Changing workforce demands and learner expectations are driving a shift toward more flexible, lifelong approaches to learning. Continuing education is helping institutions strengthen community partnerships, build resilience and create lasting impact. In this interview, Zoe MacLeod and Sarah Wolfe discuss continuing education’s evolving role in strengthening community resilience and creating lifelong learning relationships that extend beyond traditional credentials.
The EvoLLLution (Evo): How is the role of continuing education evolving as workforce needs, learner expectations and economic realities continuing to shift?
Zoe MacLeod (ZM): We’re witnessing one of the biggest shifts in the history of continuing education—and arguably higher education. For decades, continuing education has been seen as the part of the university that responds quickly to workforce needs by creating new programs. Today, that role is evolving. We’re not just responding to change. We have an opportunity to help communities, employers and governments navigate it.
I often describe this as moving from being a provider of programs to becoming a builder of capabilities. Instead of asking, “What course should we develop?” we’re asking, “What capability does our community need?” At Royal Roads, those conversations usually start with a problem to solve, not a request for a certificate. That’s where I see continuing education—and increasingly higher education—heading. It becomes the university’s bridge to society, connecting workforce needs, community priorities and emerging opportunities in real time.
Sarah Wolfe (SW): I come from a more traditional academic background on the for-credit side, and over the past 20 years I’ve seen the incredible impact postsecondary education can have on individuals, families and communities, but one of its biggest challenges is that it can be slow to change. Academic programs often aren’t as agile or responsive as continuing education. My work is in climate and resilience, and the pace of scientific and climate change we’re seeing means we need new and faster ways to respond to not only educate the next generation of scientists but also communicate the science to communities and decision makers.
Traditional programs play an important role in advancing knowledge, but when it comes to tackling real-world challenges and building resilient communities, continuing education is where we can move quickly. That’s why Zoe and I have been exploring how to build stronger bridges between for-credit and continuing education, including the idea of a resilience hub. At the heart of it is a shared belief that universities need to be deeply connected to the communities and places they serve.
Evo: How can CE units help communities build resilience in the face of economic disruption, technological change, labor shortage, etc.?
ZM: Continuing education can—and should—function as community infrastructure. When we talk about resilience, we often assume universities need to own every solution, but our greatest contribution is different. We can be the convener, curator, connector and accelerator, bringing the right people together to help communities respond to change.
SW: Communities already know many of the challenges they’re facing and often have the beginnings of the solutions. Our role is to bring those pieces together. Continuing education can vet resources, recognize learning, connect research expertise with community knowledge and create the infrastructure that helps local solutions grow.
What works on Southern Vancouver Island may not look the same as what works in Prince Edward Island or Saskatchewan, and that’s the point. We can use a continuing education model that is place-based and adaptable, helping universities respond to the unique needs of the communities they serve through practical, applied learning.
Evo: What does a true lifelong learning relationship between a university and a learner look like in 2030?
ZM: Traditionally, universities have had a linear relationship with learners. You apply, earn a credential, graduate and maybe reconnect as an alum, but that’s not how careers or lives work anymore. People will have multiple careers, transitions and learning needs throughout their lives.
Graduation shouldn’t mark the end of the relationship but the beginning of a new phase. That might mean another credential, executive education, professional development, networking or support through a career change. Lifelong learning isn’t just about offering more courses. It’s about staying relevant throughout a person’s life. Success, to me, is when someone doesn’t say, “I went there 20 years ago,” but instead says, “That’s still my university whenever I need to learn.”
SW: I think of lifelong learning as a continuum of experiences. It starts well before university—with school programs, camps and early community engagement through events and facility rentals—and continues through undergraduate and graduate education, microcredentials, professional learning and lifelong enrichment.
It also means recognizing prior learning and creating flexible pathways for people at every stage of life. We need to welcome learners who may not have initially seen higher education as part of their journey, including first-generation students, adult learners and seniors who bring curiosity, experience and a desire to keep learning. The goal is to make the university a place people return to throughout their lives, not just for a degree but whenever they need new knowledge, skills or community connections.
Evo: How should universities really balance rapid workforce upskilling with the development of durable human skills like leadership, adaptability and critical thinking?
ZM: I don’t think this is an either-or conversation. Workforce needs will always evolve. AI is already changing the skills people need, and that pace of change will only continue. What doesn’t change is the importance of human capabilities. Leadership, judgment, critical thinking, communication, adaptability, creativity, systems thinking and collaboration are the skills that help people keep learning throughout their careers.
Universities absolutely need to help learners develop current technical skills, but we also need to help them become resilient learners who can adapt as technology evolves. Technical skills may help people enter the workforce, but durable human capabilities are what help them thrive, no matter what comes next.
SW: Education isn’t just about teaching technical skills. It’s about building confidence, collaborative, networked relationships and the social ability to solve complex, often fraught problems with people we won’t always agree with. Those are the capabilities that last. From my perspective, continuing education also has a critical role in preparing communities for challenges we already know are coming, particularly those driven by climate change. Whether it’s wildfires, flooding or other disruptions, we need learning models that help communities respond before crises hit.
That’s why we’re so excited about the resilience hub concept. If we can demonstrate its value at Royal Roads and share that model with other institutions, it could become a meaningful way for continuing education to strengthen community resilience well into the future.
Evo: If you could redesign higher ed around lifelong learning instead of just a one-time credential attainment, what would you change first?
ZM: I wouldn’t redesign the curriculum first. I’d redesign how universities think about relationships. We’ve traditionally been organized around transactions: recruit students, deliver programs, award credentials. We need more enduring relationships with learners, employers, governments, Indigenous communities and other partners.
Instead of asking, “What program should we offer?” we should ask, “What challenge are we trying to solve together?” That shift changes everything. Continuing education becomes less of a separate unit and more of the university’s connective tissue, translating knowledge into action and building capability across communities.
We don’t need a different purpose. We need different relationships. Once those evolve, the curriculum, credentials, partnerships and institutional structures will naturally evolve too.
SW: I’d change the metrics by which we define success. Too often, universities measure themselves by rankings, citations or prestige. We should measure how much we contribute to society. How strong are our partnerships? How well are we working with communities to solve real problems? Those are the outcomes that matter. If we shifted our definition of excellence toward meaningful collaboration and community impact, universities would naturally become more responsive, more relevant and better aligned with lifelong learning. That’s where higher education has the greatest opportunity to evolve.
ZM: Ultimately, we’re moving beyond simply educating individuals toward strengthening entire ecosystems. Continuing education has always been agile, and we now have an opportunity to build the lifelong learning infrastructure that helps universities better serve their communities and partners over the long term.