UNIC Working Conference 2025 - Unlocking Transformational Value

With the guiding slogan of Unlocking Transformational Value, this event offers an important opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved so far, share experiences, and reflect on how to further strengthen cooperation across the alliance.  

Moving from short-terms, project-based work to long-term collaboration, the conference seeks to consolidate long-term collaboration, identify shared challenges and gaps such as skills gaps and funding barriers, strengthen university-city partnerships, and draw the guide of the next steps for UNIC. 

Co-created Program 

The conference sessions are designed around five key themes: Research and Innovation, Education, Impact, Financial Sustainability, and Capacity Building and Digital Platforms. Developed through a co-created programme, the event brings together contributions from across the Alliance, with members offering their insights and experiences through presentations, discussions, and interactive formats.  

The full program is available at the UNIC Working Conference 2025 site.  

Participants 

The conference will gather 200 people: rectors, leadership and management teams from UNIC partner universities, researchers, educators, institutional representatives (including cities and local governments), and students engaged in reflecting on the future of the Alliance. 

Venue 

The Conference will be taking place at the headquarters of the University of Deusto in Bilbao. Inaugurated in 1886, the institution is located on two campuses: Bilbao and San Sebastian with sites in Madrid and Vitoria. The central headquarters of the University of Deusto are located in Bilbao, where the Conference will take place, on the opposite side of the estuary, facing the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, an emblematic symbol of the significant transformation of Bilbao during the last three decades.