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This concluding chapter provides key takeaways from the insights and recommendations that emerged from the EUPRERA2022 volume with a focus on crises and issues. Reflections are made with an emphasis on the understanding of sticky crisis, the embodiment of challenging, complex and recurring critical risks that threaten organisational well-being and stakeholder safety across sectors and cultures. A call for more interdisciplinary and international collaborations between academia and industry is made. Future directions of crisis, risk and disaster communication research that matter to practice are discussed.

Higher education institutions like Effat University play a critical role in realizing the ambitious goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which emphasizes adaptability, agility, and sustainability in the educational sector. With the higher education landscape undergoing rapid transformation globally, institutions are compelled to rethink curricula and align more closely with the changing needs of students, industry, and the government. Effat University, situated at the confluence of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), shows adaptability, agility, and sustainability in the higher education sector. At the heart of Effat’s mission lies the IQRA core values, anchoring its academic and administrative endeavors and fostering graduates who are holistic, ethically grounded, and attuned to global challenges. This book chapter investigates Effat University’s distinctive approach, fortified by innovative initiatives, transformative leadership, expansive research activities, and the unwavering IQRA principles, as it positions itself to further the goals of Vision 2030 and the SDGs. Effat’s research, diverse in its scope and impact, ranges from cutting-edge technological advancements to interdisciplinary collaborations that address both local and global challenges.

Using a mixed-method approach and drawing from internal data and insights from the university’s archives the chapter underscores Effat University’s commitment to innovation, interdisciplinary education, research excellence, international collaborations, and sustainable practices, all harmonized by the guiding IQRA values. These concerted efforts resonate deeply with Vision 2030 and the SDGs, setting the stage for sustained academic excellence and solid foundation for future academic and societal progress.

This chapter will discuss the case of Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM), Odisha, one of India’s leading skills universities that provides a hands-on, practice-oriented, experience-based, interactive, and learning-centered educational environment. This chapter will further argue that by designing a skill integrated interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary curriculum, CUTM has built employable and entrepreneurial-minded manpower in order to contribute meaningfully towards a sustainable future. The various courses address Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) either directly or indirectly through a broad range of disciplines spanning from agriculture to industrial automation to governance. This chapter also highlights five social entrepreneurial initiatives under the brand name of ‘Gram Tarang’. Centurion University has established strong collaborations with industry, national and state governments, non-governmental organizations, and the local community for sustainable development, in line with SDG 17. The impact of Higher Education Institutions through their outreach activities, social entrepreneurship, and their attempts at enhancing critical thinking, creativity, and ethical values among students is also discussed. In the Indian context, these are crucial parameters that define sustainability (Agrawal & Kumar, 2018).

This chapter highlights a case study at the University of Wyoming (UW) to explore the role of integrating ecotourism and eco-entrepreneurship into higher education at the bachelor’s level. The university has developed a modern, comprehensive curriculum, and practical learning opportunities with local communities, conservation organizations, and industry stakeholders through a state-funded initiative. The program equips students with essential knowledge and eco-entrepreneurial skills for the sustainable development of ecotourism, outdoor recreation, and tourism industries. The chapter presents a pedagogical model as a replicable framework for other institutions aiming to incorporate sustainable, eco-centric curricula into their programs. The findings can guide policymakers, educators, and stakeholders in designing programs that synergize environmental sustainability and eco-entrepreneurial innovation to promote global sustainable development and successful higher education experiences.

This chapter examines how innovation and research are essential to the advancement of science, the economy, and society. We examine the current status of scientific research in Saudi Arabia, highlighting issues like financial limitations and a lack of skilled researchers. We emphasize how important it is to develop the next generation of scientists in order to transform existing practices and improve the state of scientific research in the country.

Proficiency in research and innovation is crucial for expanding the frontiers of knowledge, empowering scientists to tackle intricate problems, and advancing scientific rigor. These abilities also support the use of evidence in decision-making, enabling researchers to provide empirical data that inform practices and policies in a variety of industries. Sustained growth requires the formation of future leaders, who promote knowledge exchange and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Despite Saudi Arabia’s significant spending on science, problems still exist. Addressing governance deficiencies is demonstrated by the establishment of the Research, Development, and Innovation Authority in 2021. The nation has grown in the world’s scientific rankings, drawing eminent specialists and fostering cross-border cooperation. Still, there is room for improvement, especially when it comes to fostering a culture of research, improving financing sources, and encouraging international collaboration. It is imperative that these problems are resolved in order to avoid stagnation, guarantee ongoing innovation, and take advantage of chances for society’s progress.

The chapter ends with a call to action that highlights how quickly improvements must be made. Failing to do so runs the risk of stifling the advancement of science, preventing the creation of new technologies, and prolonging complicated issues. To lower risks, seize opportunities, and ensure that research and innovation continue to advance for the good of society, immediate action is necessary.

This chapter explores the role and impact of adaptive thinking and transformational leadership in developing and leading an enabling culture that aligns with a school’s vision and mission. This chapter will also probe the varying dimensions that enable or inhibit a school culture and the tools needed to shape and maintain it including the challenges posed in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In this chapter, examples of adaptive challenges, data-driven instructions, and effective use of technology, will be referred to as one dimension of a culture that shows alignment or lack of it with the school’s vision and mission, the role and impact of transformative adaptive leadership on school’s overall culture, especially in the UAE, and MENA region. Finally, this chapter will examine the impact of adaptive and distributed leadership in leading a cultural change.

Educational sustainability has acknowledged the value of transformation, which offers an opportunity of researching and rethinking how appropriate and successful educational practices in an active learning environment could help prepare students for jobs that do not yet exist. So, to meet the job market needs, it became essential to focus on designing more context-specific programs where interdisciplinary courses are provided. The interdisciplinary courses are based on integrating different disciplines where there is a blur between the borders of the disciplines to shift the focus from structured courses to cooperation with external entities. In addition, the interdisciplinary programs allow students to choose modules from across subjects and encourage cooperation with staff from different departments. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to present a framework of how transformation in education requires key drivers such as transformational visions, faculty commitments, students' engagement, resources (i.e. curriculum), and external relations to develop the values and competencies that the future professionals will need in the attempt to make decisions aiming at reaching a more sustainable world.

This chapter highlights the key areas for the leadership and innovation research agenda in 2035. This agenda will direct researchers’ focus to the core transversal skills that individuals must have amidst the shift toward a greener and digitalized economy. Such skills include leadership, management, creativity, communication, and adaptability. The role of macro governmental policies and micro organizational policies is of great significance to ensure the implementation (if any) of these changes and of core to the research agenda. This chapter will also guide researchers to the challenges at the higher education level that need to be addressed to ensure the balance between the skills and knowledge acquired by workers through education and the needs of businesses in order to increase productivity and innovation.

Traditional studies in the sociology of science have highlighted the self-organized character of the academic community. This article focuses on recent interrelated changes that alter that distinctive governance structure and its related patterns of competition and cooperation. The changes that we identify here are contractualization and large-scale cooperative research. We use different data sources to exemplify these new patterns and discuss the illustrative role of research clusters in German academia. Research clusters as funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) are both a highly prestigious scarce good in the competition for reputation and resources and a means of fostering cooperation. Our analysis of this German example reveals that this new institutional configuration of universities as organizations, academic researchers, and the state has a profound effect on organizational practices. We discuss the implications of our empirical findings with regard to collegiality in academia. Ultimately, we anticipate a further weakening of collegial bonds, not only because universities and the state have become more active in shaping the nature of academic competition and cooperation but also because of the increasing strategic and individualistic orientation of academic researchers. In the final section, we summarize our findings and address the need for further research and an international comparative perspective.