Prioritizing cross-disciplinary competencies for thesis transferability

Abstract

Anticipating the challenges of a sustainable future requires a set of specific competencies, often called future skills. They range from systems-thinking, anticipatory future-thinking, normative value-thinking, entrepreneurial and strategic thinking, data literacy to both intrapersonal and interpersonal qualities of collaborative, integrated problem-solving and implementation (cf. Kirchherr et al. 2019; Brundiers et al 2021; OECD 2021). Future oriented learning assignments have to address these competencies and adequate solutions have to be provided for acquiring them. In many cases, due to fixed structures of curricula and accreditation processes related approaches are perceived as limiting and bureaucratic in order to adequately correspond to the dynamic of future skills for transformative action. In fact, they have to be addressed now in order to unfold their full potential soon in the future.