How can future-oriented institutional formats and cross-sector partnerships help us imagine and design towards new forms of teaching and learning? What are the implications of recommended models for future institutions such as ‘mode 3,’ ‘quadruple helix,’ ‘living labs’ or ‘universities without walls’ for the ways in which we design for and practice education? To meet these questions, the session presents ongoing work within the Europe Horizon project EPIC-WE (2023-2026): Development of a model for cross-sector transformative partnerships, its potentials for future practices of teaching and learning, and prospects for moving beyond the current ’mode 2’ entrepreneurial and neoliberal skills-focused model.