IBW in Rijeka, Croatia

Vol 28, Issue 01, 12 September 2025

Following on from my visit to the Faculty of Economics in Rijeka in 2024, I decided to attend the International Business Workshop once again in June this year. Last year I had one student from our Kouvola Campus Digital International Business programme but this year I managed to encourage seven students to participate.

Rijeka is located on the Croatian coastline and has been a popular sea cargo port. Nowadays there seem to be more luxury yacht traffic due to the new marina built in recent years. This has also meant a slightly more upmarket trend in the area with new hotels and renovated infrastructure. The town itself is mostly built along the main “Corso” or pedestrian street, just one street back from the marina and has a modern, polished Mediterranean outlook, with lots of restaurants, terrace cafés and bars. Accommodation is easily found in several hotels or plenty of private apartments.

The IBW was held at the Faculty of Economics which is less than a 10-minute walk from the centre of the town, so easy access from any accommodation. Although, in +30C walking to the campus in full sun can be a little sweaty. However, the workshop rooms were fully air-conditioned and plenty of refreshments were provided for participants before, during and after the sessions.

Arriving at the campus on the first day to give my opening lecture workshop, I was greeted by the host and my old friend Prof. Tomislav Galovic, whom I have know for many years. Prof. Galovic has been successfully running this EFRI IBW for nine years, with many international students having enjoyed the summer in Rijeka. This year there were 29 participants from partner universities in Slovenia, Cyprus, Finland, Bulgaria, and Croatia. The countries actually represented by them were much more broad consisting of Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Republic of North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Greece, Palestine, Nepal, Israel, USA, Tajikistan and Wales [Ed.].

The theme of the workshop was International Business Negotiations, and my opening lecture “workshop” was ‘Imagining Alternative Futures for Negotiations’. Students were first introduced to some principles in negotiations and looking at preferred outcomes. However, my session focussed on them working together in small teams and coming up with imagined outcomes or “futures” based on topics given to them. The main idea was to get them talking to one-another and trying to think creatively and quickly given tight time constraints. the students enthusiastically engaged in my 75-minute session and come up with some interesting and though-provoking future scenarios. After a short break, Davorin Balaz from EFRI gave a lecture on his experiences of business negotiations in the optical industry – in particular sunglasses – and the relationships between manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

On Tuesday students were given time to work in their assigned teams related to their case studies in preparation for presentations on the Friday, but the evening was reserved for a lounge party and get-together at the comfortable Azzura Bar terrace overlooking the marina and the moonlit Adriatic.

Wednesday was time for a visit to the Hilton Continental Hotel around 7km from the centre of Rijeka. There the host introduced the ethos of the Hilton group and explained how the hotel came to be established there, and future developments for the area. Students were excited to explore the hotel and the extensive facilities they provide.

After the visit, it was time to return to campus and a lecture by Silviya Todorova, from Bulgaria, specialising in law and in the field of intellectual property rights.

On Thursday there was more preparation for students and lecturers in the evening by Ivan Vujicic, from Duran, giving his experiences of International business negotiations in the glass industry, followed by Miho Katic, from Zagrebacka banka, explaining credit analysis impact on negotiation power in banking industry.

Friday saw Aleksandar Vignjevic, from Infobip, talking about sales negotiations in the tech industry, and Dean Matic, from Infosit, explaining negotiation power through his perspective as Key Account Manager. This was shortly followed by the presentation of students’ case studies and the culmination of the workshop, and the following day the closing ceremony and graduation was held.

This kind of intensive Blended Intensive Programme for students is a great way to have the experience of exchange in a very short time. For lecturers, it is almost like attending an international week, hearing lots of presentations and lectures from various individuals also from industry not just academia. A great chance to network or in my case also catching up with old acquaintances.

For myself the week was very successful and interesting to be a part of once again. There was also plenty of time for relaxing and enjoying the scenery and culture in Rijeka. I hiked up to the castle on top of the hill and took in the vista overlooking Rijeka and the coastline. I spent time in Opatija, just 12kms up the coast from Rijeka. A wonderful 19th-century resort town with wonderful architecture, green parks, pleasant walks along the seafront esplanade, and lovely beaches and coves to relax and swim.

So, if you are looking for a lovely place to visit in the summer, I can recommend Croatia and in particular Rijeka and Opatija.