Universities posse the ideal characteristics and appropriate potential to become strategic agents in addressing the challenges of sustainable development. University campuses are envisioned as experimentation living laboratories where ideas, academic research and innovation can produce evidence to build new models of sustainability.

In order to achieve this effective collaboration, the creation of spaces for connection and dialogue are necessary. This is precisely the core mission of the Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN). On the one hand, The Spanish chapter of the Network, REDS-SDSN Spain, is composed of more than 100 Spanish universities and research centers, along with collaborators from public administrations and private sector working to support territories in their transition towards sustainability. On the other hand, The UPV/EHU's own educational model (2019), the i3 strategy consists of multiplying learning through research and sustainability: an exponential growth of each of the terms that enables unprecedented processes and products and is developed through of programs or initiatives that produce experiences of high educational impact for students. It is deployed through several lines of action among which the highlight is “experimenting with the idea of co-directions of TFG and TFM with research teams, entities and external companies so that students can learn first-hand about these real contexts and maintain teaching-learning relationships with external agents. This line responds to one of the objectives of the new Organic Law of the University System (2023) “to make the university a useful tool for all citizens, connecting it with the different agents of our society and seeking a virtuous collaboration between universities and public institutions, companies, and social entities”. The UPV/EHU is part of the REDS-SDSN Spain network.

One of these current missions is the decarbonization of cities, which in the European Union is promoted by the mission "100 climate neutral and smart cities before 2030." In Spain, there are seven cities that are part of this initiative, including Vitoria-Gasteiz, where one of the campuses of the UPV/EHU is located. In order to support the achievement of this objective, the collaboration platform has been created for the climate neutrality of Spanish cities (citiES 2030), a public action infrastructure, aimed at providing services to localities to facilitate and accelerate their transition towards decarbonization and resilience.

UnicitiES 2030 was born to respond to this mission of climate neutrality, connecting the knowledge of the University of the Basque Country and the needs of the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, with the support of REDS SDSN Spain and CitiES 2030. This initiative is framed in the connection between the university and cities, under the support of the Ministry of Universities and which has been piloted in the 2023/24 academic year. It has been carried out through the development of final degree and postdegree projects aligned with the needs of cities, in which undergraduate and postgraduate students of different disciplines, professors, researchers and municipal technical staff have participated in the co-creation of solutions.

More info: https://www.ehu.eus/es/web/iraunkortasuna/unicities-2030; https://reds-sdsn.es/unicities2030/

Keywords: Mission-oriented research, collaboration, sustainability, committed students.