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Evolving from Lab to Ecosystem

In a world where knowledge evolves rapidly and global challenges are increasingly complex, technology alone is no longer enough. What is needed is an integrated vision that considers economic, environmental, and social impacts. 

The Contamination Lab Pisa champions a new entrepreneurial culture that sees sustainability as a key element in value creation. We adopt innovative approaches such as the Sustainable Business Model Canvas, which broadens the scope of a business by incorporating responsibility and impact. 

In this context, students, PhD candidates, and researchers become active protagonists, bringing skills and vision, and are ready to collaborate with institutions and businesses to build a shared future. 

Thanks to the Quadruple Helix Innovation model, we promote a multilateral and multidisciplinary network, where universities, industry, public administration, and civil society work synergistically to develop high-value projects.   

An Opportunity for Growth and Innovation 

Discover how the Contamination Lab offers unique opportunities to develop key skills in an era of ecological and digital transformation. Through a rich calendar of activities, you will acquire essential transversal skills to become an Innopreneur—an innovator capable of generating value through sustainable, digital, and socially responsible solutions. 

Or else, if your goal is to make a difference in the innovation field, you can explore the role of the Innovation Broker—a key figure able to connect individuals, organizations, and resources to accelerate the shaping of new ideas, technologies, and groundbreaking practices. 

Join us and become a key player in building an innovative future! 

KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION IN INNOVATION

The Contamination Lab organizes activities such as Seminars and Deep Dives, Hackathons, Bootcamps, and Speed Challenges. The goal is to address topics such as social innovation and responsible entrepreneurship through a Design and System Thinking approach and a participatory design. With a theoretical and practical approach, offered both in-person and online, this initiative promotes growth and development opportunities for professionals capable of generating economic, environmental, and social value for organizations, networks, and territories. 

Start up e Multidisciplinarietà: a road map.

This course, part of the University of Pisa’s cross-disciplinary offerings, is designed to bring students from any academic background closer to the challenges of building innovative startups. You will explore the tools needed to face these challenges while making the most of each participant’s unique disciplinary expertise. A unique opportunity to integrate diverse perspectives and skills into the innovation process. 

Co-create I-Lab: The Innovation Pathway for the Future – Training to Become an Innopreneur and Innovation Broker.

An intensive 33-hour course focused on key topics such as Design and System Thinking, Social Innovation, Market Analysis and Validation, Pitching, and Participatory Design. This program offers both theoretical and practical approaches to explore roles like the Innopreneur and the Innovation Broker, helping participants build essential skills to innovate in a sustainable and responsible way. The I-Lab seminars also include the use of the Triple Layered Business Model Canvas (TLBMC), which expands the traditional Business Model Canvas (BMC) by adding two critical dimensions: an environmental layer, which examines the product lifecycle, and a social layer, which considers stakeholder engagement. 

This comprehensive approach enables the creation of economic, environmental, and social value—essential for a complete innovation analysis. 

Deep Dives

Focus on specific economic sectors, through vertical deep dives, also proposed by individual Departments or Ecosystem players. These can be structured as speed challenges (competitions for business ideas or territorial projects that take place within a short timeframe) or as opportunities for discussion and co-creation with the local area.

POP-UP project

A format that hosts researchers who share academic research results with Clabbers (Contamination Lab participants) and key stakeholders through participatory approaches such as World Cafes, Open Space Technology, and the co-creation of Living Labs/Workshops.