Universities-4-Humanity
Locally transforming society – globally renewing humanity
In this paper, we argue that social science research, in order to lead to social innovation, needs to cross many boundaries. The nature of these is outlined in Part 1. Moreover we also claim, that in order for such research to effectively contribute towards resolving today’s burning social and economic issues, not only our understanding of and approach to social science research needs to be transformed, we also have to fundamentally rethink and ultimately rework the design of a university and thereby its specific role in and for a particular society, and also for humanity in general.
In Part 2 we introduce the overall framework for such a new type of university, which we call a “university-4-humanity” (U4U), to locally transform society and globally serve humanity. In such a U4U the context is Southern or Eastern, Northern or Western; the innovation capacities incorporate research and catalysation, education and activism; consciousness raising is transformational, transcultural, transdisciplinary and transpersonal; finally academic content spans nature and community, culture and spirituality, science and technology, and politics and economics. Altogether, a U4U covers the context, capacities, content and consciousness of, and for, social innovation.
In Part 3, finally, we move from design towards actualisation. We illustrate how a small group of universities and other knowledge creating organizations from the 4 corners of the globe are, catalysed by our Geneva based 4 world laboratory for social innovation, prospectively co-creating “universities-4-humanity” (U4U). Our U4U movement seeks to interlink and support one another, so that each becomes a local center for the renewal of its society, set within its particular cultural context, while we collectively seek to renew humanity as a whole.
In this paper, we argue that social science research, in order to lead to social innovation, needs to cross many boundaries. The nature of these is outlined in Part 1. Moreover we also claim, that in order for such research to effectively contribute towards resolving today’s burning social and economic issues, not only our understanding of and approach to social science research needs to be transformed, we also have to fundamentally rethink and ultimately rework the design of a university and thereby its specific role in and for a particular society, and also for humanity in general.
In Part 2 we introduce the overall framework for such a new type of university, which we call a “university-4-humanity” (U4U), to locally transform society and globally serve humanity. In such a U4U the context is Southern or Eastern, Northern or Western; the innovation capacities incorporate research and catalysation, education and activism; consciousness raising is transformational, transcultural, transdisciplinary and transpersonal; finally academic content spans nature and community, culture and spirituality, science and technology, and politics and economics. Altogether, a U4U covers the context, capacities, content and consciousness of, and for, social innovation.
