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# Manifesto for the Planetary Mission of the University

Pavel Luksha, François Taddei

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Pavel Luksha, François Taddei. Manifesto for the Planetary Mission of the University. 2025. hal-05029970

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# Manifesto for the Planetary Mission of the University

By Pavel Luksha & François Taddei

## Abstract

Universities stand at a critical juncture amid accelerating global challenges, collectively known as the *polycrisis*. Despite a centuries-long history of resilience and adaptation, the traditional university model—shaped by Enlightenment ideals and embedded in modern industrial paradigms—now faces a convergence of disruptions that threaten its core missions of education, research, and societal development. These include intensifying pressures to provide more relevant and agile learning, the ascendancy of advanced technologies such as AI that outpace conventional research & learning infrastructures, and growing skepticism about academia's ability to address urgent planetary and social crises.

This Manifesto proposes a *Planetary Mission* for universities: an evolution from knowledge gatekeepers to *bridge-builders* that orchestrate transdisciplinary solutions, steward the global commons, and nurture inclusive models of learning and governance. We argue that universities must embrace an ethos of “weaving,” fostering ecosystems that integrate multiple forms of intelligence (human, artificial, and beyond), connect intergenerational perspectives, and nurture ethical leadership across global networks. The rise of artificial general intelligence and the ongoing erosion of social trust underscore the urgency of a new model centered on regenerative research agendas, democratic co-creation, and the cultivation of care—both for individuals and for our planetary systems. While pointing out entrenched barriers—such as rigid disciplinary structures, reductive metrics, and political co-optation—we highlight emergent examples of innovative institutions already embodying the transformative potential of a planetary-centered university. The Manifesto concludes by inviting policymakers, funders, academic leaders, and learners themselves to participate in co-creating a higher education ecosystem fit for our collective future.

Confucius famously said that "we have two lives and that our second life starts when we realise we have only one". Being aware of our finite lives may be what makes our species different. Yet our era is special as well as we are becoming aware of that our civilization and even our species have also entered their second life after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an awareness that is growing as we keep inventing ways that threaten our very survival and as multiple crises escalate into what is now called the polycrisis. We believe that Universities are also entering their second life as some of them are already forced to close and as they face ever more challenges that could threaten them if they were not able to evolve.
Thesis 1: We Are at the End of the Golden Era of Universities

1. **Historical resilience of the university**

The university is one of the oldest continuous social institutions, predating even Western European civilization itself. For example, the Mouseion of Alexandria (est. ca. 350 BCE) already exhibited many “university-like” functions, such as scholarly inquiry, collective learning, and dissemination of knowledge. Early versions of universities, though known by other names, existed in Ancient India (Takshashila and Nalanda), China (Taixue), and Arab Caliphate (Bayt al-Hikmah). This remarkable longevity underscores the university’s capacity for adaptation across diverse cultures and historical epochs.

2. **Modern university is a product of Modernity**

The contemporary university, in its widely recognized form, took shape within Western European society. As such, it became a vehicle for producing and reproducing elements of Modernity: its technological and managerial elites, including people who make decisions, and cutting-edge scientific research.

3. **.. and so it carries and multiplies the problems of Modernity**

Despite its significant achievements, universities have also carried forward the limitations of the Modernity worldview - the colonial, patriarchal, and extractive paradigms inherent in European civilization. Through its research and its alumni, universities supported the Modernity paradigm that mostly unwillingly led to environmental degradation, inequality, and social fragmentation. This leads to the iconoclastic perspective that modern universities are, in many regards, part of the problem and not part of the solution.

4. **A century of crisis**

Academic institutions have experienced crises for at least a century. From José Ortega y Gasset's *Mission of the University* to Jacques Derrida's critiques of higher education, repeated tensions have arisen around what universities promise—cultural leadership, advanced research, social uplift—and what they actually deliver. Chronic underperformance, intergenerational conflict, and the ever-expanding expectations placed on universities have contributed to this ongoing strain.

5. **Beneficiaries of the Long Peace (1950–2010s)**

Despite these challenges, universities flourished during the post-World War II era, a period often referred to as the “long peace.” Massification of higher education, coupled with the growing demand for advanced knowledge, catapulted universities into a pivotal social role globally. Over the past decades, demand for higher education and research surged, partly due to the near absence of alternatives. In particular, global tertiary enrollment rose from 32.5 million students in 1970 to over 220 million by 2020, reflecting unprecedented expansion of higher education. No other institution could match the university's breadth of education, credentialing, and research. Yet this “Golden Era” now appears to be reaching its limits as external pressures mount.
**Thesis 2: Enters a “Perfect Storm”: The Crisis of University Missions**

Universities today face an unprecedented convergence of challenges across their core missions—education, research, and societal development. Competing alternatives, shifting demands, political pressures and emerging knowledge paradigms are driving a “perfect storm” that threatens their long-standing role.

At the same time, this crisis reflects the broader crisis of modernity itself. As a pillar of the Enlightenment project, universities have contributed to technocratic, colonial, and extractive models of progress. While these frameworks have fueled scientific and technological advances, they have also contributed to ecological destruction, social inequalities, and the exclusion of alternative knowledge systems. Universities are thus both products and propagators of modernity's contradictions—prioritizing control over nature, hierarchical knowledge structures, and economic growth over planetary and societal well-being.

In the current systemic crises, as these models face scrutiny and collapse, universities must redefine their purpose, moving beyond ever more obsolete paradigms. This transition is further accelerated by the rise of Artificial Intelligence, which—while not the sole driver of the crisis—further disrupts traditional knowledge creation, dissemination, and institutional legitimacy.

**A. The Mission of Education**

* **New demands from employers and students.** Graduates often lack the skills employers need—especially in fast-evolving fields like digital technologies, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. Additionally, young people are calling for education that prepares them to be proactive change-makers rather than passive knowledge recipients. This intensifies calls for rapid, high-quality, action-oriented education that traditional universities struggle to provide.

* **The rise of alternative education providers.** Universities now compete with vocational institutes, corporate academies, EdTech platforms, and lifelong learning programs that evolve much faster and offer more flexible, affordable, and job-relevant training. Many of these alternatives prepare students for roles that did not even exist a few years ago, exposing the rigidity of traditional university structures. In contrast, universities often face slow curriculum adaptation cycles and bureaucratic inertia, leaving graduates underprepared for the rapidly changing world of work and life.

* **The curriculum crisis as part of the crisis of modernity.** Academic programs remain largely shaped by 19th century disciplinary frameworks that exclude diverse epistemologies, Indigenous knowledge, and transdisciplinary approaches. The future of education lies in “polyversity”—a model that embraces multiple ways of knowing and fosters community collaboration to tackle planetary challenges.
## B. The Mission of Research

* **Tension between teaching and research.** Faculty must balance teaching with the relentless demands of the "publish or perish" culture and the race for research funding. This system prioritizes hyper-productivity over meaningful impact, distorting academic priorities and discouraging deep, exploratory inquiry.

* **"Best in the world" versus "Best for the world".** University rankings and performance metrics reinforce a global competition that values prestige and output volume over transformative knowledge creation. Research excellence is too often measured by citation counts and institutional status rather than by its actual contributions to solving humanity's most pressing challenges. Universities are trapped in a race for elite recognition when they should instead be fostering a culture where faculty and students aim to be "best for the world"—creating research that serves planetary well-being rather than institutional prestige.

* **Competition from specialized research centers.** Universities are increasingly challenged by private R&D labs, think tanks, and NGO-based research initiatives, which often produce high-impact findings more rapidly, flexibly, and with greater financial resources. The divide is particularly stark in fields like AI, where well-funded corporate labs far outpace university research in computational power and access to large-scale datasets. As a result, academic institutions are increasingly being pushed to the periphery of knowledge creation in some of the most critical technological frontiers.

* **Ecosystem transition and paradigm shift.** Digital platforms, data-driven methods, and the rise of Artificial Intelligence are reshaping the knowledge ecosystem. University research is not evolving at the same pace as technological and societal transformations. Open-source research networks challenge the traditional closed laboratory model of inquiry, calling for more collaborative and publicly accessible modes.

* **The need for epistemic diversity and alternative knowledge systems.** The dominance of Western-centric monodisciplinary methodologies in research has marginalized interdisciplinarity, indigenous, local, and traditional ecological knowledge systems, despite their critical contributions to sustainability, medicine, and climate science. A pluralistic, transdisciplinary research model is essential for addressing complex global challenges.

## C. The Mission of Societal Development

* **Limited internal competencies.** Universities often lack adequate capabilities to address societal challenges—whether sustainability, social equity, regional development or planetary systemic crises—at the scale and speed required.

* **Governance conflicts.** Existing administrative structures can conflict with ambitions of openness, interdisciplinary and societal engagement, and collaboration.
* **The need for a balanced societal role.** Universities are too often forced to align with dominant power players—governments, corporations, and elite institutions—rather than serving as neutral platforms for societal transformation.

* **Heightened competition for legitimacy.** NGOs, development agencies, social enterprises, and other specialized organizations increasingly position themselves as “development agents,” diminishing the university’s role in societal development.

* **Political co-optation and erosion of freedom of thought and action.** In times of societal stress, universities may be pressured to align with the agendas of dominant power structures. Historical examples include the coercion of German universities in the 1930s and more recent interventions in Turkey and Russia. Similar patterns emerge now across the US, where universities face political pressure to conform to prevailing ideologies. Such developments risk turning universities into conduits for divisive or regressive narratives, undermining the core of the “societal development” mission.

As all their key missions are disrupted, universities may find it hard to continue playing an essential role in society. With the rise of many institutional alternatives, universities risk dissolving into broader networks—losing their exclusivity—unless they adapt and reinvent their “value proposition”. For some time, universities can experience an “institutional entrenchment” protection of their status through existing public and philanthropic funding models and accreditation privileges - but these advantages may rapidly deteriorate in a rapidly changing environment.
# Thesis 3: The Crisis of Universities Will Aggravate With The Further Development of AI and the Possible Rise of AGI

With the possible evolution of AI models towards artificial general intelligence (AGI) that can take over the majority of intellectual and cognitive tasks, universities face even a more profound challenge:

* **Obsolescence of educational models:** With AI-driven personalized learning, universities are losing their monopoly on knowledge transmission. AI tutors can curate, customize, and adapt education at a fraction of the cost, making expensive degree programs economically unsustainable. As knowledge becomes hyper-accessible, universities must shift their focus from credentialing to transformation, mentorship, and community-based learning.

* **Transformation of knowledge creation:** AGI will not only accelerate research but also challenge universities as primary knowledge creators. If AI can generate hypotheses, test theories, and refine knowledge faster than human researchers, will peer review and academic publishing remain relevant? Universities must shift from being producers of knowledge to ethical stewards and meaning-makers, interpreting and guiding the impact of AI-driven discoveries.

* **The end of knowledge as a "competitive advantage":** Within a few years, AI will very likely outperform humans in ever more analytical and problem-solving tasks, rendering many traditional university-taught skills obsolete. Education must shift from memorization and expertise to cultivating wisdom, creativity, and ethical reasoning—areas that AI can't replace. This demands interdisciplinary, experience-based models focused on transformation and impact rather than mere content delivery.

* **Aggravation of the mental health crisis.** Proliferating AI tools and social media platforms intensify anxiety, alienation, and identity issues across the whole population - with youth being particularly vulnerable after the COVID crisis. If universities continue to focus solely on content delivery and credentials, they risk leaving students unprepared to cope with the stress of a polycrisis and AI-intense world. Instead, universities need to nurture a deeper sense of human purpose, helping learners build self-awareness, emotional resilience, and ability to evolve their identity in order to thrive—rather than just survive—in a rapidly changing reality.

In a world where AI can generate knowledge but lacks intrinsic meaning, universities must become hubs for purpose exploration, deep learning, and human connection. Their role will shift from job preparation guiding individuals and communities toward self-discovery, well-being, and collective empowerment. Universities that fail to adapt are likely to become ever more obsolete and turn into relics of a bygone era. Those that thrive will no longer be knowledge factories, but sanctuaries for wisdom, ethical leadership, and human flourishing.
# Thesis 4: University Still Holds a Potential as the Aggregator of Unique Socio-Cultural Capacities and Assets but Needs to Discover Its New Mission

Despite the turbulence, universities retain three essential contributions::

* **The place where the next generation comes together.** Universities uniquely concentrate youth, creating an unparalleled environment for transformative change. Even though today youth voices are not sufficiently heard in decision-making, initiatives like the Pact for the Future emphasize that "no decision should be made without future generations". As one youth delegate to the UN General Assembly put it: "We want to learn to be the change we want to see in the world."

* **The place where essential commons of human civilization are nurtured.** Humanity's collective long-term well-being depends on safeguarding three commons - natural (planetary systems including climate and biosphere), socio-cultural (including science, arts, and history), and, more recently, digital (including open-source codes and data). Universities stand as a place where these commons are studied, and where conditions for their protection and regeneration are established as the interplay between human, technological, and planetary systems. Students and faculty should learn to nurture these commons and be recognized by their contributions to these pillars of Humanity well being.

* **The place where essential types of intelligence come together.** Universities cultivate and bring together individual and collective intelligence, build up and amplify artificial intelligence, and gradually recognize and learn to connect with other types of intelligence including intelligence of non-human lifeforms. This conjunction of various forms of intelligence is a unique opportunity for creating deeper understanding and innovative solutions for most pressing challenges.

* **A place where essential forms of governance are modeled.** Universities can serve as microcosms of various models of leadership and decision-making, including horizontal and democratic ones. As John Dewey observed, "Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife." By involving students, faculty, and staff in transparent governance processes—from budgeting to curriculum design and evolution of purpose—universities help cultivate civic participation and accountability.

This unique concentration of opportunities invites the reassessment of the role that universities can play in the future of humanity.

**The key question:** *Is there a new mission that allows universities not just to preserve their role in the society but to amplify it, leveraging their unique capabilities and assets?*
# Thesis 5: The Rising Need for “Bridge-Builders” Leading Society Toward Just, Peaceful, and Regenerative Futures

We are living in an age of Great Acceleration, where humanity's potential and its ecological footprint both grow at exponential rates. The contradictions in our civilizational model produce a polycrisis—an overlapping set of global challenges (geopolitical tensions, rising inequality, technological and environmental risks) that undermine social sustainability and collective well-being.

## Toward a Safe Space for Humanity

Global thought leaders use “polycrisis” to describe breaches across multiple boundaries that maintain long-term viability of human civilization and our species — such as economic, technological, environmental, and geopolitical. Drawing on frameworks like Kate Raworth’s “Doughnut Economics” and Pavel Luksha’s “Bridgeway Across the Decisive Century,” we identify four critical limits that need to be observed:

* **Planetary boundaries.** These represent the environmental "ceiling," including climate change, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation. Exceeding these limits can destabilize ecosystems critical for human survival. Bringing civilization within the planetary boundaries requires a shift toward regenerative economies and cultures that help the biosphere thrive.

* **Social foundations.** This refers to meeting basic human needs like food, water, shelter, and security. It emphasizes the risk of deepening inequalities, pandemics, and the erosion of social stability. To address the challenges of this boundary, societies need to ensure inclusive well-being by leaving no one behind, addressing democracy, poverty, inequality, and social instability.

* **Technological ceiling.** This includes the risks associated with misusing or losing control of advanced technologies like nuclear energy and weapons, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and autonomous systems. Such technologies could pose existential threats if mishandled. In order to address challenges posed by trespassing this "ceiling", societies need to advance inclusive, responsible innovation that respects ethical considerations.

* **Cognitive and Meaningful foundation.** This less tangible boundary highlights the erosion of trust, shared values, meaning and our ability to govern complex systems, and threats like mass manipulation via AI or the collapse of collective knowledge systems and democracy. It also encompasses the rising mental health crisis, especially among youth—intensified by climate anxiety, technological disruption, and the pressures of social media. Dealing with this boundary will require fostering empathy, dialogue, and peace-building as integral cultural practices.

The polycrisis can thus be seen as a threat to multiple commons — from natural commons such as climate and biodiversity, to cultural commons such as shared trust, democracy and common sense, and towards the recently emerging (but rapidly depleting and polluted by fake news) digital commons including open source codes and open data. Humanity must cultivate both external solutions (through governance, innovation, and resource stewardship) and internal
resilience (through mental well-being, empathy, and shared purpose). Achieving this requires new social contracts, new skill sets, and unprecedented cross-sector cooperation.

**Thesis 6: Universities Are Uniquely Positioned to "Facilitate the Transition"**

A societal transition of this magnitude requires *bridge-builders* — organizations capable of forging continuity between present realities and emerging, more sustainable futures. Successful bridge-builders must possess the following capabilities:

* **Foundational Idea-Shaping:** Developing new paradigms and worldviews that help societies navigate rapid technological and ecological change.

* **Real-Time Data Gathering & Analysis:** Identifying effective strategies for systemic adaptation by leveraging scientific research, technological advancements, and societal trends.

* **Dialogue & Consensus Building:** Creating spaces for deliberation, bringing together diverse stakeholders—policymakers, businesses, civil society, and communities—to align visions for the future.

* **Learning from Nature & Community:** Integrating local and Indigenous knowledge, scientific inquiry, and lived experiences to inform sustainable transitions.

* **Supporting the Public Interest & Commons:** Ensuring that transitions balance local, national, and global needs, protecting public goods (including community's wellbeing and mental health) and long-term planetary health.

* **Regional & Industrial Partnerships:** Orchestrating systemic change by connecting research institutions with governments, industries, NGOs and grassroots initiatives.

* **Education for Youth & Adults:** Cultivating new skill sets and mindsets, not only for students but also for professionals and policymakers, with an emphasis on building resilience, empathy, and ethical responsibility

* **Global Networking:** Facilitating international cooperation among institutions, governments, and innovators committed to open explorations of shared global challenges.

**No other institution consistently undertakes all these functions—except universities.** They are uniquely suited to serve as bridge-builders because:

* **They hold knowledge across all disciplines.** While some may lag in emerging fields, universities maintain a vast research infrastructure, spanning science, technology, humanities, and social sciences, making them hubs for interdisciplinary problem-solving.

* **They connect generations, industries, and communities.** Students from all walks of life bring diverse lived experiences, while alumni hold key positions in nearly every sector—from education, business and policymaking to science, culture, and activism. This creates a dynamic feedback loop, allowing universities to sense shifts in society and rapidly adapt their teaching and research.
* **They are locally grounded yet globally connected.** Universities exist within local communities, addressing regional challenges while being deeply integrated into global research and education networks, allowing them to act as both knowledge hubs and action-oriented institutions.

* **They are driven by the public interest.** Unlike corporations driven by profit motives, universities have a fundamental commitment to knowledge, ethics, and societal well-being, balancing local, national, and global concerns.

In accepting a new mission— **Facilitating the Transition**—the university could become indispensable for civilization's future. By serving as society's vehicle for collective learning and experimentation, the university transcends its legacy role of serving industrialized society. It evolves into an institution that fosters a flourishing human community, deeply intertwined with planetary well-being.

This mission - of a truly trans-national, planetary scale - integrates and revitalizes the original missions of the university: education, research, and societal engagement. It ensures that universities anchor themselves in the urgent task of leading humanity toward sustainable, equitable, and peaceful futures.
## Thesis 7: Universities as Weavers of the Social Fabric

Throughout history, moments of rapid media and technological upheaval have disrupted societies, eroded trust, and sometimes led to conflict. The invention of the printing press contributed to religious wars but also laid the groundwork for the Enlightenment—a period when universities, such as those in Scotland, played a pivotal role in fostering new ideas.

Today's AI and social media revolution echoes these earlier disruptions: it offers unprecedented opportunities for knowledge creation and sharing while fracturing social cohesion, undermining trust, and amplifying divisive narratives. The purpose and **cognitive foundation** — the bedrock of society's understanding and collaboration — is being eroded by divisive narratives from power-hungry, war-mongering forces.

In the midst of this polycrisis, universities are called to assume a new, vital role: that of the **weaver**—a catalyst and steward of learning and innovation ecosystems that can heal, reweave, and regenerate the fabric of society, repairing fragmentation and fostering collaborative resilience. This charge directly supports their broader responsibility to serve as facilitators of the transition, outlined above.

An African tale tells us, "We are born with a needle to weave." Each of us has the innate capacity to stitch together broken social, ecological, and cultural threads. Universities bear a unique responsibility to nurture this capacity—not just among their leadership, but in every student, alumni, faculty member, and staff person. This weaving is:

1. **Interdisciplinary:** Bridging knowledge domains to craft holistic solutions.

2. **Intergenerational:** Creating spaces where the wisdom of elders meets the creativity of youth—ensuring that “no decision is made without future generations.”

3. **Intercultural and transnational:** Valuing diverse epistemologies and perspectives, transcending national and cultural boundaries.

4. **Socio-ecological:** Linking human flourishing with planetary well-being, recognizing that societal and ecological resilience are inseparable.

The metaphor of weaving transcends top-down leadership or pursuit of prestige. It is about fostering trusted relationships, curating diverse networks, and catalyzing collaborative agency across societal domains. Weavers excel at facilitating dialogue and aligning diverse actors around shared purposes. They serve as conveners and sense-makers, enabling collective intelligence to emerge. The weaving-focused leadership is distributed and emergent, rather than concentrated in individual heroes. Weavers design and sustain ecosystemic innovations that address challenges at scale.

Embracing a weaver ethos allows universities to reclaim ethical and cultural authority—not as gatekeepers of knowledge but as catalysts of social learning and innovation ecosystems where maieutics (Socratic “midwifery of ideas”) and cross-sector partnerships flourish. In doing so, they empower local and global communities to co-create just, regenerative, and thriving futures. These universities support the broader shift from competition to cooperation, reminding us that the true measure of excellence is being “best for the world,” not merely “best in the world.”
# Thesis 8: In Order to Fulfil Their Role in Governing the Transition, Universities Need to Orchestrate Their Own Transition

Universities cannot serve as "labs for transition" unless they themselves enter into transition. Today, the pace of change in technology, society, and the environment vastly outstrips the evolution of university structures - and any potential they hold to fulfil their planetary mission will be blocked by their own obsolete culture and processes.

Key areas of transformation:

* Universities must **research and reinvent** their own structures, applying innovation and democratic processes to themselves.

* Evolution should be an ongoing trajectory, not a fixed destination. Universities need to develop **evolutionary capabilities**—a self-renewing process that adapts with each new generation of students.

* Universities must increasingly shift from **nationally constrained institutions** to **planetary actors**, embedding planetary well-being into their core strategies.

Most importantly, universities need to embrace and cultivate **the ethics of the future based on compassion and solidarity**. Currently, academic systems often select for competitiveness over compassion, rewarding behaviors that prioritize self-interest over collective responsibility, and leading to the declining ethical awareness within institutions. Universities must become spaces that nurture ethical intelligence alongside technical expertise.

There are many emerging examples of institutions leaning in this direction, including:

* **Classical universities such as Oxford University** organizing fundamental knowledge programs focused on future studies and global challenges, and "reinvented" classical universities **such as Arizona State University** that integrate sustainability, innovation, and interdisciplinary problem-solving into their core academic structure.

* **Entrepreneurial universities such as Utrecht University and Aalto University** prioritizing ecosystem management, interdisciplinary sustainability initiatives, regenerative & design-driven education.

* **Ecoversities such as Universidad de Medio Ambiente (UMA) and Universidad de Colaboración Internacional (UCI)** conducting programs with emphasis on regenerative approaches to local and global communities

* **Innovative universities such as Learning Planet Institute (LPI)** establishing extended networks of partnerships in collaboration with UN University and UNESCO as interdisciplinary research & educational institutions based on principles of collective intelligence & open-source collaboration.

* **Post-university leadership schools such as Singularity University and Kaos Pilots** concentrating on transformative technology for disruptive breakthroughs

The tidal wave of changes is building up, and many more educational and organizational innovations will occur as universities align with their new mission. By embracing the **Planetary**
**Mission**, universities not only revitalize their legacy but also reclaim an indispensable, future-oriented role that the world needs here and now.

## Our Call to Action

We call upon key stakeholders of university system worldwide to seize this historic moment

### For Academic Leaders:

* Embed this new Planetary Mission into institutional governance and strategic planning.

* Develop transdisciplinary, challenge-based curricula that engage real-world problems.

* Ensure that youth perspectives play a central role in shaping university decisions.

* Partner across sectors and borders to accelerate systemic change for the common good.

### For Students and Faculty:

* Advocate for ethical education and regenerative practices within universities.

* Prioritize care-focused learning: to care for oneself, each other, and the planet— through purpose-discovery, creative inquiry, and collaboration.

* Engage in research and projects that contribute to the common good.

* Push for more participatory governance within academic institutions.

### For Policymakers and Funders:

* Support universities that prioritize planetary and societal well-being over competition and rankings.

* Align university funding models with long-term sustainability goals.

* Create incentives for universities to transform into innovation hubs that serve next generations, public and planetary interests.

In taking these steps, you can help universities affirm their indispensable place in facilitating societal evolution through transformative challenges—ensuring that higher education remains a beacon of insight, responsibility, and hope for generations to come.

This shift can enable universities, faculties and students to escape from the "best in the world" rat race competition towards the "best for the world" cooperation where their contribution to the planetary, democratic and digital commons become their distinctive contributions.
Epilogue: Resonances with Otto Scharmer's "Universities as Innovation Ecologies for Human & Planetary Flourishing"

Just as we were completing the final revisions of this Manifesto, we were excited to read Otto Scharmer's new article, "*Universities as Innovation Ecologies for Human & Planetary Flourishing,*" published just a few days ago. We find it deeply resonant with many of the themes we address here. In particular, we would like to underscore the following parallels:

1. **From Knowledge Transfer to Transformative Praxis.** Scharmer highlights the need for universities to move beyond abstract knowledge transmission toward cultivating "transformation literacy"—an essential capacity for addressing systemic global challenges. This aligns with our call for universities to adopt a Planetary Mission, shift from credentialing to deeper mentorship, and embrace ecosystemic, action-oriented learning.

2. **Rebalancing What We Value in Education.** Scharmer calls for moving away from an overemphasis on comfort, certainty, and mere knowledge, and toward embracing discomfort, not-knowing, and reflective stillness. We, too, encourage the cultivation of existential skills such as adaptability, empathy, and ethical reasoning as vital components of higher education's future.

3. **The Social Field and "Weaver" Ethos.** By describing universities as "innovation ecologies" that foster social soil (collective awareness and relationships), Scharmer's approach echoes our notion of universities as weavers of the social fabric—institutions that convene diverse stakeholders, nurture trust, and catalyze meaningful systemic change.

4. **Integrating Inner and Outer Dimensions of Change.** Both Scharmer's article and this Manifesto emphasize that regenerating soil, society, and self requires learning environments which address both external challenges (climate change, AI disruption) and internal well-being (mindset shifts, mental health, purpose, flourishing). This holistic approach, merging human development with ecological stewardship, is fundamental to the planetary future we envision.

5. **Ecosystemic Partnerships and Action Learning.** Scharmer advocates immersive "breathing in" (immersing learners in frontline challenges) and "breathing out" (reflecting, sense-making, co-creating). Similarly, we call upon universities to expand partnerships, connect with local communities, and foster real-world, challenge-based education—inviting students and faculty to become "bridge-builders" who enact solutions rather than merely theorize them.

We encourage all who resonate with this Manifesto to read Scharmer's article in full, as it complements our vision for the *Planetary Mission of the University*. Together, these perspectives underscore an urgent reimagining of higher education—one that merges action and reflection,
personal growth and collective well-being, local engagement and global stewardship, on behalf
of a truly regenerative future for all.

Annex: How To Activate the Planetary Mission in the “Average” University

The Planetary Mission is not reserved to the top-rated and most resource-endowed universities.
Any university can integrate this mission into their structures and processes, beginning with
democratic conversation with student, staff, community stakeholders and faculties about the
following elements:

A. Educational Content and Formats

* Embed grand challenges (climate change, health, social equity) in curricula and projects. For example, integrating climate science across disciplines - from engineering to economics to ethics - to prepare graduates for complex decision-making in a carbon-constrained world.

* Develop care-focused curriculum that teaches students how to care for themselves, each other, and the planet, with practices of purpose discovery, mental and emotional well-being, creative inquiry, and positive psychology. Such curriculum can integrate expertise from medicine, psychology, ethics, and pedagogy, offering tools for learners to find meaning, purpose, and hope.

* Emphasize project-based learning and entrepreneurial competencies.

* Develop existential skills (resilience, ethics, adaptability, systems thinking).

* Enable strong student agency (self-determination, personalized learning pathways, enable students to propose new learning paths).

* Adopt alternative assessment strategies that prioritize real-world positive impact on the planetary, societal and digital commons.

B. Partnerships and Ecosystems

* Join or form networks of global universities focusing on challenges.

* Create local and national partnerships (government, business, NGOs) to tackle complex social issues.

* Foster consortia for standardization in areas like green building, carbon farming, and circular economy solutions.

C. Research

* Engage in global research consortia—particularly those involving data-sharing and co-creation.
* Conduct action research with local communities, enhancing societal impact and integrating traditional and Indigenous knowledge where applicable.

* Link scientific inquiry to pressing global challenges, prioritizing solutions that advance regenerative and socially just futures.

This list is not exhaustive and can be expanded.