This new scenario likewise requires us to further strengthen our internationalization, to foster interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary learning, to update the process both in and outside the classroom, and to promote innovative forms of governance and management. It is in this changing context that we present the Strategic Plan 2016-2025, which lays out the lines we wish to pursue in the coming years to consolidate our leadership and become an active player in this transformation and in the modernization that the university world so requires.

This transformation has to be people-oriented. Now more than ever, people are UPF’s reason for being. That is why we sought to involve the entire university community in the Plan’s preparation, through a broad participatory process that included multiple mechanisms for providing input and lasted for more than ten months. To this end, we organized round-table discussions and conferences, set up working groups and advisory committees, launched discussion groups and open forums, created virtual spaces for discussion and sharing opinions, and prepared and shared specific documents and reports on UPF’s history and current status. As a result of this process, the Strategic Plan 2016-2025 reflects the multiplicity of perspectives of all the groups, stakeholders and collaborators that make up the institution and is firmly intended to be the ‘plan for everyone’.

Work on developing the Strategic Plan began in 2014, when the team in charge conducted a preliminary benchmarking study, analyzing and comparing forty universities around the world and several of their strategic plans. With the assistance of a group of advisors, this study was used to develop the working methodology to be followed to develop our plan. At the same time, the responsible services and units were asked to prepare seven sectoral reports and studies to facilitate the analysis of the university’s current status and provide quantitative data on teaching, research, knowledge transfer, human resources, internationalization, social responsibility, and employment. Additionally, two external studies were commissioned: a survey on knowledge and the identity of UPF, with the support of the Board of Trustees, conducted by GESOP, and a bibliometric analysis comparing UPF to seven leading universities, carried out by the Centre for Science a n d Technology Studies (CWTS) at the University of Leiden. The pooling of these reports and studies gave rise to the initial diagnosis, which provided the starting line for the participatory process.

The participatory process began in January 2015, with the formation of five working groups made up of more than one hundred people from various stakeholder groups, including administrative staff, teaching and research staff, students, alumni and UPF trustees, as well as external experts. Each of the five groups held about four working sessions between February and July 2015 under the coordination of a chair. Their work culminated in the preparation of a specific report on their respective area containing diagnostic data and specific strategic proposals. The Strategic Plan 2016-2025 drew on all of these contributions. At the same time, various round-table discussions and conferences were held that were open to the public and intended to stimulate reflection and debate. Subsequently, in June 2015, two forums open to the entire university community were also held, one on the Ciutadella campus and the other on the Poblenou campus, making it possible for all those in attendance to submit their own suggestions to improve the future of UPF.

This face-to-face participation was complemented with online participation mechanisms, such as opinion spaces, a dedicated suggestion box and an ideas bank, and with the publication of all the materials prepared throughout the process for the community members to review and discuss. Thus, the process of preparing the Strategic Plan was enriched by the active participation, reflection and discussion on the part of the university community as a whole.

The result of this participatory process is this new plan, which allows us to define our objectives and specify the measures and actions to be implemented in accordance with the mission, vision and values that should henceforth inspire and guide us. We will thus set the course to be followed to consolidate our position as a leading, global, dynamic, innovative university, pursuing the goals set out in the Plan’s five strategic areas – teaching, research, outreach and reputation, the university community, and finance and governance – each of which is likewise shaped by the additional mainstreamed priorities of internationalization and commitment. In short, the Strategic Plan 2016-2025 aims to be the tool that will allow us to start to become today the modern, agile and committed university required by the society of tomorrow.

Jacint Jordana
Strategic Plan director

Carles Ramió
Vice-rector for Planning