Costa Rican public university with H2020 expertise in urban nature-based solutions and innovation policy for EU-Latin America consortia.
Universidad Nacional (UNA) is a Costa Rican public university based in Heredia that conducts applied research at the intersection of economic development policy and urban environmental sustainability. In H2020, UNA contributed expertise in Latin American regional innovation dynamics, global value chain analysis, and urban nature-based solutions, functioning as a bridge between European research networks and Central American contexts. Their work brings a verified Global South perspective to EU-funded consortia, particularly in projects targeting EU-Latin America (CELAC) cooperation. They are a government-funded institution with research departments spanning social sciences, environmental sciences, and public policy.
INTERLACE (2020-2025) explicitly focuses on restoring and connecting urban environments across Latin America and Europe using nature-based solutions and resilient city frameworks.
CatChain (2018-2024) addresses catching-up along global value chains, sectoral systems of innovation, clusters, and smart specialization strategy — core tools of EU and OECD regional innovation policy.
CatChain centers on value added analysis, mapping, and business model innovations along global value chains, a methodology UNA contributed as a non-EU partner.
Both projects involve multi-directional EU-CELAC cooperation frameworks; INTERLACE explicitly names this as a core objective, and CatChain spans a similarly wide international consortium.
In their first H2020 engagement (CatChain, 2018), UNA's contribution was rooted in economic development theory — catching-up processes, global value chains, sectoral innovation systems, policy transfer, and smart specialization, topics typical of development economics and public policy research. By 2020 (INTERLACE), their focus shifted decisively toward applied urban environmental work — nature-based solutions, urban ecosystem restoration, co-production of knowledge with cities, and sustainable urban development. The trajectory suggests either a deliberate strategic pivot toward environmental sustainability, or that UNA's interdisciplinary departments are engaging different EU funding streams, with the environmental/climate pillar gaining prominence in recent years.
UNA is moving from theoretical economic policy research toward applied urban environmental projects, making them an increasingly relevant partner for Horizon Europe missions on climate-neutral cities and biodiversity, particularly in EU-Latin America cooperation contexts.
UNA has never coordinated an H2020 project — they join exclusively as partner or third party, a pattern consistent with a non-EU institution accessing EU funding through associated country mechanisms or third-party arrangements. Despite this limited formal role, they participate in large, geographically diverse consortia: 35 unique partners across 19 countries through just two projects, indicating they are sought-after for their regional expertise rather than administrative leadership. Working with UNA means engaging a research partner that brings Latin American field access and regional policy knowledge, not project management capacity.
UNA has connected with 35 unique partners across 19 countries through only two projects, reflecting participation in large, geographically ambitious consortia that span both European and Latin American institutions. Their network is distinctly transatlantic, consistent with the EU-CELAC cooperation mandate visible in both projects.
UNA is one of the very few Costa Rican universities with verified H2020 participation and real EC funding, making them an established and funded entry point into the Central American research space for consortia targeting EU-Latin America cooperation. Their combination of innovation economics expertise and urban sustainability research is unusual — most Latin American H2020 partners specialize in one domain, while UNA has demonstrated credibility in both. For consortium builders pursuing Horizon Europe's global cooperation agenda or CELAC partnership calls, UNA offers institutional legitimacy, field access in Costa Rica, and a track record of delivering in large multi-country projects.
