Diana Soares, professor at the Faculty of Education and Psychology at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, coordinator of the Católica Learning Innovation Lab (CLIL) and researcher at the Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH), took part in the Education Biennial organised by the Institute of Education of the University of Minho, held from 16 to 20 June 2025 in Braga, under the theme “The Future is Education. People, Life and School.”
This event brought together experts, professors and researchers to discuss the main challenges and opportunities facing today’s education system.
As part of the symposium “Higher Education in Transformation: Innovation and Challenges of Inclusion”, Diana Soares delivered a presentation entitled “Ready to work or ready to learn? From pedagogical innovation to lifelong learning.”
Her presentation was based on recent data highlighting the urgency for change: by 2030, it is estimated that 170 million new roles will be created while around 92 million jobs will disappear, with 63% of employers identifying skills gaps as the main barrier to business transformation (World Economic Forum, 2025).
This scenario places growing pressure on Higher Education Institutions: how can we prepare students for professions that do not yet exist? How can we foster the development of essential skills for lifelong learning?
Diana Soares emphasised that, in a highly volatile context, pedagogical and curricular innovation has become increasingly relevant—not only as an immediate response to labour market demands but also as a structural strategy for developing transformative skills and promoting active learning.
Her talk questioned the role of Higher Education in training critical and reflective professionals, highlighting the importance of pedagogical and professional development for lecturers, as well as their agency, as essential drivers for transforming teaching and learning models.
As a concrete example, she presented the Católica Learning Innovation Lab (CLIL), an interdisciplinary pedagogical innovation lab at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Based on the principles of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), CLIL promotes a wide range of pedagogical capacity-building initiatives that support lecturers in transforming their practices, creating more flexible, innovative and engaging learning environments that enhance the development of skills for lifelong learning.
Diana Soares’s participation helped reinforce critical reflection on the transformative role of pedagogical innovation in Higher Education, aligning institutional practices with the global challenges of an increasingly uncertain—but opportunity-rich—future.
