With 10 Alliance partners, an expanded commitment to the university of the future, and support from the European Commission (EC) for the next four years, the European University of Cities in Post-Industrial Transition (UNIC) is ready to kickstart its second phase in October 2023.

As UNIC, we are connected by shared identity, vision and strategy. All ten universities operate in cities in postindustrial transition; our staff, researchers and students play a key role in the changing environment. We are connected by a commitment to foster transformative modes of teaching, research and learning that respond to the challenges faced by our cities. Increasingly superdiverse populations requires attention to inclusion and accessibility across this work.

Together, we strive to promote common European values and strengthen European identity while working on institutional transformation of European higher education institutions.

Virtual mobility represents an innovative leap in higher education by expanding internationalization opportunities, transcending geographical constraints, and fostering inclusive, sustainable, and technology- driven learning experiences. UNIC is dedicated to advancing virtual mobility, and this new declaration takes the first bold step.

We are delighted to announce the 1st UNIC Thematic Conference, which will be held from 7-9 May 2025 at Malmö University. The event will bring together leading scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to share insights, develop collaborative solutions, build bridges between research and innovative education and chart pathways toward more resilient and sustainable urban futures. The call for proposals, papers, panels and presentations is open now: deadline for abstracts is 11 November 2024!

Prof.dr. Semiha Denktaş has been appointed as UNIC’s new Alliance Coordinator by the Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam. She will take from founding coordinator Prof.dr. Peter Scholten, who is stepping down after a transformative run steering UNIC from the kernel of an idea to a flourishing pan-European alliance since 2018. After a short transition process, Prof. Scholten will hand over the baton to Prof. Denktaş on August 28, 2024. Professor Scholten will be stepping down after a transformative six-year run at the heart of UNIC, all the way from the alliance’s earliest concept meetings in 2018 and its founding in 2020 to its new phase in 2023. He was a key, pioneering force in forging UNIC’s identity, central to its emergence and journey towards building the European University of the future.