Welcome to Rotterdam!

Rotterdam is a a major logistic and economic center and the second largest city in the Netherlands.

Erasmus University Rotterdam is deeply intertwined with Rotterdam, which has been its birthplace and continues to be its inspiration and laboratory for metropolitan issues.

Rotterdam and UNIC's Centre for City Futures


The UNIC Centre for City Futures at the Erasmus University Rotterdam is envisioned as a collaborative space that promotes engaged research among the university’s researchers within the framework of the European UNIC alliance. The centre aspires to establish an effective bridge between academia, public and private institutions, and civil society to facilitate sustainable urban development.


The local centre provides opportunities for diverse groups to connect and co-create with the scope of improving the liveability and tackling societal issues and leveraging the power of collaboration locally and across the alliance network for the best impact in our city.


City-Led Challenges that are currently in focus in Rotterdam is: The implementation and further development of the Vital System Framework.


The vital system framework is an innovative strategic approach developed by the city of Rotterdam presented locally Resilient Rotterdam 2022-2027 and internationally at the UNIC working conference in Oulu in 2024 to tackle the complexities of the urban systems in post-industrial cities.

Rotterdam, like other UNIC cities, constantly faces shocks and stresses that challenge and potentially undermine its resilience and vitality.

To address the gravity of these challenges, the City of Rotterdam has been approaching the urban environment as a complex, dynamic, living system. Similar to any living organism, this system depends on a series of vital subsystems that continuously generate the resilience required for the city to operate.

The concept of Vital Systems draws inspiration from the human body, where specific systems are essential for survival. Cities, likewise, rely on such fundamental systems to function and enable sustainable, inclusive growth. These include energy supply, mobility networks, water management, and healthcare systems.

Current challenges, though not limited to these, include conflicts between heat networks and drinking water infrastructure, reconstruction of the subsurface to accommodate greenery and water retention, emerging transport flows, electricity grid congestion, social disparities in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and the impact of new legislation and regulations.

Rotterdam’s vital systems revealed that:

• Vital systems form the foundation of the city and are crucial for its sustainable growth.
•Their availability, reliability, and coherence are essential for the well-being and development of the city.
•Changes within these systems are interconnected and can influence one another, requiring an integrated approach.
•Increasing complexity and pressure on vital systems demand coordinated strategies and investments in both the short and long term.

The UNIC team, together with the City of Rotterdam, addresses challenges by fostering transdisciplinary collaboration between universities and municipalities. This framework provides flexibility and the capacity to tackle multiple issues simultaneously, serving as an example of policy innovation and societal co-creation.

CityLabs - Connect and Co-Create


  Complex challenges are addressed and experimented thanks to the innovative contributions of students and professionals in transdisciplinary setting called CityLabs. UNIC citylabs have currently been implemented in the following areas:

Urban perspectives on sustainability
Sustainability Insights: UNIC CityLabs Study Trip to UCC Ireland!

Social and finance inequalities
Greening the Gap: Connecting Researchers to Address Urban Inequality

UNIC CityLab - Bilbao as a learning environment for Erasmus University Rotterdam students Health and well being in post-industrial cities
Entrepreneurship and the ecosystem of companies and cities
Artist methodologies for a resilient

Erasmus University hosts UNIC exchange on the power of artistic methodologies  

Contact Us

We welcome research and cities-driven collaborations in these areas and invite you to
connect with us to explore possibilities for developing partnership initiatives.

The Centre for City Futures is resourced by our Local Centre for City Futures team: Marco Aperti,
Maarten Nijples and Albert Engels from the City of Rotterdam. To connect with us, please contact us by email.  

Email us


Cookie Settings

The UNIC website uses cookies to improve your experience. Read our full Cookie Policy here.

I Accept the Cookie Policy No Cookies, Please