The theme of this year's ACA Annual Conference is the relationship between universities and colleges and the cities in which they are located. The overarching questions of the event are: what do cities contribute to the success of universities and colleges, and how do higher education institutions help cities develop? The ACA Annual Conference 2016 will address all of these different 'habitats' - big cities, small towns and remote and challenged regions. In doing so, it will not only explore the relationship between higher education institutions and municipalities, but also of university-enterprise interaction and cooperation between academic institutions and civil society actors in their city, town or region.