Thematic Line 2 - Sustainability and Green Cities

Establishing sustainable and green cities within the UNIC community

UNIC's Sustainability and Green Cities Thematic Line deepens partnerships between universities and cities to enhance climate mitigation and sustainability, supporting the development of climate action pathways and community engagement.
With six UNIC cities that are part of the 2030 EU Mission for climate-neutral and smart cities, one of its key goals is to create a network of researchers and students that will function as an advisory board and as a platform for identifying areas for common teaching and research.



UNIC's seven cross-cutting Thematic Lines are interlocking collaborative structures that establish relations between faculties of our universities around specific areas of post-industrial transition.


Topics covered by UNIC's thematic lines include health and wellbeing, sustainability, resilience and digitization, security, inclusion, entrepreneurship, and arts. They are communities of researchers and educators within UNIC that provide the contents for UNIC’s innovation in education, engagement, and cooperation capacities. Find out more about our Thematic Lines and get involved!


Six UNIC partners — Łódź, Zagreb, Malmö, Rotterdam, Cork, and Istanbul — are situated in cities that are among the 100 EU Mission Cities, the cities that participate in the EU Mission for 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030.

As a result, this Thematic Line focuses on UN Sustainable Development Goals in supporting universities and cities to collaborate and bring together staff, students and citizens.

How We Work

This Thematic Line ("TL2") is coordinated by University College Cork and Malmö University, but all ten UNIC universities are engaged in at least one of our activities.


The TL2 Board, with representatives from all universities, meets quarterly. The main purpose of the TL2 Board is to follow up on ongoing activities, and to be a forum for suggesting new activities within the scope of UNIC's "Work Package 5". TL2 has also co-hosted (with Thematic Line 3: Urban Resilience and Smart Cities) the first UNIC Thematic Conference held in Malmö, May 7-9, 2025.

Our ongoing projects include:


International Sustainability Leadership Autumn School


A key priority action, the inaugural autumn school will be delivered in Cork in September - October 2025, in Malmo in 2026, and in another UNIC university city in 2027.


The focus of the International Sustainability Leadership Autumn School is on leadership skills which complement the deep domain-specific knowledge acquired within academic disciplines e.g. systems thinking, futures thinking, sustainability values, societal impact, and interdisciplinarity. Within the Autumn School we will develop a “sustainability mindset” to think, plan and act with empathy, responsibility, and care for our planet. The Autumn School will also draw upon living laboratory methodologies for co-creation, critical reflection, and experiential learning developed and refined within the UNIC Centre for City Futures. Competences and skills learned within the programme will be applied to a city-based challenge.


The 2025 School will be hybrid, and accredited as a micro-credential. Need more information? Please contact p[dot]bolge[at]ucc.ie


UNIC Sustainability and Climate City Internships


The activity aims at establishing an internships programme as part of supporting UNIC cities in their mission to create sustainable and green cities. A clear target is the six UNIC partner cities that are part of EU Mission for climate-neutral and smart cities 2030, matters that may be relevant for all cities. This is aligned with the ideas of UNIC to build on post-industrial cities’ challenges that are formulated through city road maps.


In the pilot (2024-2025), the initial target audience are students in their 4th or 5th year (Master’s level). The internships may be linked to ongoing research, but also an opportunity for programme partners to explore ideas through engaged research with (comparatively) short and focused projects. The delivery mode for this activity is physical placement within UNIC city administrations; alternatively research masters at another UNIC university or industry internships. The internship module corresponds to modules for work placement or research internships in educational programmes across UNIC.


Need more information? Please contact per[dot]hillbur[at]mau.se

Green Actions


This activity is a collaborative project aimed at fostering synergies and sharing experiences across UNIC institutions. By transforming our campuses into living labs, we address the common challenge of conducting impactful research and facilitating student exchange, within the limits of the Paris Agreement on climate change.


The project focuses on green society cooperation and development, mapping green student societies, and enabling virtual student exchanges. It also includes creating green guides, and organizing common events such as Climate Action Weeks and the Circular Festival.


It also focuses on sustainable mobility initiatives, including contributing to a sustainable mobility guide, calculating carbon emissions from work-related travel, and sharing best practices.


Need more information? Please contact anna[dot]bruun-mansson[at]mau.se

Contact Thematic Line 2 - Sustainability and Green Cities

Email us at tl2[at]unic.eu

Get in Touch


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