Background

In 2015, the global community adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a target year of 2030. However, we have stalled or gone into reverse on some 37 percent of the global goals. There is an urgent need to get the goals back on track or we risk irreparable harm to global progress.

Given the urgency, education (specifically higher education)—once a gateway to human advancement—has become constrained by non-responsive systems prioritising standardisation over character development, information over knowledge, and productivity without consideration forover purpose.

In the face of digital disruption, ecological challenges, and social fragmentation, there is a great need to transform education: one rooted in character/self-development and responsible leadership.

Given that the private sector is one of the key drivers in global development, engagement with businesses is crucial to accelerate action on the SDGs. The UN Global Compact is the principal UN entity overseeing private sector engagement in achieving the SDGs and beyond, and the UN Global Compact’s initiative focused on higher education, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), leads efforts in preparing present and future leaders for responsible leadership. PRME is a global network, present in over 90 countries reaching 4+ million students.

Together with Tsao Pao Chee, PRME under the UN Global Compact will lead an Education Innovation Summit entitled “Reimaging the Future of Higher Education” as the first co-creative step in shaping a future that embodies the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and beyond, including global historical and modern perspectives. The objective is to develop action-oriented measures to transform the future of higher education - in particular business education. The summit will invite thought leaders and changemakers from across disciplines to come together for an intimate gathering to ideate and create a blueprint for not only higher education, but perhaps a model for the world to adopt.

Purpose

This summit is not a conference — it is a co-design laboratory to seed the foundations of new ways of thinking and reimagine higher education. Its aim is to:

• Reimagine business education around human potential, not institutional efficiency.

• Gather ideas on creating a prototype for a Master’s in Responsible/Quantum Leadership for the Well-being Economy.

• Mobilize stakeholders towards action

Participants (invite-only) will include ~30 high-caliber individuals, selected for:

• Visionary depth (not just academic credentials)
• Practice-driven insight
• Willingness to prototype, iterate, and pilot

Summit Specific Deliverables:

1. Explore and define key components of a prototype curriculum for a Master’s in Quantum Leadership for Business in the Well-being Economy.
2. Commitment Statement for collective action for the future of higher education aligned with the SDGs, multicultural practices, and systemic change.

Key Discussion Themes:

• Given the state of the world and deconstructing the business school/university paradigm, how do we transform education from its current model to better serve society and meet the SDGs and beyond?
• What is knowledge/wisdom in light of the digital transformation?
• How do we integrate technology to serve individuals and society, not replace it?
• How does individual character evolve in a virtual and hybrid world?
• How do we teach and learn in light of all the current/possible future developments?
• What is the role of the private sector in the reimagining of higher education?
• What does accreditation and rankings mean in a global, purpose-driven university?