On 12 August 2025, UNU will host “Stewards of Tomorrow: Rethinking Higher Education for a Planetary Future”, a conversation with François Taddei, co-founder and president of the Learning Planet Institute in Paris, France.
For centuries, universities have played a significant role in cultivating leaders across disciplines who have gone on to serve and shape their communities. Yet, while sectors such as finance, health care and technology have embraced innovation to meet increasingly complex challenges, education has remained largely rooted in traditional models. Research continues to highlight the limitations of education frameworks in post-industrial societies, which prioritize standardization and memorization.
As active learning, collaboration and creativity gain recognition as essential tools for preparing future generations to navigate complex challenges, much of the current discourse still focuses narrowly on aligning education with the demands of the job market. This approach often treats education as a linear path to employability, leaving young people perceived as inexperienced, despite years of formal education.
What if we reimagined education altogether? What if young people were seen not as passive recipients, but as active contributors to their communities? Such a shift would transform education from an individual pursuit into a collective, interdisciplinary journey. This transformation calls for a fundamental rethinking of how and where learning takes place. The Learning Planet Institute is dedicated to this mission, reinventing education for all ages through collective intelligence.
On International Youth Day, François Taddei will join UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala and UNU Japan Outreach Communications Assistant Yukiko Takei for a conversation on reimagining education for a planetary future. Together, they will explore how we can empower young people to take active responsibility for planetary peace and sustainability, and whether it’s time to move beyond the current tech-centric narrative towards more holistic and inclusive learning models. The event will highlight the importance of co-creating educational futures with the youth who will shape them.
The UNU Conversation Series aims to foster audience participation; you are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all event attendees are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while exchanging ideas and making new contacts. Young people will be especially encouraged to actively contribute throughout this session.