Abstract: Veszprém as a medium-size city with the nearby Lake Balaton region, won the title of European Capital of Culture (ECoC) for 2023. This is a cultural, social and economic opportunity for the locals and the nation as well. The University of Pannonia, as one of the main alliance institutions of the ECoC (VEB2023) is a driver and an active participant in realising the programs. Therefore it is important to know the community’s attitude. The main goal of the present research is to explore the role of the university community (students, educators and non-educator staff), local identity, quality of life, cultural and emotional intelligence. In this study, the first results are presented as part of an ongoing longitudinal study. Altogether 190 full responses could be analysed out of the 542 received answers. Based on this regarding local identity people were most satisfied with the natural endowments, history of the settlement, attractions, public safety and calmness of the city. At the same time, they were the least satisfied with entertainment opportunities, local public transport, health care, parking and real estate prices. Concerning emotional intelligence, it was no difference on the average level, but significant differences were detected in the self-control dimension between the students and the academic employees. Regarding cultural intelligence, the weakest factor was the cognitive dimension. Furthermore, a significant difference was detected between the students’ and the academic employees’ cognitive and metacognitive dimensions.