Speaker
Description
Higher education is under unprecedented pressure. Rapid technological disruption, shifting employability demands, and escalating sustainability crises call for graduates equipped with skills that extend far beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. This keynote addresses why curriculum transformation matters and explores the role of innovation in shaping future-ready education.
First, it highlights the need to embed sustainability literacy into core curricula. Graduates must not only understand sustainability as a concept but live it as practice—acting as change agents. Second, it exemplifies how curriculum transformation enhances employability by developing transferable skills such as adaptability, problem-solving, intercultural competence, and innovation. These capabilities are fostered through project-based, experiential learning that bridges theory with real-world challenges.
The keynote also underscores the necessity of breaking disciplinary boundaries by embedding interdisciplinary approaches—integrating business, science, and social sciences to address complex sustainability problems. Equally important is the cultivation of global employability and intercultural competence, particularly Asia literacy, through pedagogical techniques such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), HyFlex, and immersive field experiences.
Drawing on the Global Sustainability Literacy: Connecting Classrooms and Communities, a Murdoch–UNRAM collaboration of community development program recognised by the QS Reimagine Education Awards, the keynote illustrates how transformative curriculum connect classrooms to communities. By engaging students in sustainability projects in Southeast Lombok communities, the program advances Education for Sustainability (EfS), strengthens Indo-Pacific partnerships, and creates mutual benefits: capability for students and sustainable development for local communities.
Innovation is not optional but is essential. Curricula transformation must be viewed as a living laboratory where students become co-creators of knowledge and leaders of change. The call to action is clear: if we empower students to think across disciplines, act across cultures, and design for sustainable futures, we do more than educate—we transform lives and shape tomorrow.
