Globalisation is affecting cities and regions. The growing scarcity of natural resources and climate change, the opening of work, increasing urbanisation and an increasing knowledge intensity are leading to more global, flexible, risky, creative and smarter forms of value-creation. Regional decision makers are challenged to partner with higher education institutions to develop region’s economic and educational capabilities. This presentation discusses how higher education institutions can act as a catalyst for regions to be more sustainable, fairer and stronger. HEIs build and sustain human capital. They empower more persons to be innosumers. They work on new products, paradigms, pricing models, processes and practices, thus creating technologies, know-how and process capital. They also establish new platforms on the basis of innovative types of projects, organisations, contracts and partnerships beyond public and private, thus fostering social capital. This analysis aims to show what collaborative strategies higher education institutions are using to combine different creative impulses and sources of funding. In order to help agglomeration spaces, cities and regions to become more prosperous in the emerging economic model.