Particular attention will be paid, as always, to what have been called “Third Mission”.
The general framework of reference will continue to be based on the strategic objective first defined by the European Council, held in March 2000 in Lisbon, of transitioning to a Knowledge-Based Economy, capable of creating inclusion, strengthening social cohesion, and achieving sustainable and dynamic growth.
Universities and research centres may well play an even more strategic role from this perspective, as they are now called upon to amplify their traditional strategic objectives (higher education and scientific research) and to face the ultimate challenge: that of opening their halls to the increasingly interdependent and interconnected global ecosystems and to direct communication with society. The challenge they must meet is to abandon their traditional “ivory towers”; a challenge that has become even more evident and urgent during the ongoing global and systemic emergency.

In speaking of the Third Mission, we are also dealing with knowledge transfer and with methods for communicating scientific research and technological innovation, thus of:


- managing network communication and promotion to increase awareness of the value of university research;

- organising individual and group sessions and encounters;

- identifying ad hoc technological solutions for companies;

- providing technical and project support for the start-up of innovative spin-offs, operating in sectors with a high technological impact, based on academically acquired know-how or technology transfer, involving the direct or indirect participation of the university;

- carrying out study and research activities, information, specialised organisational and management consultancy and technical assistance, in the context of actions concerning innovation, technology transfer and locally, nationally and internationally applied research;

- organising basic and advanced comprehensive courses on issues closely related to technology transfer, research, intellectual property protection, economic exploitation of research findings and access to various sources of funding;

- creating and executing undergraduate and graduate courses designed to educate and train young students in complexity and systems thinking, offering genuinely multi/inter/transdisciplinary Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees;

- creating and implementing a genuinely multi/inter/transdisciplinary International Master’s Degree and International Doctorate, successfully designed to educate and train future scientific researchers and managers of complex organisations in complexity and systemic thinking;


These (complex) objectives are to be sub-divided and further consolidated through the following actions:

(a) Defining and implementing education and training initiatives and projects on complexity and responsibility/sustainability in educational and training institutions.

b) Defining and implementing training initiatives on complexity and systems thinking in other public and private complex organisations.

c) Defining and implementing activities for projects and scientific research for and/or with enterprises.

d) Establishing and implementing international research networks, formed by universities, study and research centres, scientific organisations and institutions, international organisations, including non-governmental organisations;

e) Strengthening and intensifying collaboration between universities and research institutions.

f) Sharing knowledge, skills and methodologies with school teachers, university professors and, more generally, with managers interested in adapting the educational and training activities of their organizations to systems thinking.

g) Designing and implementing initiatives and projects aimed at bringing school and university students closer to systems thinking and complexity sciences, providing them with knowledge, skills, methodologies, languages and approaches related to complex systems as a basis for inhabiting complexity and achieving objectives for sustainable development.