecting both the transformation of society and technological progress.

– Innovation from a critical point of view is essential to achieve the best results.

This commitment to change in Universities is crucial to transform the management of knowledge. It will be the only way to adopt the role of fundamental creator of the appropriate social transformation.