Keynote Abstract
At the Roundabout: Navigating Change in Higher Education in Times of Hyper-ComplexityÂ
In times of social, economic, ecological, and psychological instability the university does not stand at a crossroads with a clear left-or-right decision. Instead, it finds itself at a roundabout with multiple exits, no obvious straight path, and the tempting option to simply keep circling. The question is not simply which direction to take, but how we recognize the habitual thinking that guides our choices—are we navigating with awareness of what is shifting at systemic and structural levels in society, or are we tracing familiar loops because they give us a sense of certainty, safety and continuity?
This talk explores how the stacked challenges facing higher education—including financial precarity, political polarization, ecological and mental health destabilization, technological disruptions like AI, and institutional inertia—are not isolated issues, but interconnected symptoms of deeper systemic shifts unsettling the foundations of modern societies. At the heart of this argument is the idea that what’s needed is not just new content, policies, or reforms, but a shift in how we approach complexity itself.  In a moment when circling the roundabout feels more comfortable than choosing an exit, this is a call to pause, take stock, and consider: What new possibilities emerge when we change not just our direction, but how we choose to navigate?
Dr. Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti
Biography
Dr. Vanessa Andreotti (she/her) is a former Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change (see  about her research program with Dr. Cash Ahenakew) and a former David Lam Chair in (critical) Multicultural Education (see ). Dr. Andreotti has held academic positions in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Aotearoa/New Zealand and Finland.
She has worked extensively across disciplines, sectors and communities problematizing and offering alternatives to common approaches to social change that reproduce simplistic solutions to complex problems, paternalistic relationships with historically and systemically marginalized communities and ethnocentric ideals of sustainability, equity and justice. She is one of the co-founders of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures () Arts/Research Collective.ÌýDr. Andreotti is also a member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada.