UNITA Blended Intensive Program: the “One Step Beyond” international entrepreneurship course in Turin
More than 30 participants including doctoral students, master’s students, researchers and professors from different UNITA alliance universities gathered in Turin to participate in the Blended Intensive Program “One Step Beyond: an entrepreneurial course within the UNITA alliance.” The program, created to promote entrepreneurship within international academic contexts, kicked off with an initial online training phase, during which lecturers from partner universities delivered introductory lectures and activities. The course then got into full swing in Turin, with an intensive in-presence workshop that led to the emergence of five interdisciplinary and international teams, composed in a balanced way – including from a gender perspective – of participants from different universities in the alliance. Guided by mentors and experts, the teams combined skills and creativity to develop innovative entrepreneurial projects, with the goal of turning promising ideas into concrete, sustainable and high-impact solutions. At the end of the course, five innovative projects were developed on social and environmental issues, specifically: sustainable agriculture, rural tourism, housing for seasonal workers, digital nomadism, and cervical cancer prevention. The experience concluded at the “Campus Luigi Einaudi” with a final event open to the public, during which the teams presented their pitches to a jury of experts from the academic and corporate worlds. The three most deserving projects awarded for originality, feasibility and innovative potential were: The initiative – promoted by in the framework of the UNITA action “Inter-territorial Interfaces for Innovation” – represented a unique opportunity to foster collaboration among European universities, promote entrepreneurial spirit among young people, and strengthen the link between research, teaching, and the world of work.