From August 31 to September 14, 2024, Full Professor Saša Petković, PhD, project coordinator of the CPME – the Center for Project Management and Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics, University of Banja Luka, and Milica Bogdanović, PhD,  participated in a study visit to Manchester and Liverpool, United Kingdom (UK). The CPME team included Assistant Professor Ljubiša Mićić, PhD, Assistant Professor Mirjana Milijević, PhD, Jadranka Petrović, PhD, and Milica Marić, MA, who visited the UK from August 16^th to September 1^st, 2024, along with ull Professor Saša Petković, PhD and Professor Milica Bogdanović, PhD, who were part of the second group of researchers, including representatives from partner economic faculties of the universities of Niš, Skopje, and Tirana. The visit was part of the USE IPM project – “Enhancing Researchers’ Skills for Sustainable Entrepreneurship Based on Innovation Process Management – USE IPM,” supported by the European Union (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-03-01).

The partner in this activity was ISPIM – the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (https://www.ispim-innovation.com) from the UK, which organized educational activities in the field of innovation management, as well as visits to companies, institutions supporting entrepreneurship and innovation development, and universities. Director Iain Bitran was an excellent host, and I would like to express my gratitude to him for the superb organization of the study visit and his hospitality. It is not easy to describe in just a few lines all our activities, the institutions we visited, and the representatives of Manchester’s and Liverpool’s rich innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems that we met. On Monday, September 2, Ian introduced us to ISPIM’s activities, the agenda, and the individual and team tasks, which we successfully implemented over the next two weeks. The visit aimed to learn how the three universities in Manchester (the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Salford) and the University of Liverpool collaborate with the economy – A2B – how R&D activities are conducted, how innovation centers operate, and how the state supports the universities’ research work. At the end of the first day, we had the opportunity to get acquainted with the history of innovation in Manchester through an “Innovation-related Walking Tour of Manchester” led by Jonathan Schofield, starting from the first industrial revolution to the current fourth industrial revolution.

On Tuesday, September 3, we visited the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, where Prof. Elvira Uyarra introduced us to their work. We were also introduced to the UK Science and Technology Policy Landscape by professors Kieron Flanagan and Khaleel Malik. After that, at the Manchester Science Park, Andy Roberts, Innovation Director, explained how the park operates, while Anastassia Bolotkova, Business Development Manager at MIDAS (Manchester Investment and Development Agency), elaborated on how R&D activities are funded. The continuation of the visit will be presented in several posts in the coming days. Until then, through a few photos, you can “feel the atmosphere” of Manchester’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

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