The University of Insubria includes among its objectives the third mission as an expression of the desire to assume a key role in stimulating and guiding the use of knowledge for social, cultural and economic development . 

The modern knowledge society has assigned universities an increasingly important role in economic growth and social development. Universities, for their part, have accepted the challenge and in recent decades have added a so-called third mission to their two traditional missions (teaching and research), transforming them into reference points for the business community and for society as a whole. 

The introduction of the Lisbon Agenda by the European Council in 2000 and subsequent publications (2003 - The role of universities in the Europe of knowledge, 2005 - Mobilizing the brainpower of Europe: enabling universities to make their full contribution to the Lisbon strategy, 2006 - Delivering on the Modernization Agenda for Universities: education, research and innovation) have opened the debate on the role of universities in transforming Europe into the most dynamic "knowledge-based economy" in the world. Such a goal requires strengthening the vertices of the knowledge triangle (education, research, innovation), three vertices in which universities play a key role:

Investing more and better in the modernization and quality of universities means investing in the future of Europe and its citizens. 

Today, under the heading of third mission, all activities relating to the territory are included, which can be grouped into three different dimensions:

• Technology transfer and innovation
• Continuing education
• Public engagement

In other words, we could say that the third mission is the bridge between the university and the community, understood as businesses, schools, non-profit organizations, societies, and individuals.