The work of the Habitat Partner University Initiative falls under the pillars of:
Education
The Initiative emphasizes the importance of a strong network of partners that collaborate as a community of practice. This is supported by providing partners with the means for sharing knowledge and experiences, both online and face-to face. The Initiative supports university courses and curricula and provides its partners with the opportunities (internships, fellowships, mentorships, events and exposure) and material (UN publications, reports and experts) to guide them in their work towards sustainable urban development education.

Research
The research pillar of the Initiative focuses on building and connecting an international network of researchers with a common agenda and a focus on urgent urban issues. The outcomes of the research network are to be closely connected to the other pillars, greatly influencing the main work within the Initiative and promoting the capacities of its members and stakeholders.

Professional Development
The Initiative supports capacity development through its professional development pillar, spreading new sustainable urban development knowledge generated in universities through experts identified among the partners. The Initiative aims at supporting partners in providing training on locally relevant issues, focusing primarily on local governments and selected non-governmental urban stakeholders. Capacity development approaches are tailored to the needs of the target group.

Policy Advice
The Initiative aims to close the theory-practice gap. Through its pillar of Policy Advice, university-urban partnerships at local, regional and global levels are forged. Evidence-based policy advice is provided to local governments through, for example, Local Urban Knowledge Arenas, to national governments (through methods such as National Habitat Fora) and globally through the support of UN-HABITAT's flagship reports and the World Urban Forum.

Knowledge Management
A strong component of the Initiative is the cross- cutting pillar of Knowledge Management. This ensures visibility, awareness and the dissemination of material and findings developed within the network. This is to support the partners' collaborative drive towards sustainable urban development, enabling progressive efforts based on the cumulative experiences throughout the Initiative's global network of partners.
In collaboration with other urban networks, the Initiative currently develops the urban gateway to facilitate communication among university actors and between universities and urban stakeholders. The platform will support the other pillars.