The pitch for the Explorer UCoimbra program took place on 22th June 2018, in Coimbra, Portugal. When I applied to the call, I had the feeling that the Explorer UCoimbra program was definitely a challenge where I would not feel in my comfort zone, and I was right! I could notice that it made a huge difference on the project and personally. Only this will boost innovation and entrepreneurship that will have a positive impact in societies, sharing a clear innovation and entrepreneurial mindset. It was a deeply and broad pleasant and rewarding experience!.
Since the beginning, we knew that the program was looking for cooperation to achieve quite complex tasks, pushing people to use their strengths, engage with the strengths of others and search for the best teamwork strategy in order to compete and achieve the imposed goals. This sharpened the self-awareness of each participant and this process made us learn about each other more and more in every activity, in every coffee break during constructive discussion between participants. The full program was not only the participants bringing a good amount of “Smart Solution” proposals to the Explorer center; it was also the strong bias “imposed” by our tutors and program organizers towards Smart Solution-oriented mindset and efforts. Maybe exactly because of this, we were literally “AT THE EDGE”. It was definitely an experience to try out and to be involved in! Indeed, networking is a powerful and most needed asset for the innovation ecosystem and it is the core of programs such as Explorer UCoimbra program.
The “take home message” of great success and the feeling of a profound of gratitude for the Experts and Mentors that we had the chance to meet and to work with, experiencing more than 300 years of combined experience and knowledge. Finally, having the possibility to participate in the Explorer UCoimbra program brought a new perspective of the business and entrepreneurial world.