With the deceleration of infrastructure investment and the sharp contraction of the real estate sector, societal confidence in the long-term prospects of the civil engineering industry has waned. Consequently, university-level civil engineering education is undergoing profound structural transformation. Nevertheless, as a foundational discipline underpinning national livelihood—encompassing housing, transportation, and macroeconomic stability—civil engineering remains indispensable to strategic national initiatives, including deep-sea and deep-earth resource development and the Belt and Road Initiative. In this new era, university faculty in civil engineering must not only command deep disciplinary expertise but also cultivate cross-disciplinary perspectives, digital literacy, and pedagogical competencies centered on innovation. Grounded in analyses of evolving industry trends, internal and external disciplinary challenges, and current deficiencies in faculty quality, this paper delineates the conceptual framework and constituent dimensions of innovative literacy among civil engineering educators. It further proposes a comprehensive cultivation pathway aligned with national strategic priorities and socioeconomic development imperatives. Key strategies include: (1) curriculum system reform anchored in industry needs; (2) interdisciplinary integration and synergistic fusion with information technologies; (3) strengthened linkages between research, teaching, and real-world engineering practice; and (4) enhanced internationalization alongside robust collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutions. Ultimately, fostering faculty innovative literacy constitutes both the pivotal lever for advancing the connotative (i.e., quality-oriented, sustainable) development of the civil engineering discipline and the strategic cornerstone for achieving high-quality, future-ready civil engineering development in China.