T4EU Entrepreneurial Winter School
See the coverage of the first T4EU Entrepreneurial Winter School
12–16 December 2022 | University of Trieste, Italy
- author: Salvatore Dore | University of Trieste
About
In the week from 12th to 16th December, the Contamination Lab of the University of Trieste hosted the first edition of the T4EU Entrepreneurial Winter School to support the development of student entrepreneurship held as part of the Transform4Europe project.
The theme “the global environment” developed over 5 days alternating with lessons/seminars and guided tours around the city of Trieste and the Region Friuli Venezia-Giulia.
MONDAY
The first day, also called “landscaping”, began at around 12.45 when the participants from the various universities belonging to the T4EU alliance were welcomed at the Contamination Lab headquarters in via Fabio Severo 40.
From 2PM to 5PM both the University of Trieste and the Municipality of Trieste gave their greetings to the participants and officially inaugurated the start of the school. Then it followed the presentation of the city hosting the event in its meaning of “Trieste as an entrepreneurial science city”. Then, the innovation poles characterizing the city were introduced to the public such as: AREA SCIENCE PARK with Luca Mercatelli; SISSA with René Buttò; the Pittini Foundation with Nicolò Melli, Trieste School of Management (MIB), the Urban Center with Barbara Codan and Marco Del Vecchio and, finally, the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics with Falvia Rolli.
The first day ended with a guided tour of the city.
TUESDAY
The second day, i.e. Tuesday 13, was dedicated to “Setting the challenge” and began with a session from 9 AM to 1 PM in which Lydia Alessio Vernì – General Manager of the Work & Business Development Agency (FVG Region) spoke; Giuseppe Borruso – Professor of Economic-Political Geography of the Department of Economic, Business, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (UniTs) who dealt with the topic “Digital transformation and smart cities”. Finally, Lior Malach- Founder of Smart Trade Networks (Israel) and business analyst took the floor on the theme “Innovative cities: where and why”.
Between 1PM and 3PM the lunch break was held on the second floor of the building in via Fabio Severo 40 (in the Coworking area of the Contamination Lab) where the participants were able to exchange considerations on what they learned during the morning.
At the end of the lunch break the scheduled activities were held from 3PM to 6PM. In this afternoon session mediated by Cristiano Giovanni Piani and focused on the theme of student entrepreneurial environments different associations: Netval (a consortium of different higher education institutions that provides a forum for cooperation and information exchange on higher education and research policies), Pnicube (an italian association of university, incubators and business plan competitions), Italian Clab Network (it is a “CLab incubator”: it brings together and connects the Contamination Labs) and the European Business Angels Network ( a pan-European representative for the early stage investor community gathering over 100 member organizations in more than 50 countries).
The session concluded with the Final of the 2022 edition of the Contamination Lab in which the three finalist projects developed within the CLab UniTS (GIVIT, SCRIPTA and U-HOME) were presented to the public. The award ceremony for the best entrepreneurial project of the CLab was then inaugurated with a dialogue between the Rai Business Head of Rai FVG Guido Corso and the local entrepreneur Riccardo Illy on the theme “education and entrepreuneurial Spirit: how to surge” followed by a moment Q&A with the audience. The award ceremony saw two projects conceived during the 2022 edition of the CLab, as winners: GIVIT by Leonardo Bressan and SCRIPTA by Luca Dipiazza and Gabriele Bergantini who will fly to Cambridge to visit an important cutting-edge center for innovation.
The day ended with a social moment: a pizza-based dinner for all the school participants.
WEDNESDAY
The third day was dedicated to the Public Support Entities and, therefore, to the guided tour of Elettra Sincrotrone and the Urban Center two example of national research center and local public accelerators.
The meeting with the participants was set in Piazza Oberdan for 8.45AM . At 9 AM , with organized buses, we left for Area Science Park-Elettra Sincrotrone (Basovizza, TS). After having access to the laboratory and following an introduction of the multidisciplinary research center, the group of participants was divided into two smaller groups. While one of the two visited FERMI, the new free electron laser built next to the Elettra synchrotron light machine reachable by crossing the Elettra storage ring, the other group explored the Italian source of third generation synchrotron light, precisely Elettra.
The visit to the Area Science Park of Basovizza ended with a lunch break from 1PM to 2PM at the canteen of the science pole.
The scheduled activities resumed from 3PM to 5PM starting with the organized buses at around 2.20PM for the Urban Center located near the central station of Trieste. The public innovation hub presented itself to the participants by outlining itself in its form, in the type of support offered and the space made available.
THURSDAY
The fourth day was dedicated to the Private Support Entities of the FVG Region, therefore, the Alto Adriatico Technological Hub, the Lean Experience Factory (LEF) and the Electrolux Innovation Factory.
The meeting with the participants was set for 8 AM in Piazza Oberdan with departure set for 8.30 by organized bus.
The first destination was the Alto Adriatico Technological Hub in Pordenone. The pole that acts as an accelerator and incubator of entrepreneurial ideas introduced itself to the participants, emphasizing its functions, its staff and presenting a start-up residing in the pole. At the end of the visit, two students from the Vytautas Magnus University, who were supposed to leave the following day, took advantage of the spaces granted by the pole to introduce themselves and present their business idea to their school colleagues.
After a lunch break held in its refreshment room at the hub, we left for San Vito al Tagliamento for an organized visit to the Lean Experience Factory which welcomed the participants into its spaces and explained how it supports companies in tackling the digital transformation thanks to experiential training and consultancy services.
The day of visits ended in Porcia at the Electrolux Innovation Factory which presented itself as an open innovation space of the group which acts as a hub for collaboration with external partners in order to accelerate innovation in the field of products and of the production.
The day of visits concluded with the return to Trieste.
FRIDAY
The last day, as scheduled, began at 9.30AM and took place on the third floor (Sala Cappella) of the former Military Hospital in Trieste focusing on entrepreneurial culture. It proceeded with the presentation of some of the participating universities. In order: Alicante, Estonia, Sofia and Saarland who presented their activities and the services offered to students interested in the field of entrepreneurship.
To conclude the morning, a summary of the essential points of the week, considerations on the progress of the school and on the future of the alliance meetings.
A farewell lunch in the co-working area concluded the T4EU Entrepreuneurial school week.
