Abstract

This study explores the heritage of the eight universities which formed the Una Europa alliance in 2021: Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the Complutense University of Madrid, KU Leuven, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Helsinki and the Freie University Berlin. As our current understanding of university heritage goes beyond university collections and museums, this study sets up six categories to describe the heritage of the participating institutions: ‘History of the university’, ‘Built Heritage’, ‘Museums and Collections’,‘Ceremonies, Traditions, and Other Elements of Intangible Heritage’, ‘The Management of University Collections’ and ‘Digital Heritage’. By breaking down their heritage in this way this study facilitates the comparison between these institutions and the ways heritage is approached by each of them.