Participants

UNITA Participants

The UNITA participants, eleven (11) beneficiaries and two (2) associated partners, are situated in rural, mountain, Romance language–speaking and cross-border regions across Europe, in ecosystems sharing similar challenges and impacted by core-periphery dynamics.

Their cooperation aims to contribute to the educational, scientific, and cultural progress of their regions, fostering their sustainable development, strengthening the local innovation ecosystems and supporting their transition to a knowledge-based economy, whilst promoting European integration within and beyond them, transforming the way they cooperate, educate, do research, innovate, and reach out to society.

The participants align with UNITA’s nature and vision, bringing in complementary roles—in terms of study programmes, academic specialisations, competences, skills and expertise—for the scope of the actions:

Beneficiary Partners

• UniTo: strong expertise in mobility; a leading university in the field of university teachers training; acts at an international level through partnership agreements; long-standing multilingual experience and openness to language diversity; long-standing experience in management of international partnerships and expertise in quality assurance procedures.
• UPPA: awarded the label of University of Excellence (ISITE call); consistent ecosystem of industrial partners (large companies & SMEs) leading to research development in closer relationships with territorial companies; among the top universities in France for the proportion of outgoing students; several inter-university cooperation agreements.
• UniZar: extensive experience in mobility; quality assurance processes ensuring high standards in education; several pedagogical innovation projects annually to foster teaching innovation and enhance student learning experiences; expertise in methods that foster multiliteracy skills; multiple BA and MA programmes taught in foreign languages; strong collaboration with industry through “Industrial Academic Chairs”.
• UVT: experience in developing e-learning processes and online courses; strong involvement in thematic clusters of companies and public institutions to ensure knowledge transfer from research to regional economy; student-centred approach in teaching and learning, customising course content to student needs; extensive experience in mobilities and recognised by ANPCDEFP as a model of good practice for managing mobility for students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
• USMB: developed best practices in student and staff mobility management; innovative research poles; co-develops various short programmes (international summer schools, micro-credentials); department supporting experimentation with innovative teaching and learning methods (APPRENDRE); “Club des entreprises” linking local companies with the university in research, innovation and learning.
• UBI: experience with hubs and virtual incubators; extensive internationalisation and mobility programmes; strong link between teaching and research, resulting in numerous approved projects and scientific output, placing UBI highly in THE rankings; innovation as a core strategy.
• IPG: strong expertise in teaching and learning in professional fields applied to sustainable territorial development, complementing other partners’ theoretical study programmes.
• UPNA: national leader in regional engagement and European model for Smart Specialisation Strategy alignment; deeply engaged in cross-border cooperation with UPPA; long-standing strategic partnership with UniZar through Campus Iberus.
• UniBs: national leader in mechanical, mechatronic, biotech, electronic, health and agri-food sectors; best performer in graduate employability strategies; strong expertise in developing high-level transnational networks.
• UniTBv: research and teaching focused on sustainable development and interdisciplinarity; balances regional scientific, industrial and cultural traditions with aspirations for innovation, inclusiveness and societal relevance, matching the alliance’s ambitions.
• GEIE: increases the alliance’s institutional autonomy and partners’ financial and regulatory independence, including nomination of temporary and permanent alliance staff.
• HES-SO: largest UAS in Switzerland; complementary expertise in practice-oriented research and innovation projects tailored to professional field needs; innovative teaching approaches such as challenge-based and digital education.
• CHNU: engaged in cross-border cooperation (notably with UVT); internationally recognised for advanced research in languages, culture and social sciences; contributes to the cultural heritage dimension of the alliance.

Associated Partners

In addition to HES-SO and CHNU, the project includes 50 external non-university associated partners from the partners’ countries, representing regional socio-economic actors, public authorities, a quality assurance agency, policymakers and civil organisations. With diverse missions, expertise and needs—from municipal and regional institutions to development agencies, professional education agencies, networks and companies in R&I hub focus areas—they will actively participate in Task Teams (TT), sharing professional experience with students and staff at Master/Doctoral level or in specialization courses. They will also cooperate with strategic actors engaged in achieving joint results and providing services such as internships and specialised practical courses. Details of AP involvement per work package (WP) and TT can be found in the Grant Agreement (Section 4.2).

Beneficiary Partners, together with all Associated Partners, will constitute a unique ecosystem ensuring the transformative impact and sustainability of UNITA’s new university model.