In a bid to envision a sustainable future intertwined with technological advancements, the Digital Futures Lab (DFL) 23 at the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick set forth on a transformative journey during May and June 2023. This unique program, aimed at empowering students, tasked them with co-designing the regenerative university of the future while aligning with the mission of imagining technology-enabled, sustainable futures.
The ambitious mission for DFL 23 was set as "Higher Education 2040: How HE has transformed to support the dual challenges of digital transitions and climate change." Amidst the rapid evolution of technology and the pressing climate crisis, the next decade is set to transform our lifestyles, learning methods, and professional landscapes. The World Economic Forum predicts a significant shift in job markets, estimating that only 40% of present-day jobs will endure in the future, underscoring the necessity for cross-sectoral skills in the face of these changes.
The COVID-19 crisis has further accelerated these shifts, emphasising the urgency for educational strategies that cultivate resilience, imagination, and adaptability, coupled with essential digital competencies. The future of education hinges on flexibility, enabling lifelong learning and fostering agile skill development to confront the challenges of tomorrow's work landscape (World Economic Forum, 2020).
DFL 23 organised teams operating at different scales, ranging from the University of Limerick to the broader national and global higher education sector. Over three weeks, these teams delved into system mapping, futures and foresight tools, market shaping methodologies. These pillars formed the scaffold for the program, guiding students through problem interrogation, research, insight gathering, future envisioning, and pathway designing.
Leveraging collaborative tools such as MS Teams, including MSTeams channels and miro boards, students engaged in intensive research and design work, actively involving stakeholders and problem owners in the process. This program embodies an innovative approach to education for sustainable development by integrating systems understanding, futures thinking, and problem-solving into actionable tools for students. It fosters a proactive role for students as change agents, empowering them to drive educational experiences and design interventions for a sustainable future.
A key revelation from the lab was students' realisation of their agency within the higher education system. While they had historically critiqued the system, DFL 23 illuminated their potential as change agents within it. For a sample of the student work go to: https://www.figma.com/proto/z6Y7xmmHGdGAfMmkqqGqnE/DFL-PINK?page-id=0%3…;
A full exhibit of the students work is available here: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVMAJ5kGU=/?share_link_id=826427446853
This studio-based, full-time program spanning 3.5 weeks in the summer term stands as a core element for students pursuing the MSc Business Analytics at KBS. It's poised to become an alternative thesis module at UL and welcomes virtual exchange students. Moreover, it served as a pivotal host program during the EULab, an Erasmus+ funded strategic partnership, showcasing its significance in shaping future-focused, climate-centric education. (Visit www.eulab.org for more details on the partnership).
Deirdre HODSON
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