The project INNOUNITA - INNOvation capacity building in UNITA represents the opportunity to bring together the experiences and know-how, and develop a consistent overall strategy based on the UNITA University alliance. UNITA is a European University Alliance of six comprehensive research universities from five countries, gathering together more than 160 000 students and 15.000 staff members.The alliance has a wide coverage of the region with low investment in research and innovation included in the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS), with Portugal, Romania, Spain and Italy being included, either as a whole country or as certain regions in the country. Through INNOUNITA, the experiences and approaches developed by the partners to promote and support innovation and entrepreneurship in the staff and student community will be shared, to set and develop a common ground for promoting entrepreneurial mind-sets and strengthening the impact of HEIs in the innovation ecosystem. The impact of this project can be particular important to build a critical mass of new talents in the RIS regions, filling the gap in scientific, entrepreneurial and managerial skills, making students able to undertake complex multidisciplinary tasks. The value added is in the nature of the opportunities we will create, by building one of the most up to date, attractive network of opportunities to innovate. Our project is organized in a way that will avoid the “one-shot” moment, trying to create a smart, creative pipeline for young innovators, from high schools to startups or R&D activities, making participants aware and possibly active users of all the EIT KICs portfolio programmes.