36 years of UNICA! Read our letter to the future of the network

24 January 2026 | From UNICA

On 24 January, UNICA celebrated 36 years, closing a year dedicated to the 35th anniversary.
To mark this moment of continuity and change, we wrote a letter addressed to all current and future members of the UNICA community:

To our colleagues – present and future – in the UNICA community,

This letter is written at a moment of continuity and change.

In 2025, UNICA marked 35 years of cooperation among universities in Europe’s capital cities – years shaped by transformation in how universities teach, research, govern, and engage with society.

Looking ahead, we know that the context in which you work will not mirror ours. Priorities will shift. Structures will evolve. New challenges will emerge. Yet the reason UNICA exists – to create space for cooperation, dialogue, and shared responsibility among universities – will remain relevant as long as higher education continues to matter to society.

What sustained this network over time was never certainty, but commitment. Commitment to exchange rather than isolation; to listening across differences; and to the belief that universities, when connected, can contribute more meaningfully to the public good. These commitments were tested often, and reaffirmed deliberately.

As we marked 35 years of this network, we did not try to summarise what UNICA is. Those definitions change. What endures is something simpler: the habit of reaching out to one another when answers are unclear, and the willingness to work through complexity together rather than alone.

Looking further ahead, the future of universities themselves will continue to be shaped by tensions rather than certainties. Universities will be asked to be simultaneously local and global, autonomous and accountable, open and secure, competitive and inclusive. They will operate in environments where knowledge circulates faster than institutions can adapt, where public trust must be earned continuously, and where societal expectations extend well beyond teaching and research alone.

In this context, universities will increasingly be valued not only for what they produce, but for how they engage. Their role as spaces for critical inquiry, democratic dialogue, and independent thought will remain essential – and, at times, contested. The ability to protect academic freedom, uphold institutional integrity, and engage responsibly with political, technological, and economic forces will define their credibility in the years ahead.

At the same time, universities will be challenged to rethink learning itself. Lifelong learning, flexible pathways, micro-credentials, and new forms of recognition will continue to reshape educational models. Research will demand stronger collaboration across disciplines and sectors, while addressing global challenges that do not respect institutional or national boundaries. No single university, however strong, will be able to respond to these demands alone.

It is here that networks such as UNICA will matter most. Not as substitutes for institutional autonomy, but as spaces where universities can reflect collectively, test ideas, share risks, and learn from one another’s successes and failures. In a future marked by uncertainty, cooperation will not be an optional add-on; it will be a condition for relevance and resilience.

The universities of tomorrow will be judged not only by their rankings or outputs, but by their capacity to contribute thoughtfully to society – to educate engaged citizens, to advance knowledge responsibly, and to remain open institutions in changing times.

To those joining UNICA in the years to come: you will shape the network in ways we cannot foresee. You are encouraged to question its formats, adapt its priorities, and respond to the needs of your time. Networks endure not because they are preserved unchanged, but because they are renewed by those who use them.

To those active today: remember that cooperation is an active practice. It depends on participation, trust, and the willingness to invest time in collective work whose impact is not always immediate, but often lasting.

This letter does not seek to conclude UNICA’s story. It is an acknowledgement that the network’s future is neither fixed nor predetermined. It will be shaped by the choices, commitments, and imagination of its members.

If UNICA continues to serve as a space for connection, reflection, and shared responsibility, then it will remain relevant – not because of its history, but because of what you choose to build next.