Since 1997 ECIU (European Consortium of Innovative Universities) has grown into a network of 14 universities. Our collaboration is grounded in expertise in innovative education, research and knowledge exchange. All members are entrepreneurial universities dedicated to the development of an innovative culture in their institutions, and to a catalytic role for innovation in industry and society at large. Since 2019, we are building our European university model, co-funded by the the European Union. We are united by a joint goal to make an impact, empowering learners, teachers, and researchers work with cities, communities, and businesses to solve real-life challenges – and foster change. The ECIU University Research Institute for Smart European Regions (SMART-ER) is a research, innovation and education strong alliance, enabling ECIU University member institutions to jointly address complex societal challenges. The SMART-ER project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Our members: Dublin City University, Ireland Institut National Des Sciences Appliquées, France Hamburg University of Technology, Germany Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania Linköping University, Sweden Lodz University of Technology, Poland Tampere University, Finland Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain University of Aveiro, Portugal University of Stavanger, Norway University of Trento, Italy University of Twente, Netherlands Aalborg University, Denmark Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico