UNIgreen Appoints New General Coordinator

The UNIgreen Alliance is pleased to announce the appointment of José Luis Ruiz Real as its new General Coordinator, effective of June 2026. This appointment marks an important step in strengthening the Alliance’s mission to advance sustainability-driven education, research, and innovation across Europe.

With a strong background in European projects, teaching and internationalization in higher education, José Luis Ruiz Real brings extensive experience in international collaboration, marketing, and scientific expertise in tourism. Throughout his professional career, he has developed extensive international experience in academic cooperation, project management, and multicultural team leadership, positioning him as a key leader to guide UNIgreen into its next phase. As General Coordinator, Ruiz Real will oversee the strategic development and implementation of the Alliance’s activities, strengthening collaboration among Alliance universities and HEIs and enhancing UNIgreen’s visibility and impact at the European and global levels. 

I am deeply committed to consolidating UNIgreen as a strong, visible, and sustainable European alliance capable of generating long-term academic, scientific, social, and territorial impact. I believe that our alliance has enormous potential to become a European benchmark in sustainability, green transformation, innovation, and inclusive higher education.
José Luis Ruiz Real

UNIgreen is consistently working towards becoming the leading Green European University, where students and its academic community develop the skills and values to become agents for the transition towards a climate-neutral and resource-efficient economy. Under José Luis Ruiz Real’s coordination, the Alliance aims to further expand opportunities for students, researchers, and staff, including mobility programmes, joint initiatives, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

I strongly believe that the future of higher education in Europe depends on our ability to build bridges: bridges between countries, between disciplines, between education and research, between universities and society, and between innovation and sustainability. UNIgreen represents exactly that vision.

José Luis Ruiz Real

As UNIgreen consolidates towards its next phase, the Alliance would also like to express its sincere gratitude to its previous coordinator, Tomás Lorenzana  for his dedication and contributions to the development and establishment of UNIgreen. 

Together, the UNIgreen Alliance, through its renewed success and dedication to the European University Initiative and its mission of boosting innovation, inclusive education and providing the tools for students, young professionals, researchers, and all UNIgreen stakeholders to become actors for the green transition. Together, we are creating the future, today. 

CURRICULUM VITAE

He has been Director of International Promotion at University of Almeria (2023-2026), member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Association of Academic and Professional Marketing (AEMARK), and Secretary General of the Spanish Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AECIT). Throughout his professional career, he has developed extensive international experience in academic cooperation, project management, and multicultural team leadership.

PhD in Business Management and Economics from the University of Almería. Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Complutense University and CEU San Pablo University (Madrid).

His research activity focuses primarily on the field of marketing, specifically retailing and tourism marketing, and on sustainability in the context of business management. His doctoral thesis, “The composition of the assortment as a relevant variable in consumer purchasing behavior: an analysis in the context of food-based distribution”, focuses on consumer behavior and food distribution. Several of their publications specifically analyze environmental and sustainability issues from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining economics, business, sustainable marketing and the environment.

Visiting professor at Changchun University (China) and at the University of Beira Interior (Portugal). Guest professor at numerous universities, including: Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (Germany), Opole University of Technology (Poland), Koçaeli University (Turkey), Keimyung University (Republic of Korea), the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the University of the Republic (Uruguay), and the University of Bucharest (Romania). Marketing advisor at Florida Institute of Management (Miami, USA). With extensive international experience as a marketing consultant, he has visited more than 100 countries.

He has been an evaluator of European projects at the Spanish National Agency – OAPEE (Autonomous Body for European Educational Programs) and   SEPIE (Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education). He has coordinated numerous European projects, mainly under Erasmus+, including: Design, Do and LEAN it; BERC; TEA LEAF; IBRAVE; RURALTOUR, AGRI&TOUR. Coordinator of the Sustainable Tourism Network of the PIMA Program of the Organization of Ibero-American States at UAL. Researcher in several projects of the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID).

Chair and/or co-chair of several prestigious international academic conferences, such as: NB&PL (International Conference on Advances in National Brand and Private Label Marketing), or BASIQ International Conference on New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption.

Coordinator of several postgraduate courses. Author of numerous publications in prestigious scientific journals such as: Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, among others. Speaker at multiple international conferences.