The University of Poitiers (UP), founded in 1431, is a French multidisciplinary university with a health college. In 2020, it gathered almost 30,000 students (including 5,400 master's students, 15% of international students, and 839 doctoral students,) and more than 2,700 staff members (including 1,027 teacher-researchers, 346 teachers, 1,211 administrative staff). UP is located in several cities: Poitiers (3 geographical campuses), Niort, Angoulême but also in Châtellerault, Segonzac and Royan. It is the only university of the French northern “Nouvelle-Aquitaine” region, whose population is about 1.8 million inhabitants (former “Poitou-Charentes” region), with an economy mainly based on small and medium-size businesses. UP is composed of 14 colleges including 6 institutes and 1 engineering school. UP hosts 34 Research Units, including 3 jointly operated with Inserm and 12 with CNRS*. In 2019, UP started to evolve its internal structure into research thematic institutes in order to reinforce the legibility of its actions in research and education, and to go beyond its college organization. Each of these institutes is a multidisciplinary group gathering trainings, research laboratories and partners around a specific scientific or thematic field. The values of the University of Poitiers. The UP is committed to the University in the City concept, as a humanistic, citizen-centered, and sustainable model. This model contributes to identifying universities as central actors of the Knowledge Square (education, research, innovation, service to society). This model establishes sustainability and quality as basic requirements for a responsible university. The “City” refers to a universal entity playing a shaping role within its environment and at all levels (municipality, large urban area, regional, national, and European territories). The model reasserts the idea that universities play a central role in the development of cities and those cities represent a fundamental framework and are a catalyst for universities’ development. Cities and universities have a common and vital interest in the development of education and knowledge. Since 2020, UP is coordinating the EC2U Alliance (European Campus of City-Universities). The EC2U Alliance indeed promotes an unprecedented challenge-based global initiative that leans on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among the 17 UNSDGs, the EC2U universities have identified and selected 3 of them that will be guiding the Alliance’s activities during the first phase of its development (2020-2023): good health and well-being, quality education, sustainable cities and communities. The three societal goals on which the university of Poitiers is focusing are the same EC2U three SDGs. These SDGs offer a pathway to address the global (interdisciplinary) challenges for the decade to come.