The successive strategic plans developed by the University of Deusto have set milestones, and their mottos have indelibly marked us and developed our defining brand. The firstone had the biblical motto Sapientia melior auro. This foundational motto expressed howpassion for knowledge is the hallmark of both the university and its students, a formof knowlege resulting from the interaction between faith and science. Better than gold.Wisdom can neither be bought or sold.

The second motto stated: The value lies in the individual. Faced with any attempt to useor manipulate, we proclaim the pre-eminent value of the individual, of each individual.We defend the dignity, autonomy, freedom, responsibility and full development of people,and our work seeks to ensure that these values are recognised and promoted within theuniversity and in society as a whole.

The third motto stated: Service and commitment. The university’s mission can only beunderstood by linking it to the society that harbours it, which the university must serve. Anattitude that transcends geographical boundaries and requires thinking and acting in theinterest of the common good at all times.

All the mottos epitomise a specific, integrated aspect of the University, which reflects thechallenges of each period. Nothing is lost; we recognise our history, it enriches us andreflects what we are. A new plan and motto will bring us together again around our keyvalues and a fresh, purposeful project.

A new impetus: Transforming our world together

This is the ambitious motivational motto that was chosen at the World Assembly of Jesuit Universities (Bilbao 2018). It is now also adopted by the University of Deusto as an inspiration for the 2022 Deusto Initiative: people and institutions transforming the world together.

«Everyone together» is one of our hallmarks. Together as a Deusto university community: students, teaching and research staff, research personnel, administration and services personnel, alumni, families, sharing a single path and project with a whole universe of people, institutions, social organisations, companies, cultural agents ..., generating alliances, networking. We got here together. We shall win the future together.

«Transforming» indicates the purpose of our endeavour; transforming in order to move towards a fairer, more humane and more sustainable world. This is at the core of the university mission and of our challenges: education, research and transfer, leadership and a commitment to society... in order to transform and humanise the world. We want to make a small contribution to a vital task performed by people who transform the world.

«Our world» speaks of universality, both within the Society of Jesus and the universitas that gives us our name and our purpose. Our commitment must have a global dimension, in a world that is interrelated and interdependent. And alongside this global dimension is the local dimension, that of our immediate environment. Global and local are the two faces of today’s world. It is ‘our’ world because we feel we are participants who are jointly responsible for today’s world.

The Plan is based on two closely-related inspiring principles: the Ignatian identity (our way of being, which identifies us), and social and environmental responsibility (the specific contribution of our university).

The institution has five priorities, defined and formulated as follows: three are linked to the university’s missions (education; research and transfer; and leadership and social commitment), and the other two are linked to the university’s people and community, and to governance. These five institutional priorities are realised through eleven strategies and twenty-six lines of action.

The Plan is, in turn, articulated along three cross-sectional axes: internationalisation, digitalisation, and diversity. They will inform the entire 2022 Deusto Initiative, will be present in all strategies and actions, and will permeate the university’s activities.

The Plan also establishes a goal: the 2030 Agenda approved in September 2015 by the United Nations, to be used as a roadmap for the sustainable development of the planet. The University’s alignment with this worldwide challenge and its effective incorporation into Deusto’s strategic plan will make it possible to monitor its contribution to the 17 SDGs.

An underlying option within the Plan is seeking improvement across the board, instead of implementing it on a selectively targeted basis. Cutting-edge innovation applied to all of the university’s increasingly complex and interactive activities.

Cross-cutting axes

• Internationalisation

A university that is both Basque and global, has deep roots, is open to the world, and has a universal outlook and mentality

• Digital transformation

A university that is committed to full and effective digitalisation, including spaces, activities, services, and processes

• Diversity

A university committed to an innovative model that is a benchmark of coexistence in diversity

P1 Education and values

• E1 Furthering the Deusto Educational Model as an holistic and experiential model based on the acquisition of knowledge and the development of competences, on values education and on a commitment to ethics
• E2 Updating our degree offering
• E3 Developing our own holistic, all-encompassing model for University-Business relations

P2 Research and transfer

• E4 Furthering research, cogeneration and transfer, with the aim of building knowledge to face social challenges
• E5 Strengthening our participation in prestigious and valuable international alliances, consortiums and networks

P3 Social leadership and commitment

• E6 Strengthening our relationship with institutions, businesses and social organisations
• E7 Making an ethical and intellectual contribution to social debate

P4 The University’s people and community

• E8 Promoting a transformative university experience for students and their growth as competent and committed people
• E9 Encouraging personal, professional and community de velopment

P5 Organisation and good governance

• E10 Providing the institution with the best governance system to exercise a strategic leadership which is at the service of the project’s goals
• E11 Developing our campuses, headquarters, spaces, infra structures, and facilities