Future Skills for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

St. Pölten is becoming a meeting point for international talents, where new ideas are created, connected and further developed together. USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten serves as the central place where diversity, inspiration and innovation come together.

As part of the International Week, the event “Future Skills for Entrepreneurship and Innovation” was held. The goal was to put a spotlight on the key competencies we need for the future realm of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Participants from academia, research, start-ups, and educational institutions discussed best-practices and challenges. International experts of renowned institutions contributed their knowledge and their experiences to discussions. The participants exchanged their opinions on the potential for international cooperations, diversity, and mobility to promote skills such as innovative force, creativity, intercultural competencies, and entrepreneurial thinking – and discussed how higher education institutions can actively support this development.

All in all, the event provided a valuable space for networking, exchanging ideas, and adopting new perspectives, and demonstrated how education, international collaboration, and entrepreneurship can go hand in hand.

E³UDRES² Award for Female Entrepreneurship 2025

During the event “Future Skills for Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, the international E³UDRES² Award for Female Entrepreneurship 2025 was presented. The award is a project by E³UDRES² – a European University alliance of nine partner universities led by USTP. By recognising excellent entrepreneurs and showcasing role models from various backgrounds, the award promotes an inclusive and future-oriented culture of innovation.

The winners are:

• 1st place: Ana Rita Santos & Filipa Bento
  Project: “All aBoard: Making Skateboarding Accessible to Everyone ExoSkate”: A construction that enables people with physical and cognitive impairments to stand on a skateboard under the guidance of specialised technicians and/or skaters. It was developed to ensure a safe and comfortable experience for people with paraplegia, tetraplegia, cerebral palsy, and other impairments that affect mobility and balance.
• 2nd place: Roxana Damaschin-Țecu
  Project: OilRight is an inclusive social enterprise in the field of circular economy that transforms used cooking oil into environmentally friendly scented candles and raw material for biodiesel – while at the same time creating useful workplaces for people with disabilities.
• 3rd place: Christina Liess
  Project: LOCI Design KG – a recyclable toy furniture collection for children.
  The full collection comprises three main elements: the construction frame made of beech wood, a connecting element used to combine the construction frames, and a large selection of game and learning plates with varying content.

The jury of experts featured Daniela De Angeli (Joint Master degree programme Gamified Reality Applications for Real-world Challenges and Experiences – GRACE, USTP), Sofie Quaranta (Innovation Management, Vienna International Airport), Sophie Egger (tecnet equity NÖ) and Vera de Ruiter (Saxion University of Applied Sciences).

• SMARTUP St. Pölten - eine Initiative zur Förderung von Innovation, Unternehmertum und Startups in der Stadt St. Pölten
• E³UDRES²