This report analyzes key drivers that will reshape the landscape of work, and identifies the key work skills needed in the next 10 years. The report discusses six main drivers of change: extreme longevity, rise of smart machines and systems, computational world, new media ecology, “superstructed” organizations and a globally connected world. Although environmental change is not mentioned as driving force of change, the 10 future work skills needed to meet disruptive shifts are highly relevant to climate change responses. These include: sense making, social intelligence, novel and adaptive thinking, cross-cultural competency, computational thinking, new-media literacy, transdisciplinarity, design mindset, cognitive load management, and virtual collaboration. There is little doubt that successful responses to climate change will involve these skills, particularly novel and adaptive thinking, transdisciplinarity, and virtual collaboration. The report provides valuable insights on some of the essential requirements for addressing transformation processes.
Many of today’s global problems are just too complex to be solved by one specialized discipline … [and] require transdisciplinary solutions. While throughout the 20th century, ever-greater specialization was encouraged, the next century will see transdisciplinary approaches take center stage. (p. 11)
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