“Introducing Complexity Science in Higher Education for Preparing the New Generations to be Aware and Promote a Sustainable Future.”

The presence of almost 8 billion humans on Earth and their interconnections promoted by the pervasive Information and Communication Technologies and the fast means of transport make humanity a strongly intertwined network. A problem in a community or a sector regards directly or indirectly everyone on Earth. Any local accident or issue can have global repercussions. Therefore, we are called to face challenges, which are global. It is compelling to prepare new generations to tackle such global challenges. A paradigm shift in higher education is required. It is urgent to train not only specialists but also generalists (also said polymath or hybrid figures). This work proposes a strategy to prepare generalists. It is based on interdisciplinary Complexity Science. The features shared by all those Complex Systems that are involved in the global challenges, i.e., living beings, ecosystems, urban areas, world economy, and human societies, must be evidenced and understood through specific scientific theories. Furthermore, the difficulties in describing and predicting the behavior of Complex Systems should be taught. The fundamental thinking skills that next generalists should have for problem-solving are discussed. Generalists are called to integrate the economic, societal, environmental, and ethical dimensions for fully sustainable development.