UniverCities 2026 has already multiple confirmed speakers, all top-tier professionals working with university-city collaborations:
- Daniel Sazonov, the Mayor of the City of Helsinki,
- Ron Boschma, Professor in Regional Economics at Utrecht University and Adjunct Professor in Innovation Studies at UiS School of Business and Law at University of Stavanger,
- Ben Derudder, Professor of Urban Studies at KU Leuven Public Governance Institute and Director of the LUSI - KU Leuven Urban Studies Institute,
and many more!
UniverCities 2026 invites researchers, policymakers, university administrators, urban planners, and innovation practitioners to discuss the changing relationship between universities and cities, and to examine how collaborative models can help solve urban problems.
The conference seeks interdisciplinary contributions from urban studies, geography, planning, public policy, sociology, economics, innovation studies, higher education research, and related fields. We welcome theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented papers and presentations.
There is still two weeks left to submit an abstract, till 1 June 2026!
See more information on the conference website: