Schutte, FHerselman, Martha EBotha, Adele2026-07-082026-07-0820260-7988-5679-3978-0-7988-5679-9978-0-7988-5679-90-7988-5679-3http://hdl.handle.net/10204/14844This volume brings together a selected body of research presented at the 2025 SHIFTXchange conference: Leading with Purpose: Sustainable Practices for a Resilient Future, held at Middlesex University, Mauritius, 1 – 2 September 2025. The Conference positioned itself as a scholarly and professional forum for interrogating the interplay between resilience, sustainability, governance, and purposeful leadership across diverse sectors and contexts. Three thematic strands structured the proceedings: Resilient Enterprises – leading for long-term success, Expanding the frontiers of progress, and Governance for global progress. The breadth of Chapters within these strands reflects the multidimensional nature of resilience and sustainable practice, encompassing perspectives from organisational strategy, educational transformation, technological innovation, environmental stewardship, and socio-economic development. Within the first theme (Resilient Enterprises – leading for long-term success), contributions examined how organisations can embed purpose-driven leadership and ESG considerations into strategic decision-making. The Chapter on sustainable transformation in finance demonstrated how ethical leadership can guide financial institutions towards resilience, with particular relevance to small island economies such as Mauritius. A systematic literature review on collaborative leadership in healthcare non-profit organisations examined how hierarchical structures impede productivity and performance management, and proposed theoretically grounded frameworks to overcome these barriers. Rounding out this theme, a historical and comparative study drew on the leadership of Captain Kenau Hasselaer during the Siege of Haarlem and Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in post-apartheid South Africa to illuminate enduring principles of moral courage, resilience, and servant leadership. A companion piece offered a focused historiographical analysis of Kenau’s narrative, applying contemporary leadership theories as interpretive lenses to derive lessons for leaders operating in crisis and social contestation. The second theme, Expanding the frontiers of progress, showcased research advancing conceptual and applied frontiers in education and technology. A Chapter on human-centred AI literacy proposed a framework for embedding ethical, decolonial, and experiential approaches to AI education in South African higher education, drawing on ubuntu philosophy and critical pedagogy to position learners as agents rather than consumers of digital futures. A study conducted at Middlesex University’s London and Mauritius campuses examined how Education for Sustainable Development can be embedded within transnational education frameworks, demonstrating through curriculum mapping and student focus groups that whole-institution approaches foster both collaborative innovation and a sense of belonging across diverse campus contexts. A conceptual study on the purpose of higher education in South Africa interrogated the tension between employability and holistic development, proposing a refined framework in which these are understood as complementary rather than competing objectives, enriched by the emerging imperatives of artificial intelligence and lifelong learning. The third theme, Governance for global progress, addressed governance as a lever for transformative progress. A systematic literature review on natural resource management within forestry land reform projects in rural KwaZulu-Natal examined the complexities of integrating best-practice resource stewardship with community business aspirations, highlighting the critical role of co-management, indigenous knowledge systems, and multi-stakeholder collaboration in achieving sustainable rural livelihoods. A conceptual study on celebrity endorsements in private higher education explored how credibility, authenticity, and endorser-brand congruence shape student trust and institutional brand perception, with practical implications for marketing strategy and academic integrity in the South African context. Collectively, these works illustrated that governance in the twenty-first century must be adaptive, participatory, and globally attuned. Taken together, the research in this volume reinforces the proposition that resilient futures are forged through a synthesis of purposeful leadership, ethical governance, and innovation grounded in equity and sustainability. The conference and this publication invite continued inquiry into how diverse contexts can contribute to a shared agenda of sustainable transformation.FulltextenSHIFTXchange conferenceResilient futuresEducational sustainabilityPurposeful leadershipEducational transformationEthical leadershipBookN/A