Contamination as a key to innovation and entrepreneurship

Prof. Sauro Longhi Rettore Università Politecnica delle Marche Board of the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) The context:

Promoting entrepreneurship has become a key issue for all European countries.

Empirical evidence: it is not the number of new firms but their quality in terms of innovativeness.

Start-ups able to introduce innovations, product innovations, play a relevant role in increasing wealth creation and generating new employment.

The introduction of radical innovations dependent on the application of the new knowledge stemming from scientific research. The role of University:

Universities are fundamental in stimulating the entrepreneurial orientation of their students and researchers.

Last few decades: European universities promoted the development of entrepreneurship centres, established entrepreneurship courses.

The efficiency depends on a complex chain that starts from the entrepreneurial attitude of people, their entrepreneurial orientation, and the subsequent phases of incubation and acceleration.

Universities intervene (in many cases) in the entrepreneurial orientation of researchers and students and the initial support to the start-up of new firms. The role of University: After the incubation period within the university the growth of spin-offs depends more on the external environment were they can find appropriate support services to scale-up and growth (incubators and accelerators, venture capital, cluster of high-tech firms).

Universities support services for start-ups within the laboratories but also in stimulating partnerships with private and public subjects at the local level to enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem .

To improve the numbers of researchers and students involved in the creation of spin-off. This is very important for stimulating an entrepreneurial ecosystem and to promote entrepreneurship; empirical evidence demonstrates that a person involved in the start-up of a business has a much higher probability of starting other businesses during his/her career (social investment). The strategy:

It is important for universities to focus not only on short term objectives (such as promoting start-ups) but also to the long-term effects of the educational process.

It is important to stimulate partnerships and exchanges between students coming from different disciplines (to reduce researchers and students coming from the same academic background).

Radical innovation is often the result of the merging of ideas originating in different, sometimes distant, sectors. The strategy:

The cross fertilization of ideas arising from different disciplines is becoming more and more important, in the initial conception of new products and services and for the development of ideas into profitable businesses.

ICT & KETs

Entrepreneurs who are able to exchange ideas and collaborate in an open and fruitful way with people coming from different experience and background.

Contamination Lab Contamination Lab UnivPM c Lab: the idea It’s a place to favor the contamination between: • Students in different disciplines • Student at different levels (undergraduate, .. PhD) • Academy and industry

c Lab is active learning It a process of active learning based on: • team working • problem solving • focus on results • communication capabilities c Lab: c Class, C House, c Work

• Within the University, near other “classical” laboratories and classrooms • The laboratories are available for students involved in group works at every days and hours The project: Each academic year we select about 50 students, coming from other universities in the Marche region (the and the ) and attending curricula in humanities (that are not present at Univpm).

There are frequent meetings with entrepreneurs and other people involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem (incubators, venture capitalists, etc.) so that students may be aware of the different aspects associated with the start-up and development of a new venture.

The ideas, developed by interdisciplinary teams, are selected among those proposed by students at the beginning of the program (supported by a mentor). Contrary to our expectation, students from or agriculture were very active in proposing innovative ideas while students from business and or from information engineering are more willing to provide their specific expertise to support the ideas proposed by others The objectives: The main aim of the Contamination Lab is not that of promoting start-ups but to raise the entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial orientation of students.

We are confident that the students who attended the Contamination Lab will be able to make a difference in the places where they will live and work irrespective of whether they will follow an entrepreneurial career or will work as employees of a company or as civil servants .

The Contamination Lab, looking at the long-term impact of our educational programs; a student of medicine: “At present I do not know exactly in which way my career as a doctor or medicine will develop. What I know is that after this program I look forward at my working career and at my potential contribution in a very different way than before” The results:

• It is a way of overcoming the separation of curricula, which is typical of the university system, that limit the possibility of students to interact in a learning and working environment with colleagues coming from different curricula;

• It is a way of experimenting new and innovative ways of organizing educational activities, which stress the active involvement of students and the contribution of competences form outside the university;

• It is a way of stressing the importance of diversity and contamination in originating and developing innovative ideas;

• It seems to be very effective in promoting the formation of entrepreneurial teams and in promoting the entrepreneurial attitudes and entrepreneurial orientation of students. C Lab is an European model

Contamination refers not only to the exchanging of ideas between people coming from different educational background. It also implies the ability of exchanging ideas and working together with people coming from different cultures and different economic and social background.

As European countries are becoming more and more multicultural societies, I am proud that one of the key projects developed within my university is able to show to our students how differences rather than homogeneity create value through dialogue and team work. Some other ideas in Adriatic-Ionian Macro-Region

Second edition

Some other experience in Adriatic-Ionian Region:

Uniadrion project

A Virtual University: a Network of Universities UNIADRION

is a “network of universities” was born within the established with the purpose to framework of the Adriatic- create a permanent connection among universities and research Ionian Initiative in year centres in the Adriatic-Ionian region 2000

promotes cooperation among universities and research centres mainly through the implementation of didactic initiatives (training and post-graduate courses, research projects…) Uniadrion Strategic Objectives

The 3 Missions of Universities

1. Producing new Knowledge = RESEARCH Common platform (BONUS 185?)

2. Disseminatig knowledge = TEACHING Erasmus Mundus (SUNBEAM), Erasmus+… 3. Economic exploitation of knowledge

University as an economic partner for the territorial development (Collaboration with Forum of the Cities and of the Chambers of Commerce) TEACHING S.U.N.B.E.A.M. Structured UNiversity mobility between the Balkans and Europe for the Adriatic-ionian Macroregion ERASMUS MUNDUS – Call EACEA/18/2013 Geographical Lot “Western Balkans”

Total Grant: € 2.996.125 Partnership composition

Coordinator Università Politecnica delle Marche Joint Coordinator “Dzemal Bijedic” Italy Agricultural Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo” “Aleksander Xhuvani” Università degli Studi di Bologna Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia Bosnia-Herzegovina University of University Mediterranean Croatia University of Arts in Belgrade University of Kosovo University of Riinvest College SUNBEAM main objectives

Enhancement of the academic cooperation among higher institutions with the purpose of Creation of a platform for sharing creating a network of relations common educational paths in order representing the academic and to implement joint programmes for cultural infrastructure of the Adriatic- the awarding of joint titles among Ionian Macro-region the universities in the countries of the area

Exchange of expertise and identification of research areas of common interest, which the scientific resources of the area should be invested in, with the purpose of creating an adequate scientific background for the Macro-region Outgoing Incoming Type of Mobility Third Europeans country Third country nationals Distribution Total per mobility Target Target Target Target Target type Group Group Group 1 Group Group 3 1 2 2

Undergraduates 9 - AL 9 - 1 BA 9 - 1 46 25% Kosovo ME 1 - 1 RS 5 - 1 8 - 1 Masters 13 - AL 6 2 - BA 7 2 1 43 23% Kosovo ME 1 1 - RS 2 2 - 3 3 - 10 - AL 4 2 1 BA 5 2 1 45 24% Kosovo ME 1 1 1 RS 4 2 1 6 3 1 Post-doctorates 4 - AL 3 1 1 BA 4 1 1 27 15% Kosovo ME 1 1 1 RS 2 1 1 3 1 1 Staff 6 - AL 4 1 - BA 4 1 - 23 13% Kosovo ME 1 1 - RS 1 1 - 2 1 - TOTAL 42 - 96 30 16 184 100 % UNIADRION and the EU STRATEGY FOR THE ADRIATIC AND IONIAN REGION

Art. 1 Uniadrion Statutes EUSAIR Action Plan

• Protection, Cataloguing and Promotion of • Blue Growth Cultural Heritage • Connecting the Region • Environment and Sustainable Development • Environmental quality • Cultural Tourism and Development • Sustainable tourism • Economy, Communication, Ports and ------Economic Relations • Capacity Building • Research, innovation and SMEs development Thank you

Prof. Sauro Longhi Rettore Università Politecnica delle Marche Board of the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI)