GLUE
Innovation & Entrepreneurship via Green Living Labs in the UNITA Ecosystem
GLUE strengthens UNITA’s alliance-wide green innovation capacity by embedding Living Labs, territorial acceleration, institutional innovation structures, and EIT Food and Climate-KIC cooperation under Topic 2.
Selected under Topic 2: EIT-HEI-2025-BUILDING-SYNERGIES, GLUE supports the UNITA – Universitas Montium European University Alliance in becoming a stronger innovation ecosystem for mountain, rural, and cross-border territories. The project focuses on using innovation and entrepreneurship as the “glue” that connects education, research, territorial engagement, venture support, and institutional transformation.
At the centre of GLUE is a meta-Living Lab model. At alliance level, the project embeds innovation into UNITA’s governance and permanent legal structure. At institutional and territorial level, it activates existing Research & Innovation Hubs as Living Labs connected to regional ecosystems. At learner and project level, it creates challenge-based education, research valorisation, and entrepreneurial activities responding to real territorial needs.
GLUE will support green innovation in areas such as regenerative and bio-based agrifood systems, circular economy, renewable energy, climate resilience, sustainable land use, and mountain-area transformation. It will also establish the UNITA Acceleration Programme, strengthen knowledge and technology transfer structures, develop entrepreneurial education and executive training, and connect ventures and institutional actors to EIT Food, Climate-KIC, the Living Lab community, and wider European innovation networks. The project aims to turn UNITA’s territorial diversity into a practical testbed for place-based green transition and innovation-led regional development.
Partners on this project
University of Turin (Lead Partner)
West University of Timișoara (Lead Partner)
Euromontana
European Network of Living Labs
Polytechnic Institute of Guarda
Public University of Navarra
UNIVERSITAS MONTIUM UNITA GEIE (UNITA-GEIE)
University Savoie Mont Blanc
University of Pau and the Adour Region
University of Zaragoza
Aumovio Technologies Romania SRL
Brașov Destination Management Organization
Business Association of Northeast Beira
Business Network International
Catholic University of Colombia
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Brasov
CoWork Timișoara
Consortium Campus Iberus
Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the National University of Cuyo
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Federal University of Viçosa
Hassan II University of Casablanca
Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza
Moldova State University
National University of Cuyo
National University of La Plata
National University of Timor-Leste
Polytechnic Institute of Management and Technology
Regional Development Agency Centru
Regional Development Agency for the West Region of Romania
Romanian Commercial Bank
State University of Western Paraná
The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding
The Technical University of Moldova
University of los Andes
Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
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