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Avalanches in slow motion: megatrends and countertrends
13.06.2025 During BFH’s first ‘Thematic Fields Day’ on 25 August 2025, Roger Spindler, keynote speaker for the Zukunftsinstitut and vocational education and training expert, will share insights on megatrends in education.
Key points at a glance
- Megatrends help shape strategic orientation in education.
- They have a long-term effect and show which developments are relevant.
- Countertrends are just as significant as trends. Combined, they generate new solutions.
- The diversity of learners requires flexible and individual educational paths.
Sometimes, it helps to take a step back and look at things from a new perspective. This is precisely what Roger Spindler aims to do with his work on megatrends in education. “Megatrends serve as a guideline,” he explains. As the director of the Institute of Design and Technology Bern and Biel, as well as a keynote speaker for the Zukunftsinstitut, he can draw on a wealth of experience.
Megatrends influence society, the economy and politics. Their impact stretches over several decades, and they are global in scope. Although they are complex, they are not complicated to understand.
Roger Spindler participated in the development of the Zukunftsinstitut’s new ‘megatrend map’ published in early 2025. The expert focusses on the following megatrends: knowledge culture, connectivity and globalisation. In addition, he has first-hand knowledge of the situation on the Swiss education market.
From megatrends...
But how exactly do megatrends help a university position itself? “Megatrends are avalanches in slow motion,” explains Roger Spindler. “They influence society, the economy and politics, their impact stretches over several decades, and they are global in scope, complex, yet not complicated to understand.” Working with megatrends can determine whether a development is a short-lived hype or a longer-term trend on which strategic decisions can be based. At the same time, it helps identify and avoid blind spots.
However, this work is not always easy, Spindler admits openly: “It requires curiosity and a willingness to question the status quo.” In addition, it is well worth looking at longer-term developments in the education system: “The education sector is currently experiencing massive changes, once again.”
...to educational landscape
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand people’s backgrounds,” says Spindler about today’s learners, students and pupils. A major change is evident here, but only when viewed over the long term: 125 years ago, pupils typically came from large families, whereas in the 1960s, they mostly came from small families. From 2000 onwards, multi-family households became the dominant type. And today, children grow up in a highly diverse society before entering the education system. Increasing individualisation and diversity has become a significant megatrend.
The education sector is currently experiencing massive changes, once again.
In the current educational system, this megatrend has a very direct impact on classrooms, lecture halls and Zoom meetings. Also, off-the-shelf education is not the sole objective, according to Spindler. He believes that what students want is choice. So, should educational institutions move even further away from standardised educational paths and towards freely configurable learning menus? “The solution is about finding the right balance,” Roger Spindler replies.
Finding the right balance
According to him, every trend has a countertrend: the printed course material used in Sweden is a countertrend to Zoom meetings, while film photography and vinyl records are countertrends to smartphone snapshots and streaming services. As our society becomes more virtual, the importance of the analogue increases.
Thematic Fields Day
BFH’s first Thematic Fields Day takes place on 25 August 2025. Participants can look forward to an exciting event full of input, exchange, further development, and collaboration across all three strategic thematic fields: Sustainable Development, Caring Society and Humane Digital Transformation.
Keynote speaker Roger Spindler looks at education in the context of three megatrends – knowledge culture, connectivity and globalisation – and sheds light on the role of education in the economy and the transformation of the world of work and media.
This is an internal event. BFH employees can find further information and register on the intranet.
It is not about choosing between trends, but rather of looking at where they overlap. This is probably the main challenge of trend analysis. “Trends and countertrends result in a future synthesis,” summarises Spindler. Examples of this are glocalisation, where local dialects and English are used simultaneously; post-individualisation, where ‘I’ and ‘we’ exist in parallel; or the ‘retro’ trend, where the present and the past are brought together. The trend analysis seems to suggest that educational institutions should take a Solomonic approach based on compromise and finding the right balance.
Megatrends vs. thematic fields
The megatrends of the Zukunftsinstitut and BFH’s strategic thematic fields differ in terms of their function and their names. While BFH speaks of ‘Sustainable Development’, ‘Humane Digital Transformation’ and ‘Caring Society’, the Zukunftsinstitut uses the terms ‘eco-intelligence’, ‘connectivity’ and ‘demographic change’. At both institutions, things get particularly interesting where megatrends – or thematic fields – overlap. That is, where a synthesis occurs.
Whether in dealing with the increasing diversity of students or in the search for syntheses in interdisciplinary cooperation: Roger Spindler’s keynote conference on the Thematic Fields Day will undoubtedly offer exciting insights on how BFH can make use of megatrends.
