Adaptive is the key concept to the implementation of strategies in UCYP particularly in Academic Excellence, Teaching & Learning, Research & Innovation, Students Experience, Community Engagement, Alumni Network, Branding & Marketing, Industry Engagement, Internationalisation, Human Capital Development, Physical & Intellectual Infrastructure as well as Financial Sustainability. Unlike the institutional change which only focuses on the relationship between schools and their cultural environments, an adaptive institution is able to drive the institution to a direction that maintains and improves the institute to its desired state (Hughes, 2018). An adaptive institute includes participatory, inclusiveness, integrity, risk tolerance, flexibility, legitimacy, accountability, diversity, creativity, iterative, learning, autonomous, resourcefulness, self-assessing, collaborative, transparency and reflexive that should be integrated with the broader process of exposure (Koontz et. al, 2015). According to Pahl and Wostl (2009), being able to cope with multiple objectives inherent in a social-ecological system is also among the traits of an adaptive institution. The features demonstrated by an Adaptive University are relevant to the present demands of educational transformation.

Another concept embraced by UCYP apart from an adaptive institution (that consequently leads to an adaptive learning) is innovation. Innovation is one of the essential demands in the Education Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0). “Education 4.0 will be shaped by innovations and will indeed have to train students to produce innovations”, (Haseeb, 2018).

It has been proven in numerous studies that creativity and innovation drive progress and allow organizations to maintain competitive advantage (Anderson, De Dreu, & Nijstad, 2004; Zhou & Shalley, 2003 cited in Hughes et.al, 2018). In the era of IR 4.0, jobs that require creativity and innovation are likely to stay. Irrespective of discipline, Education 4.0 must be able to produce highly creative and innovative graduates with the ability to think critically. Thus, UCYP is moulding graduates with critical skills in order to face the challenges in the future. Graduates must be innovative and have cognitive flexibility to deal with complexity. This is due to the fact that, later, many of them will be co-working not only with man, but also machines. In reference to that, in order to produce innovative graduates, innovative concept is the next crucial element implemented by the university.

All in all, the elements of adaptive and innovation create a way to an Adaptive Learning: Advancing Educational Innovation. Both elements become the soul of the university college or rather grow into or turn out to be the whole concept of the University College of Yayasan Pahang.