Building the future today: strategic foresight and backcasting for the Facultad de Lenguas Vivas

Resumen

This article presents a strategic foresight exercise applied to the Facultad de Lenguas Vivas (FALEVI) of the Universidad Evangélica del Paraguay, with the aim of designing an institutional transformation aligned with the challenges of twenty-first-century education. Based on an analysis of the global and national higher education context—characterized by digitalization, inequality, the need for pedagogical innovation, and ethical formation—the study examines FALEVI’s current situation through the lens of events, structures, and mental models that shape its development.
By incorporating approaches from strategic foresight, futurecasting, and backcasting, the study constructs a ten-year preferred future scenario that positions FALEVI as a leading institution in intercultural language education, technological innovation, and values-based leadership grounded in Christian principles. From this future vision, key trends, opportunities, and risks are identified, and a strategic roadmap is developed that integrates digital transformation, faculty development, ethical leadership, and the institutionalization of innovation.
The study concludes that the proposed transformation is both feasible and sustainable if effective alignment is achieved between vision, organizational structures, and everyday academic practices. It further highlights the central role of imaginal leadership, continuous faculty training, improved internal communication flows, and strengthened international partnerships as essential conditions for long-term institutional change.