Researchers from the Faculty of Economics in Ancona – July 2025

Researchers from CPME – the Center for Project Management and Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics, University of Banja Luka, Prof. dr Saša Petković, PhD, and Prof. dr Mirjana Milijević, PhD, visited Ancona, Italy, from July 7th to July 11th, 2025, as part of the regular activities under Work Package 2 of the USE IPM project.

During the week-long stay in Italy, our host was Prof. dr Donato Iacobucci, PhD, Professor of Applied Economics at the Faculty of Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Marche and Rector’s Delegate for Entrepreneurship. Professor Iacobucci is the founder and current director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Univpm (CII), coordinator of the Fondazione Aristide Merloni, and a member of the EUA Expert Group on Innovation Ecosystems.

Professor Iacobucci presented the entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem of the Polytechnic University of Marche, the city of Ancona, and the Marche region. Special emphasis in the presentation was placed on the functioning of the University, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Univpm, as well as on the impact of the adoption and implementation of the Regulation for the establishment of spin-offs of the Polytechnic University of Marche and for the participation of university staff in their activities. Additionally, the main elements of the university’s development and innovation strategy were presented.

In addition to CPME researchers, the presentation was attended by two representatives from each of the partner universities from Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania. Over the course of four working days, thematic workshops were organized for USE IPM researchers, focusing on topics such as open sustainable innovation, the functioning of university spin-off companies, startup financing, effective entrepreneurial education, legal regulations that foster innovation, the development of entrepreneurial and innovation infrastructure on the university campus, and innovation and research strategy.

We participated in the two-day conference Skillman 2025 (July 9–10, 2025) https://skillman.eu/as2025-academic-papers, where we presented the results of empirical research conducted during the first two years of project implementation. The CPME researchers presented the following papers:

Petković, S., Debarliev, S., Janeska Iliev, A., & Kolaković, M. (2025). Innovation Ecosystem Paradox: How Strong External Support Weakens the Project Management – Sustainability Innovation Link; Milijević, M., & Marić, M. (2025). Cross-Country Analysis of Sustainability Attitudes: A Statistical Comparison Based on Likert-Scale Survey Data.

And as a conclusion, the visit to the entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem of Ancona and the Marche region, along with the Italian experiences, will be invaluable for the continued development of the entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem in the Western Balkan countries.

The visit was carried out as a regular activity within the framework of the project "Up-skilling researchers for Sustainable Entrepreneurship based on Innovation Process Management"– USE IPM, supported by the European Union (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-03-01).

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