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Who we are

UNITA Universitas Montium è un'alleanza di dodici istituti di istruzione superiore e un'entità giuridica (UNITA GEIE) proveniente da sette paesi di diverse dimensioni e con percorsi diversi, che riunisce quasi 250.000 studenti e 22.000 membri del personale. 

unita map

Origins and growth of UNITA

UNITA – Universitas Montium was created in 2020 as a response to the “European Universities” initiative of the Erasmus+ programme. These partnerships are long-term cooperation projects between higher education institutions that aim to improve the quality of higher education and the competitiveness of European universities.

10 members and 2 associates

MEMBERS

Universidade da Beira Interior · UBI

PORTUGAL

Instituto Politécnico da Guarda · IPG

PORTUGAL

Universidad Pública de Navarra · UPNA

SPAIN

Universidad de Zaragoza · UNIZAR

SPAIN

Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour · UPPA

FRANCE

Université Savoie Mont Blanc · USMB

FRANCE

Università di Torino · UNITO

ITALY

Università degli Studi di Brescia · UNIBS

ITALY

Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara · UVT

ROMANIA

Universitatea Transilvania din Brașov · UNITBV

ROMANIA

ASSOCIATES

Haute École Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale · HES-SO

SWITZERLAND

Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University · CHNU

UKRAINE

A shared geographical and cultural context
The UNITA Universities are located in rural, mountain, and cross-border regions across Southern, Western and Central-Eastern Europe, in ecosystems sharing similar challenges and impacted by core-periphery dynamics.

Mission and key objectives
The Alliance aims to achieve innovation in education; promote research and innovation in the six priority areas (green energy, cultural heritage, circular economy, inclusive societies, digital transition and global health); create an international virtual campus; and promote European citizenship and multilingualism through intercomprehension between Romance languages.

The meaning behind UNITA
The words ‘unidad, unidade, unità, unitate, unité’ inspire our name: UNITA. It evokes the strong links and commonalities that bring us together to create a ground-breaking and innovative alliance aiming at a deeper level of integration. Universitas Montium, written in Latin, stresses a common heritage and the fact that UNITA universities all speak Romance languages.

Our values

EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP

We share a strong commitment to contribute to the development of our societies and territories in a European dimension, including the awareness of a shared European citizenship and the contribution to the permanently ongoing construction of European identity.

PROMOTION OF THE EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC VALUES

We are strongly committed to promoting the European democratic values of peace, human dignity and human rights, equality, diversity and inclusion, and to the construction of a fully-fledged European University fostering the European way of life.

We believe in:

  • Democratic participation
  • Societal and civic engagement
  • Diversity
  • People empowerment
  • Inclusiveness
  • Environmental responsibility

USE OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES

We actively and increasingly use Romance languages in addition to English in education, research, innovation and management, thus enhancing linguistic diversity and promoting inclusion but also resorting to them as a tool for projecting UNITA beyond Europe taking advantage of our languages in large regions of the world, particularly in the Americas and in Africa.

A strong network of partners
In addition to the legal entity, UNITA GEIE (UNITA European Economic Interest Grouping), the Alliance includes more than fifty associated partners representing various actors in each regional ecosystem, such as the socio-economic sector, public authorities, a quality assurance agency, policymakers, and civil organizations.
Our slogan ‘Climb your future’ reflects our commitment to supporting the aspirations of our graduates and our communities by fostering their resilience to cope with life’s challenges.

UNITA’s global outlook: The Geminae Program
UNITA – Universitas Montium is also open to the world through the Geminae Program. This initiative consists of a network of “sister” universities, based on the quality of the institutions, located in non-European countries that speak Romance languages.

Building a sustainable university model
Together, we constitute a unique ecosystem that ensure the transformative impact and the sustainability of our new University model.

UNITA at European Universities Student Ambassador Forum 2025

Work Packages & Task Teams

Work Packages & Task Teams

We are what we share

UNITA’s Inclusive societies Hub is one of the six hubs. Each hub is led by a ‘Task Force’, constituted by researchers representing the member universities.

This task force is animated and coordinated by two universities, Prof. Monica SZELES (UNITBV) , Prof. Patricia ALMAGUER (UNIZAR) and  Prof. Concepción LOMBA (UNIZAR) are the contact points.

Discover here below the Matching events organized within the Inclusive societies hub: 

UNITA’s Global health Hub is one of the six hubs. Each hub is led by a ‘Task Force’, constituted by researchers representing the member universities.

This task force is animated and coordinated by two universities, Dr. Amalric ORTLIEB (HES-SO) and Dr. Donatella Placidi (UNIBS) are the contact points.

Visit the Global Health hub padlet

Matching events for Global Health Hub

UNITA’s Digital transitions Hub is one of the six hubs. Each hub is led by a ‘Task Force’, constituted by researchers representing the member universities.

This task force is animated and coordinated by two universities: Prof. Antonio LOPEZ (UPNA) and Prof. Alexandre Miguel Pereira FIGUEIREDO (IPG) are the contact points.

UNITA’s Cultural Heritage Hub is one of the three hubs, together with Circular Economy and Renewable Energies, each one of them corresponding to one of the three Axes in which research activities in UNITA universities have been divided.

Each hub is led by a ‘Task Force’, constituted by researchers representing the member universities.

This task force is animated and coordinated by two universities, Prof. Laurence Roussillon-Constanty (UPPA) and Prof. Giaime Alonge (UNITO) are the contact points.

Within the research cartography, more than 300+ Cultural Heritage projects can be found, grouped into the following themes and sub-themes:

· Study and preservation of tangible Cultural Heritage
· Intangible Cultural Heritage and identity narratives
· Enhancement and dissemination of cultural and natural heritage
· Innovation policies for the development of marginalised areas

UNITA’s Cultural Heritage Hub

UNITA’s Circular economy and environment hub is one of the six hubs, each one of them corresponding to one of the three Axes in which research activities in UNITA universities have been divided.

Each hub is led by a ‘Task Force’, constituted by researchers representing the member universities.

This task force is animated and coordinated by two universities, Prof. Stefania DIMA (UVT) and Prof. José Maria FRAILE (UNIZAR) are the contact points.

Within the research cartography, more than 200+ Circular Economy projects can be found, grouped into the following themes and sub-themes:

 Activities achieved so far:

  • PhD thesis in cotutelle
  • Microcredentials
  • Summer Schools
  • Research seminars and workshops

UNITA’s Green energies Hub is one of the six hubs, each one of them corresponding to one of the six axes in which research activities in UNITA universities have been divided.

Each hub is led by a ‘Task Force’, constituted by researchers representing the member universities.

This task force is animated and coordinated by two universities, Prof. Benoit STUTZ (USMB) and Prof. Antonio CARDOSO (UBI) are the contact points.

Within the research cartography, more than 120+ projects related to renewable energies can be found, grouped into the following themes and sub-themes:

Energy transformation & Integration – System – Energy carriers
Solar energy
Socio-economic & legal & education aspect
Bioenergy
Geothermal energy
Hydropower
Wind

Activities achieved so far:

  • PhD thesis in cotutelle
  • Microcredentials
  • Summer Schools
  • Research seminars and workshops