Discover Bologna

Transcription

Discover Bologna

discoverOttdef:Layout 1
6-06-2007
17:48
Pagina I
DISCOVER
BOLOGNA
Where Quality of Life, Entrepreneurship and Culture Meet
ITALY’S BEST
KEPT SECRET
6-06-2007
17:50
Pagina II
www.contestoweb.com
www.promobologna.it
Kenzo Tange Towers
(1989-1994)
Garisenda and Asinelli towers
(1109-1119)
Bologna: Where
Quality of Life,
Entrepreneurship
and Culture Meet
Infrastructures:
Intercontinental airport,
intermodal platforms
(Bologna freight village),
heart of Italian railway and
highway systems
R&D:
University with 104,000
students, over 90
master’s degrees, technology
transfer and industrial
research centers
Manufacturing System
Economy strongly technology-focused and export
oriented, based on a network
of highly
specialized suppliers and
sub-suppliers: special expertise
in industries such as motorcycle and automotive, automated
machinery, mechanical
engineering, electronic and
measurement technology,
biomedical devices, food-processing, fashion and logistics
Investors:
Friendly business
environment. More than
200 foreign companies, such
as Audi, Honda, Yamaha,
Delphi, Nike, LVMH, have production plants and distribution
facilities in Bologna
Quality of life:
35K US$ GDP/Capita
ranks at the top of
all EU statistics, best in Italy
for PA efficiency
Expanding Areas:
14 new industrial areas
(4.5 million m 2) are
available for expansion
and greenfield investments.
All areas are characterized
by easy access to highways
and railways
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Pagina 1
DISCOVER
BOLOGNA
Foto Meridiana Immagini
Where Quality of Life, Entrepreneurship and Culture Meet
Table of Contents
Cover images
The Neptune, Piazza Maggiore Jean de Boulogne
(Known as Giambologna) 1563-1566
and Bologna Expo Center Kenzo Tange towers
2 Greetings from the Chamber of
3
4
Commerce
Greetings from the City and the
Province of Bologna
Bologna, Maincross in Italy and Europe
Editorial Contributors
Giuseppina Gualtieri,
Enrico Levi, Monia Bonini,
Contesto Srl, Stefano D’Aquino
Camera di Commercio di Bologna
Design & Layout
Contesto Srl
www.contestoweb.com
Photo
Courtesy of Archivio Fotografico
Comune di Bologna
Provincia di Bologna
5
6
7
8
The High-Speed Railway Project
Economy and Development
The Bologna Productive System
A Unique Mix of Tradition and New
Technologies
9 Expanding Areas
10 Motor Industry
26 Logistics
27 Interporto, the Freight Village
29 Bologna Airport “Guglielmo Marconi”
30 Bologna Expo Center
31 Multimedia&Digital Economy
32 Telecomunications Network
of Emilia-Romagna
33 A Foundation for Marconi, the Father
of Telecomunication
35 Two Towers, Countless Publishers
36 The Transfer of Technological
37
Printed by
Areastampa Srl.
www.areastampasrl.it
Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission
of PromoBologna
Via Santo Stefano 1
40125 Bologna
Tel +39/051/609.35.25
Fax +39/051/609.35.01
www.promobologna.it
[email protected]
39
40
42
12
The Motor Valley
14 Packaging Valley
15 Electronics
16 Fashion
18
20
23
24
Health&Medical Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Building&Utilities
Food and Agroindustry
43
45
Knowledge
Bologna, City of Knowledge: University
and Research
The Bologna Center of the Johns
Hopkins
Bologna, A city to Experience
Why not Stay in Bologna? The Top
Reasons to Book a Room Here
The Gallery of Modern Art in Bologna
Bologna’s Historic Theaters
46 On the Apennines
47 The Golf Circuit in the Province
of Bologna
48 PromoBologna, The Investor’s
Partner in Town
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Pagina 2
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna
Chamber of Commerce
President Gian Carlo Sangalli
here is a city you need to stop in when travelling from
the Mediterranean area to Northern Europe, or just
from Venice to Florence. This city has always taken
advantage of its central location in order to absorb
new knowledge, acquire new experiences, assume new
competencies.
It is not a coincidence that this city hosts the oldest university in the Western World, that it is a city built to welcome visitors with its long porticoes, its friendly people, its rich culture and its world renowned cuisine.
More than a third of its population is made up of university
students; every year the number of new companies here
equals the number of new born
babies; and there is a ratio of
one company for each inhabitant between the ages of 30
and 44. The spirit of entrepreneurship is deeply rooted in this
city, as well as the motivation for
continuous improvement and
innovation. For these reasons
the OECD has awarded this city
by recognizing its system based
on SMEs among the most effective in the world.
The spirit of free enterprise,
social cohesion, a high quality of life, an outstanding educational structure, a will to experiment with innovative technology and solutions in enterprise: these are the motivations
driving the Chamber of Commerce here. This city is Bologna,
easy to access and a perfect place for those looking for
“excellence”.
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Pagina 3
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The City
of Bologna
Province
of Bologna
Mayor Sergio Cofferati
President Beatrice Draghetti
ologna is a well-known city for the opportunities it
provides to enterprises, to students who choose to
attend the oldest and one of the most prestigious
universities in the world and to tourists who want to
visit the immense cultural and artistic legacy of our city.
It is also famous for its high standards of living, its porticoes,
its cuisine, its wines and the ancient villages that dot the surrounding valleys and hills.
The goal of this administration, which I have been elected to
guide, is to give Bologna the role it deserves within the international community and to promote the unique characteristics
which exemplify its potential. It is a
historical city with a rich and
important past that is now leading
in new technologies and boasts
one of the highest quality of life
indicators in Europe. A place
where entrepreneurs can come to
invest, where many students may
decide to live at the end of their
studies, and where tourists come
to enjoy our many cultural events
and activities.
Bologna is a beautiful and welcoming city, with an ancient tradition
of relations with other countries and
heir to an important democratic and
civic tradition. I am well aware that among the priorities of this
Administration, we must create the proper conditions that can
attract new resources and investments to this territory.
Our past will help us to build solid relations with the partners
we meet along this path, and we believe this cooperation will
be enriching and profitable for all of us.
his special issue about Bologna tries to catch within its
pages the spirit and the beauty of Bologna, one of the
oldest, most well-known cities in Europe, named
European City of Culture for the year 2000. Famous
for hosting the oldest university in the Western World, important business center and crossroads, once heart of the silk
industry and trade for all of Europe, Bologna nowadays ranks
at the top for GDP and quality of life in Italian and EU statistics.
Bologna is known for its medieval historical center of towers,
historical buildings and porticoes. It is at the heart of an expansive territory - a beautiful land of hills, protected parks, woods,
lakes and rivers - which runs south
towards Tuscany.
Bologna has been named a
“Metropolitan Area” by the Italian
National Parliament, so as to insert
it into the Italian network of big
cities, thus recognizing its strategic
importance and its natural role as a
truly territorial system.
The greater metropolitan area is
made up of 60 municipalities and
935,000 inhabitants, only 40% of
which live in Bologna. The 60
Mayors of these communities
attend monthly meetings called
"Metropolitan Conferences" to
discuss and decide on matters such as public health, infrastructure, urban planning. This fact alone is proof of a solid territorial public service network and high standards in public
administration. We hope that in these pages you will find some
of that magic that makes Bologna so unique for us and that
perhaps Bologna will find a little place in your hearts too.
B
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna, Crossroad
in Italy and Europe
ologna is the cultural, administrative
and economic heart of the EmiliaRomagna region, one of Europe’s
most dynamic and productive areas.
Thanks to its geographic location, Bologna is a
natural, strategic communication crossroad to
continental Europe and the Mediterranean
basin, thanks also to an efficient network of
infrastructural and logistic platforms. Bologna
is linked to the rest of Italy and to Europe by
one of the leading Italian railway system junctions. Bologna is at the crossroads of the two
North-South arterial highway lines: the A14
(covering the Adriatic coast) and the A1 which
goes North-West to Milan, Switzerland and
France and goes South-West to Rome and
Naples (covering the Tyrrhenian coast). It is
located on the A22 (Brennero) which leads
North to Austria and Germany as well as the
A13, a highway running North-East towards
Venice and Eastern Europe, that also serves
the Interporto. The high-speed Milan-Naples
line, about to be completed, will have in
B
TRANS-EUROPEAN CORRIDORS PLANNED ON ITALIAN TERRITORY
Lisbona – Kiev (Corridor V)
Bari – Varna (Corridor VIII)
Rotterdam – Genova (The Two Seas Corridor)
Berlino – Palermo (Corridor I)
Rotterdam
Berlino
Kiev
South Europe Sea Highways
Genova
Varna
Bari
Lisbona
Madrid
Palermo
Bologna a key station of the new high speed
network. Bologna's airport is located a mere
four miles from the city center. The "Guglielmo
Marconi" is a leading airport in terms of the
number of national and international destina-
tions it serves and in the number of passengers and cargo volume. Finally, a dense public
transportation system, both rail and road, serves the city and the greater Bologna metropolitan area.
DESTINATIONS REACHABLE IN TWO HOURS FROM BOLOGNA
London
Amsterdam
Berlino
Bruxelles
By Air
Prague
Francoforte
By Train
Paris
By Car
Monaco Vienna
Zurigo
Budapest
Milano
Ve
Vene
Venez
Venezia
eno
Genova
Barcellona
Lisbona
irenzee
Firenze
Ro
Roma
Bari
Madrid
Atene
Palermo
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Pagina 5
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The High-Speed
Railway Project
milia-Romagna is involved in the
construction of two high-speed railway lines—the Bologna-Florence
(with 29 km of its total 78 running
through the region), and the Milan-Bologna
(182 km total, with 137 crossing EmiliaRomagna)—having made an investment of
7.5 billion Euro. The project involves the complete reorganization of Bologna’s railway junction, together with the development of its
Central Station, and the construction of 10
new interconnections that will guarantee
regional links between high speed lines and
those already existing. Thanks to extensive
work on the current railway line, the creation
of the new lines will allow for the reorganization of the Regional and Metropolitan Railway
Service. The work being carried out in
Bologna is aimed at the creation of two parallel underground galleries. An underground
high speed station located 23 meters below
the surface will also be built for the city.
The high speed Bologna-Florence line is 78.5
km in length and crosses the territory of 12
communities, 6 in the province of Bologna
and 6 in the province of Florence. Because of
the morphological complexity and the high
environmental awareness present in the
E
areas this line crosses (the communities of
the Emilian Apennines and the Mugello area
in Tuscany), a decision was made to minimize the environmental impact of this project by
building the majority of the line (about 93%)
as tunnels. Once operative, the line will connect Bologna and Florence in 30 minutes.
The high speed Milan-Bologna line is 182 km
long and passes by 42 communities located
in the Po River Valley and the provinces of
Milan, Lodi, Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia,
Modena and Bologna. It will be connected to
the traditional line through 8 interconnections.
ITALIAN HIGHWAY SYSTEM
MAIN ITALIAN RAILWAYS NETWORK
A22
Padova
Venezia
Verona
Padova
Trieste
Venezia
Verona
TORINO
TORINO
GENOVA
BOLOGNA
GENOVA
A13
BOLOGNA
A14
A1
Bari
Bari
NAPOLI
NAPOLI
Main Network
High Speed Lines
Already in Operation
Under Construction
Under Project
Planned
Palermo
Messina
Palermo
Reggio
Calabria
Catania
Messina
Reggio
Calabria
Catania
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Pagina 6
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Economy and Development
A Perfect Place to Live, Work and Do Business
Number* of Activities in the
Different Economic Sectors
Agriculture, hunting, fishing, pisciculture, forestry
Mineral Mining
Manufacturing Activities
Energy production and distribution (electric, gas, water)
Construction
Commercial
Hotel and Restaurant
Other professional and industrial activities
Transport,Warehouse and Communication
Monetary and Financial Mediation
Real Estate Activities
Machine and Tool Rental
Computer Services and related activities
Research and Development
Instruction
Health Care
Other public, social, private services
Other
Total
*2004
11,970
22
11,996
25
11,621
22,257
4,002
5,278
5,396
2,242
5,949
278
1,562
72
329
380
3,831
46
87,256
he greater Bologna metropolitan
area covers 1,429 square miles
divided into 60 municipalities with a
population total of 935,000. More
Than 87,000 companies are based in the
area—one for every ten residents.
This makes for an advanced and innovative
economy, high in professional resources
and able to develop applied research, products and services that meet the highest
standards. The per capita G.D.P. is among
the highest in Europe (29,962 Euro) and the
rate of unemployment is among the lowest
(3.1%). Its public administration desks give
out certificates and authorizations without
subjecting entrepreneurs and citizens to
endless waits in line.
Bologna is an important business and service center, and has always been among
the finest places in Italy for its quality of
life—as the data collected by the Italian
T
financial newspaper, Il Sole24Ore, first
declared, and the Italians living under the
shade of the two towers confirmed. The
survey conducted by this newspaper awarded the city as the best place to live in Italy
in 2004. Bologna has productive, lively
companies, one of the lowest unemployment rates in Italy and a social fabric favoring associationism. But not only statistics
define Bologna as the ideal place to be; the
Italians themselves, interviewed about
where they would prefer to live, have chosen the city of the two towers among their
top choices.
But there are even more reasons for choosing Bologna: its deeply rooted culture of
social cohesion, a commitment to sustainable development and a strong local welfare
system—all traits that have always been a
part of this city. It is the perfect place to live,
work and do business.
Exports to 200 Countries
ologna’s economy has traditionally been open to foreign trade and
currently generates 25% of export
from the Emilia-Romagna region.
The 2004 exports of Bologna’s Province
total 8.5 billion euro (8.5% more than the
previous year), 60% of which consists of
products with elevated technological contents.
Products from Bologna reach over 200
countries. While the European Union, the
United States and Russia represent its
principal commercial partners, Bologna’s
enterprises also demonstrate a high level
of commercial penetration in the Eastern
European countries and in all currently
emerging markets.
B
6
Top 10 Commercial Outlets—Export % 2004
2,2%
Turkey
2,4%
Poland
2,4%
Belgium
3,4%
Russian Federation
3,4%
Switzerland
5,9%
U.K.
6,9%
Spain
10,2%
France
10,5%
U.S.A.
11,5%
Germany
0
2,0%
4,0%
6,0%
8,0%
10,0%
12,0%
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Pagina 7
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna’s
Productive System
B
Bologna
29,962
35000
Nice
24,720
30000
25000
Italy
22,055
20000
Hannover
24,171
15000
European Union
(15 countries)
24,128
10000
5000
0
Manchester
25,913
Göteborg
27,932
European Union
(25 countries)
21,170
Birmingham
29,382
ologna and the Emilia-Romagna region are known and studied worldwide for their network of small and medium-sized companies ensuring an exceptional degree of specialization, “custom made” finished products, components and parts, and flexibility in
manufacturing processes.
This network is the basic framework for the Bolognese economy, through which the biggest leading enterprises have been able to develop themselves, basing their activity on exports and widely international commercial and supply chains. Along with its manufacturing industry, Bologna has
been successful in developing a lucrative service industry, which works with businesses throughout the region.
This region’s Public Administration structure, one of the most efficient in Italy, completes this picture, as it has always sustained and promoted the continuous progress of the region’s socio-economic fabric. In education, medicine and career training, for example, Bologna is the reference
point of the entire region and experiences a continuously rising demand from other regions as
well. As a result, the 87,000 companies in the area represent a dynamic, composite reality comprised of many leading manufacturing enterprises, a skilled service industry and advanced tertiary-sector companies along with a solid, widely-based supply network that ensures competitiveness and is based on quality and high degrees of specialization.
As far as the legal structure of its companies is concerned, Bologna distinguishes itself for its original mix of family owned businesses, companies quoted on the stock market, and a system of
cooperative enterprises—some of them quite large—testifying to the liveliness of the activity
which has always characterized commercial activity here.
Lyon
32,156
Gross Domestic Product,
Per Capita, In Euro
Source: Eurostat
MANUFACTURING SECTOR*
Food and Beverage Products, Tobacco
Textile and Fashion Products
Leather and Hide Products
Wood Products
Paper Products/Publishing Products
Coke, Refined Oil and Nuclear Combustible Products
Chemical Products and Synthetic/Artificial Fibers
Rubber Goods and Plastic Materials
Mineral (not metalliferous) Products
Metals and Metals Products
Mechanical Machinery and Devices
Electric Machines/ Electric, Electronic and Optical Devices
Means of Transport
Other Manufactured Products
Total
*2004
Number of firms
1,343
1,185
275
575
889
6
178
262
226
2,696
1,589
1,503
211
1,058
11,996
Export – Mln
167
524
191
19
66
2
480
280
319
432
3,681
906
1,188
197
8,452
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
A Unique Mix of Tradition
and New Technologies
he Bolognese economy boasts of
high specialization in numerous sectors, which leading local industrial
groups, a dense network of highly
specialized suppliers, as well as multinational companies operate in.
Nearly 12,000 manufacturing firms and over
11,000 building construction companies
form the bedrock of Bologna’s industrial
system, characterized by the presence of
some true clusters which, alongside their
regular commercial activities, have developed
specialized services, research and technology transfer centers, and expo activities.
The most well-established sectors that
belong to the “traditional” industrial economy
of the area—such as the automatic machinery industry, the motor industry, electronics,
fashion and leather goods, the food industry—have been successful in constantly
T
WELL-ESTABLISHED CLUSTERS
renovating their product lines, their processes and services, custom-molding them to fit
the needs of ever changing clients and markets. Alongside these activities, for which
Bologna already represents both a national
and an international point of reference, are
the new specializations in which Bologna
offers elements of absolute prominence, as
well as ample development possibilities. Its
logistic advantages are a natural consequence of its strategic geographic position, and its
two main emerging clusters, Health and
Medical Technology and Multimedia-Digital
Economy are part of the so-called “economy
of knowledge,” in which, along with the
manufacturing component, other factors
prevail, such as research, know-how, creativity, and advanced services, all factors which
Bologna is well equipped to sustain and
strengthen.
MOTOR INDUSTRY
• Motor Valley
• Motorcycles and Motorbikes
• Automotive Industry
AUTOMATED MACHINES
• Packaging Valley
• Machinery for General
and Special Use
ELECTRONICS
• Electric and Electronic Equipment
and Components
• Optical Measurement Machinery
AGRO & FOOD
INDUSTRY
• Food Processing
• Milk and Diary Production
LOGISTICS
• Modern infrastructure and Platforms
• Value-added Services
FASHION
• Footwear and Leather Products
• Textile and Fashion Production
HEALTH & MEDICAL
TECHNOLOGY
• Hospitals and Health Care Facilities
• Biomedical Devices
• Orthopedic Supplies
BUILDING
CONTRUCTION
• Building Construction Companies
• Utility and Electrical System
Producers and Installers
MULTIMEDIA & DIGITAL
ECONOMY
• Web Solutions
• Softwarehouses
• Multimedial Graphics and Editing
EMERGING CLUSTERS
A Glance at Foreign Direct Investments
With a vast number of commercial outlets, modern infrastructure, a
prestigious university and top rate research centers, as well as an
overall environment favorable to the development of entrepreneurship, Bologna offers immediate territorial advantages for multinational companies that wish to strengthen their presence in Italy and in
Europe in general. There are over 200 international enterprises already present in Bologna that employ over 21,000 workers and create
overall earnings of roughly 6 billion euro.
Americans and Germans are the principal investors, interested most
of all in the acquisition of highly specialized enterprises, even of small
8
to medium sizes, confirming once again the level of excellence that
has been reached by Bolognese industry. There is no lack of foreign
greenfield investments, however, especially in the highest technological sectors, in the service industries and in logistics.
Prologis, Audi AG, Texas Pacific Group, LVMH, Nike, Yamaha, Honda
and TNT Post Group are just some of the principal investors that have
chosen Bologna as a place to develop their businesses and give value
to their leading brands by exploiting the highly qualified local knowhow and taking advantage of the strategic geographic position of the
area.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Expanding Areas
Bologna has created a “Metropolitan Master
Plan”, which maps out the different territorial destinations of the city’s prevalent productive activities, the general areas where
its major infrastructure and communication
networks can be found, the location of its
parks and natural reserves, and an outline of
the area’s hydraulic and hydro-geologic
systems, as well as the hydraulic systems
present in its woodlands. Through this
Master Plan, the provincial administration
has identified the main 34 sites where new
productive activity could potentially be
based, following basic criteria about infrastructure, accessibility, urban planning and
functionality. 20 of these sites are
Consolidated Areas, that is to say, areas
where only the expansion of already existing
productive activities is allowed.
The remaining 14 are Expanding Areas
dedicated to the establishment of new productive plants, where the space available for
new productive sites roughly amounts to 4.5
million m2 total, and offers many different
sized lots. These 14 areas have been chosen on the basis of their ideal accessibility
from both the railway and the highway, the
ample space available, and the high quantity of public services present in their vicinities available to new business activities.
Suap, The Network
of Assistance Centers
Freight Village
Consolidated Areas
Expo Center
Expanding Areas
In a field investigation carried out in 2004
in Italy Bologna revealed itself as the city
where entrepreneurs an citizens spend the
least amount of time waiting for documents
from public administration offices.
The Province of Bologna, in fact, has been
applying the national provisions aimed at
simplifying the bureaucratic procedures
necessary for the creation, expansion,
restructuring and conversion of productive
plants. Along with these efforts to make this
type of bureaucratic procedure uniform
throughout the territory, the Province of
Bologna has created a network of assistance centers, known as SUAP (Sportelli Unici
per le Attività Produttive), as the recent law
maps out, thus adopting an organizational
model able to effectively and rapidly
respond to the needs of businesses. Each
assistance center acts as a reference and
responsible entity for procedures, backed
up by a computerized system that guarantees an immediate connection with all territorial institutions and subjects involved in
the authorization of the modification of productive plants (the Fire Department, the
Chamber of Commerce, Local Health Care
Companies, the City).
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Motor Industry
Emilia, The Motor Valley"—a slogan
that sums up the entire region's vocation: the production of luxury automobiles and sports cars, spare parts,
accessories, and high-tech mechanical and
electronic components for some of the largest
international manufacturers.
Three pillars have always held up the region’s
success in this industry: a secular tradition in
mechanical engineering that favored the birth
of a specialized cluster made up of tendering,
partner and sub-contracting companies;
unceasing R&D activity, promoted and financed both by local authorities and private firms,
with the University as catalyst and scientific
partner in main projects; a genuine passion for
motors and racing, both reflected and fostered
by the cars, motorcycles and motorbikes
manufactured in Bologna.
Bologna is headquarters to around 35% of all
motor industry activity in the region and around
5% of this activity on a national level. 44% of
regional workers and 4% of national workers in
this sector are concentrated here, and the
industry exports over 1 billion euro worth of
goods each year.
Thanks to the presence of world famous companies and brands, Bologna is especially
known as one of the leading Italian and
European centers for the motorbike and
motorcycle industry. In this particular area, the
region’s 2,800 workers represent 84% of the
regional total and almost 13% of the national
total.
“
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Ducati: From Bologna, Racing in
the International Markets
Founded in Bologna in 1926, the name Ducati
has always been associated with Italian
motorcycles par excellence. The racing team
of the Bolognese company made its debut in
2003 in the MotoGP World Championships
after winning 13 of the last 15 Superbike
World Championship titles. In addition to
racing on international circuits, Ducati is
racing full-speed in the international sports
motorcycle markets. Characterized by powerful motors, innovative design, and cuttingedge technology, Ducati bikes have become a
cult object, an authentic designer product.
Ducati’s biggest selling models (38,128 bikes
were sold in 2003) include the Monster 620,
the MTS 1000 and the 999 Superbike. With a
turnover of 388 million euro and more than
1,100 employees, Ducati Motor Holding Spa
has been listed on the NYSE since 1999.
Federico Minoli is Ducati’s President and CEO
(in the picture).
What are the ties that bind Ducati to
Bologna?
Bologna is an integral part of our product, of
our “making motorcycles,” and not just our
past. In order to challenge the Japanese
giants, we add not only cuttingedge technology and high quality but also unique emotions.
Our motorcycles are born on the roads of the
Bolognese hills, not in company laboratories.
Ducati bikes are conceived and built to bestow
a truly rare and special driving pleasure.
Ducati sells, competes and wins all over
the world. What is it that keeps Ducati in
Bologna?
First of all, our relationship with the
Universities of Bologna and Modena,
that is fundamental for developing
new technology. With the collabora-
tion of the University of Bologna, we have
instituted a “Master’s for Fast Talent” for both
our employees and the Ferretti Group [luxury
yachts] employees. It is a predominantly online innovative training course. Finally, the bond
with our line of suppliers is also fundamental.
Elsewhere, it would be impossible to find, in a
radius of 14 miles, companies that can all
supply high-quality products and components.
Ducati is selling bikes all over the world and
is listed on the New York and Milan stock
exchanges. How is such a complex company managed from Bologna?
International investors participate in Ducati in
order to make a profit. Evidently they believed that it was worth investing in Bologna.
Management is Italian but in the last few years
we have taken on a large number of managers,
mostly young, from all over the world. The high
quality of life in our city has undoubtedly attracted a lot of this talent.
What is the relationship between Ducati and
the United States?
Ducati is loved in the United States not only
because we are listed on New York Stock
Exchange but also because it is our second
biggest market. Americans understand the
value that stands behind Ducati motorcycles
and we are present in the U.S. market with
direct dealerships. It is not by chance that
Roberto Cavalli decided to parade his models
on Ducati bikes during the Columbus Day
parade. And I don’t hide my pride in the fact
that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt ride around in
Ducati leather jackets. CNN has also shown
an interest with a 40-minute program on the
“Ducati Phenomenon.” This is something
really rare.
6-06-2007
17:53
Pagina 11
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Audi Invests in Bologna
I
n 1998 the heads of Audi and
Volkswagen came to Sant’Agata
Bolognese to verify the possibility of
acquiring a “small” Italian super car
manufacturer, famous in all the world
but on the verge of probable closure,
they were stricken by the technology
used to craft the four-wheeled jewels
that were (and still are) the Lamborghini
cars. So, they decided that the company
had to continue and that above it had to
remain in Sant’Agata Bolognese, and
therefore in Italy.
“Since that moment, Audi has invested
over 350 million euro in Lamborghini,
spread through infrastructure, model
development, restructuring lines, and
naturally also in human resources.
Today we can see the results of this investment. In the past four years
Lamborghini Automobiles has presented
three new cars–the Gallardo, the
Murciélago and the Murciélago
Roadster–and it has grown from 297
cars sold in 2001 to 1,592 last year, with
an exponential increase in income”, says
Stephan Winkelmann, the President and
Managing Director of Lamborghini
Automobiles.
Roughly 1,600 cars produced in 2004
and a 243 million euro turnover. What are
the secrets of the comeback of this
Bolognese automotive producer? Which
is the added value of this territory?
The recipe is quite simple and involves a
mix of different factors: Man, technology
and spirit. Most of all human resources:
a competent and tight team is working in
Sant’Agata Bolognese, which has figured out how to create a dialogue with the
parent company Audi in order to reached
its goals. These are passionate and competent people. Then technology: in the
Lamborghini establishments the technological know-how is extremely advan-
ced. Its enough to think that the integral
traction found in our fireballs is made in
Sant’Agata (and its not the famous
“four” of Audi), that the electronic engine management is Lamborghini, and last
but not least, that our technology in carbon fiber has been cutting-edge for a
long time. Finally, spirit, which has
always been the basis for the
Lamborghini brand’s identity: extreme,
without compromises, definitely Italian.
And speaking of what Italian, the territory we work in has definitely offered us a
lot. Besides the hundreds of
Lamborghini employees, who all live
from 30 to 50 km from the “House of the
Bull”, the collaboration given to us by the
authorities in Bologna, Sant’Agata
Bolognese and other surrounding communities has always been optimal, just
as collaboration with workers unions,
both internal and external, has been.
This is one aspect that has helped this
company become well-known and
respected, both in Italy and in the world.
As a former president of Fiat in Germany,
how do you find working in Italy, in the
province of Bologna, as CEO of a German
company?
First of all I’d like to state for the record
that even if I wasn’t born in Italy, I spent
the first twenty years of my life in this
country–in Rome to be exact. I can therefore claim to have a double culture,
German and Italian, which together with
the fact that I speak and think like an
Italian, are helping me a lot as far as integrating myself into life here in Bologna.
A city that I greatly admire and that I’ve
slowly but surely come to know.
Likewise I highly appreciate Bologna’s
province, and in particular the town of
Sant’Agata Bolognese, where I spend
almost all of my workday. Then, I’d like
to remind you that I’d already worked in
Italy, for the Fiat group, and so I also
know the business mechanisms of your
–of our– country quite well. Finally, it’s
important to me to state that today I am
President and Managing Director not of
a German company, but of an Italian
company controlled by a large
German automotive group.
The Italian flag waves in
front of my office and 95%
of the over 700 Lamborghini
employees are Italians.
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6-06-2007
17:53
Pagina 12
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Motor Valley
ologna is also the capital of engines
and their history: renowned automotive and motorcycle producers, but
also museums and not-to-miss collections. The mechanical passion has always
existed in Bologna. The reason for this can be
found in the social history of this territory, in the
motorization of agriculture, and in the foundation of professional schools which have introduced specialized workers in this field on the
market, that have been able to guarantee quality which in turn has augmented the economic
boom of this field (www.motorvalley.it)
The Ducati Museum,
situated inside the production plant in Borgo Panigale,
is a true testimonial of the
identity of this brand name,
which has collected the
material on over half a century of competitions won by
this company founded in
1926. The museum is divided into six thematic sections which map out the different phases of Ducati’s
B
Imola and the Autodromo
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino
Ferrari at the time of the ancient Roman civilisation –in the year 80 before Christ- was an
amphitheatre where two wheeled charriots
used to race, in preparation for the steel horses. Built in the Fifties, the Autodromo now
hosts some of the most important international racing competitions: the San Marino
Formula One Grand Prix, the Italian
Superbike Grand Prix, the World
Championship 3000 races, as well as that of
Endurance.
12
history, giving the visitor the possibility to come
into contact with the values and historic patrimony of the company.
The Lamborghini Museum is located within
this company’s production site, in an adventurous structure. On display are all the cars by
the “house of the bull” that have made history
from the 1960s to the present day (the 350
GT, the Countach, the Miura, the Espada, the
Diablo). The collection is crown by some of
their Formula One cars, marine engines and
model cars from all over the world.
6-06-2007
17:53
Pagina 13
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Motor Show
The International Car Expo
he Motor Show, The International
Car Expo, which held its thirtieth
edition in 2005, was born in the
1970s and is located –not by chance– in Bologna, center of a territory closely
tied to the world of motors, both for its productive activities, and its passion for these
vehicles which characterize its socio-economic context.
During the years this Bolognese expo evolved rapidly in order to become the most
visited expo event in our country, with 1.2
million visitors in 2005, not to mention one
of the most important expos in the automotive field on an international level.
In 2005, the Motor Show became part of
the OICA (Organisation Internationale des
Constructeurs d’Automobiles), calendar,
which includes the biggest automotive
expos in the world, among which the events
in Geneva, Paris, Frankfort and Tokyo. The
presence of the Bolognese event on this
docket thus testifies to the OICA’s recognition of the importance of this event and the
results it has already obtained. More than
32 million visitors over thirty editions have
T
written the Motor Show’s success story. An
attention given to specific topics, an exceptional know how accumulated over years
and years of experience, and an innate ability to communicate make Promotor
International, the organizer of the event, a
force to be reckoned with in the world of
expo events.
Promotor International, From Automotive to Information Technology Expos
Promotor International is the largest private group operating in Italy in
the expo area, organizing dozens of events in Bologna, Milan, Rimini and
Turin, for a vast gamut of expo products ranging from automotive to
information technology to culinary, without bypassing housing, restructuring and furniture markets. Through the acquisition of the Motor Show
- which will soon become the most visited expo event open to the public
in Italy - the group acquired national visibility and confirmed itself as a
leader in the sector with the organization of the International Automobile
Expo in Turin, from 1994 to 2000. In 1999 Promotor bought the
Lingotto Fiere expo center in Turin, which currently hosts 20 events per
year. In 1993, with the aim of giving the workers, economic analysts and
audiences interested in this field a tool to better understand the automotive market, its dynamics and its demands within the rapid changes
of the past few years, the Promotor Research Center was created. In
2001 this center was joined by the Wine Expo Observatory and, in
2005, by the SMAU Observatory. In the next years the group became
interested in the privatization processes of the BolognaFiere expo center and the Rimini Fiera space. Finally, in September 2004, Promotor
International bought out SMAU, the International Exposition of ICT and
Consumer Electronics, completing its reorganization in spring 2005 with
the acquisition of Webbit, an expo dedicated to business to business
information technology, and of IBTS, International Broadcasting and
Telecommunications expo.
“One of the keys to the success of Promotor International has certainly
been the ability to fully understand the demands of the economic sector of reference, in order to create an event able to directly respond to
the needs of the market,” states president and founder of Promotor
International, Alfredo Cazzola (in the picture).
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6-06-2007
17:53
Pagina 14
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
IMA, Packaging
for Pharmaceutical Products
Established in 1961, IMA is the world leader in the design
and manufacture of automatic machines for the packaging of pharmaceutical products and of tea in filter bags.
The IMA Group closed 2004 with net revenues that have
risen to 371.1 million Euro, of which 91% was realized
on international markets. The Group
has more than 2,600 employees,
about 1,000 of whom overseas, and
can count on 13 production plants: 5
are in Italy, one in Germany, one in the
United Kingdom, one in Spain, one in
the United States, two in India and two in China. IMA has
an extensive sales network comprising nine branches
which provide sales and service in France, UK, Germany,
Austria, Spain, Portugal, USA, China and Thailand, representative offices in Central and East European countries
and over 50 agencies covering a total of more than 70
countries. IMA is also participating in three joint-ventures
in China for production and service. IMA recently concluded a joint-venture agreement with the Telstar Group
(Spain) in the field of freeze-drying machinery for the
pharmaceutical industry. IMA S.p.A. has been listed on
the Milan Stock Exchange since 1995 and in 2001 joined the STAR segment. The following companies in the
pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors are part of the
IMA Group: Co.ma.di.s. S.p.A., IMA Kilian GmbH & Co.
KG, Nova Packaging Systems Inc., Precision Gears Pvt
Ltd., Swiftpack Automation Ltd.
Packaging Valley
lthough Japan and the United States
are the forerunners in the production
of industrial packaging machinery, for
the most part this production is destined to internal markets. In fact, Germany and
Italy alone cover approximately 65% of the
international market’s needs in this area.
Emilia-Romagna in particular has the highest
concentration in the world of packaging enterprises, thus earning Bologna its international
nickname as “Packaging Valley”.
There are about 200 companies based in Bologna (22% of the overall Italian total and about 50%
of the regional total in Emilia-Romagna) that employ over 6,000 workers (36% of the Italian total),
which generated over 1 billion euro in exports in 2004 (equal to 33% of the overall Italian exports
in this sector). Approximately 80% of the production of these packaging groups is exported all
over the world. Production is mainly targeted at the food industry, the pharmaceutical-cosmetics-toiletries industry, the chemical and petrochemical industries, and the tobacco industry—
another traditional outlet for the Bolognese and Italian packaging machinery industry. The success of this industry derives from three main factors: an extremely flexible production system
combined with a great capacity for technological innovation; a consumer-friendly orientation,
beginning with the product planning and ending in after-sale services, with “white collar” employees representing about 70% of the total workforce; and the local industrial framework, characterized by a remarkable expertise in fine mechanics.
A
Coesia, The Packaging Group
The COESIA Group is a family held corporation controlling a multinational line of automated machinery businesses, which boasts
a leading position in the packaging industry.
The Group was formed by G.D. and inclues
the following companies: Acma, Cima, Gdm,
Jobs and Volpak. Since 2002, the COESIA
Group has been owned in its entirety by
Isabella Seràgnoli.
The development of solutions for handling
materials with great accuracy and at high
speed is the core competence of the companies of the COESIA Group.
Among these companies, Acma and G.D.,
both based in Bologna, are traditionally trademarks for high performance, high quality
automatic equipment. The Companies’
favourable location – a geographical area
with an important technological background
14
and university tradition - attracts and provides talented collaborators and staff with
extremely high professional competencies.
The Group’s strategy is to develop value by
creating solutions for its customers, based
on innovation and reliability. In fact, creative
capacity and massive investments dedicated to the study of new solutions fuel the
Research and Development Departments of
the COESIA Group’s companies. In 2004,
more than 10% of their annual turnover was
invested in Research & Development.
G.D. established in 1923, has its headquarters in Bologna and three satellite plants in
the outskirts of the city as well as production
facilities in Germany, Brazil, the USA,
Indonesia and Japan. An extensive sales
and after-sales network, consisting of 12
branch offices, guarantees G.D.'s worldwide
presence. G.D.’s internal organization is
based on Business Units which assign
groups of people independence and
responsibility, enhancing talents, offering
the opportunities and resources to try new
paths. In 2004, G.D reported a consolidated
turnover of € 442 million an had a total of
2,200 employees.
ACMA, founded in 1924, was taken over by
the Seràgnoli family in 1986. ACMA’s product line covers confectionery, fine chemicals, cosmetics and detergent sectors, and
its installed plants with 30,000 machines
worldwide are the evidence of an industrial
expertise gained through a close co-operation with customers. Including the Liquid
Division located in Mantova, ACMA counts
300 employees and reported a turnover of €
59 million for the year 2004.
6-06-2007
17:53
Pagina 15
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Electronics
hird sector for its export revenues (more than 900 million euro), the electronics industry in Bologna is made up of over 1,600 companies. Besides a good number of companies producing highly specialized components for different areas of the mechanical
and motor industries, leading companies in the production of optical reading instruments, RFID systems, tools for measuring and controlling productive processes in industry, and
electro-medical instruments are present in Bologna. The level of internationalization of these
Bolognese companies is high, as they are present on many different markets and also have
numerous production plants abroad, just as many foreign multinational groups have chosen
Bologna as the location to develop their own products here in Italy.
T
Datalogic, The Bar Code Specialist
Datalogic is the largest European manufacturer and one of the largest in the world of
bar code readers, mobile computers, and
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)
systems. In more than 30 years the Group
companies have built an unquestioned
world-wide leadership in the ADC (Automatic
Data Capture) sector. Today Datalogic, with
headquarters in Lippo di Calderara di Reno,
close to Bologna, offers business solutions
particularly for the manufacturing, transportation
and logistics, as well as
distribution and retail
industries.
“Datalogic’s product range
covers hand-held and
fixed-position bar code
readers using both laser
and CCD technologies –
explanis Romano Volta,
President of Datalogic (in the picture) –
Datalogic’s offer also includes one of the
widest ranges of mobile computers for data
collection available on the market”.
Furthermore, through its subsidiary Escort
Memory Systems (Scotts Valley, California)
and Informatics (Dallas, Texas), Datalogic
provides RFID solutions for the entire supply
chain with a leading position in the automotive sector, electronic manufacturers and
warehouse management systems (WMS).
Datalogic assigns utmost importance to
research activities and invests over 7% of its
sales in this area. This enables Datalogic to
provide technologically advanced products
that are able to meet the ever increasingly
sophisticated needs of the end users. Every
day more than 140 engineers study basic
technologies for possible future use within
our products.
Datalogic is quoted in the TechStar segment
of the Milan Stock Exchange, has more than
970 employees worldwide and produced in
2004 revenues of around 148.2 million
euro. In November 2005 Datalogic announced the acquisition of PSG, an american leader competitor in its sector. After the merge
of the two companies Datalogic revenues will
total about 400 million euro.
Datalogic customers include many of the
most important companies in the world, such
as: Blockbuster, BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Dell,
DHL, Esso, FedEx, Ferrero, FIAT, Ford, GM,
Ikea, Mitsubishi, P&G, Peugeot-Citroën,
Safeway, Salamander, Sector, Tesco, Toyota,
UPS, United States Postal Services,
Woolworths.
Marposs, Electronic Quality
Control Global Player
Marposs, a company from Bentivoglio, a
municipality of Bologna, has produced
electronic systems for workshops in
order to help with the measurement,
control and management of the dimensional, geometric and surface area properties of mechanical parts. Solutions
obtained with standard, customized or
special products, which cover all of the
quality control needs, from the immediate machine tool to the final inspection
of manufactured pieces and data collection and elaboration. Some of the prevalent sectors that Marposs (which had
230 million euro in earnings in 2004)
works with are the automotive industry,
the automotive supply industry, the ball
bearing industry, the aerospace industry, the electrical appliance industry
and the machine tool industry. Marposs
has 784 employees and invests 12% of
its earnings in research and development. The export level is equal to 90%
of its total production: the most significant markets in order of sales volume
are: the United States, Japan (where
Marposs received the New Digest
Marketing Award for having contributed
to Japanese industrial development)
and Germany. For sales and customer
service activities, Marposs employs
another 1,060 people in 65 offices located in almost every area of the globe.
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6-06-2007
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Pagina 16
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Fashion
Piquadro,
“The Brief Case”
n an area where competition is expressed mainly through designer labels, Bologna can brag
about the presence of many important and long-established clothing and leather manufacturers who contribute to the exclusive reputation of Made in Italy style and brands. In 2004
export revenues surpassed 700 million euro. The European Union accounts for about one half
of this export, while the most promising new markets are currently in Russia and Turkey. There are
many significant micro-companies specialized in artisan work, companies who have developed ecommerce possibilities, and ready-to-wear products. As far as the service industry related to these
activities is concerned, there are some noteworthy international expos in this area that take place
in Bologna, most of all in the leather and shoe departments, together with the Centergross, the
largest wholesale fashion center in Europe, where more than 300 fashion companies have their
headquarters.
I
Yoox, The Fashion Victims’ Web Site
A virtual space where individuals can follow their style
and reinvent it everyday. Yoox, the web site for fashion
victims, was created in 2000 from an idea by Franco
Marchetti. Its logistic base is in Zola Predosa, in the province of Bologna. The discounted big brand-name clothing and accessories leave from here, to be purchased
on-line at the web site www.yoox.com. Yoox has record
numbers: over one and a half million items delivered in
25 European countries, in the United States, in Canada
and in Japan by a team of 80 people who speak 7 languages. The website has been listed among the top 100
greatest shop by Vogue UK and among the top 50 coolest websites in the world by Time magazine, and it’s
also been recognized with a Standard of Excellence in
2003 and 2004 by the Web Marketing Association, the
best fashion shopping site in Europe, the BBC worldwide and the Sunday Times.
16
Mandarina Duck,
Cool and Young Bags
The Mandarina Duck brand was established in
Bologna in 1977. Already the first collection,
Utility, imposed itself on the fashion accessories
market thanks to its color, its innovative design
and the light and resistant materials.
Mandarina Duck is part of the Finduck group, its
headquarters are in Bologna, and it has branches in Paris, Barcelona, Dusseldorf and
London, as well as active trade distribution
agreements in South Korea, Hong Kong,
Australia and Japan. It gives work to about 600
people, which becomes 1,100 if you consider
linked activities, and it closed out 2004 with
total earnings of 66.6 million euro and over one
million articles produced. There are currently 85
Mandarina Duck stores in Europe and another
6-7 new stores are scheduled to open by the
end of the year. Since 2002, Mandarina Duck
has amplified its offer, moving into the eyeglass
and watch sectors, and, since 2004, also into
the cosmetic sector. In 2004 an agreement with
BMW was sighed for the design, production
and distribution of purses and travel accessories tied to the Mini Convertible.
Leather goods thought up and designed for
working men and women. This is at the heart
of Piquadro’s production, a company created
in the province of Bologna, in Riola di Vergato,
that since 1998, after ten years of manufacturing for others today produces its own line of
avant-garde products for their design, elegance and practicality. The success of the
Piquadro formula, based on research, innovation and marketing, is proved by its 650 sales
points throughout the world, Russia and China
included, and by its earnings, which in 2004
reached 17.8 million euro with a 13 percent
increase compared to the year before. “What
we want to transmit is the perception of a
highly technological product that doesn’t,
however, ignore style” is how Marco Palmieri,
company head, synthesizes the ethos followed
in the creation of all of their products, from
men’s and women’s bags to suitcases to wallets and belts. Words that also explain the collaboration begun four years ago with the
European Institute of Design in Milan and
Barcelona, and with Milan’s Politecnico.
BrunoMagli,
The Luxury Leather Factory
BrunoMagli, a synonym for hosiery and accessories that interprets luxury and tendency while
maintaining a high level of quality and design,
was founded in Bologna in 1936, under the
title Calzaturificio Magli. In 1968, under the
guidance of the second generation of this
family, the company moved to the establishment in via Larga, 33, in Bologna, which
remains the site of its headquarters. In 2001
all of the companies under the BrunoMagli
label, as well as the sales points, were bought
by the Opera fund, specialized in investment
and participation in companies “Made in Italy”
and representative of Italian lifestyle. Elegance,
femininity, exclusive details and functionality
are at the basis of the success that BrunoMagli
hosiery and accessories have enjoyed throughout the world together with their choice of
hides, their professionalism in manufacturing
and their wise price policies.
6-06-2007
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Pagina 17
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Furla,
Bags Made in Bologna
Furla, created in Bologna in 1938, is present in
64 countries in 9 self-owned branches, 184
Furla label stores (43 of which are self-owned)
101 corner-markets, and over 1,000 stores
have a Furla department, including some of the
best international department stores. This label
is on display in some of the world’s most luxurious shopping streets: from the historical via
Condotti in Rome to Madison Avenue in New
York, from New Bond Street in London to Ginza
in Tokyo.
In 2001, the entrance to the hosiery section
was beside the leather, jewelry and watch
departments. A variation in product lines gave
birth to sunglass and eyeglass lines as well.
Leather goods, which have always been the
corner stone business of this label, make up
75% of production today; while jewelry, including wrist watches, necklaces and rings
accounts for 15% and hosiery for 8%. In
September 2005 the first Furla Shoes shop in
the world was inaugurated.
In the past 10 years, Furla has become one of
the most important “made in Italy” brands worldwide, increasing its yearly earnings from 12
million euro in 1993 to 108 million in 2004.
OMAS, writing since 1925
From the small Bolognese laboratory to the
world famous company, where creativity,
technical capacity and Armano Simoni’s cleverness joined together to create original tools,
necessary for the murling of styluses, the faceting of pens, the cut and edging of pen-nib
points. Since 1925, OMAS (Officina
Meccanica Armando Simoni), Simoni’s
workshop, has created unique specialized products: the “Doctor’s pen”,
complete with a tiny thermometer
hidden inside the pen, the bi-nibbed
fountain pen with two different points
that can be used alternatively, celluloid models
with a transparent body. Since 2000 OMAS
has been part of the LVMH group (Moët
Hennessy—Luis Vuitton), and in 2003 the first
OMAS store in Italy was inaugurated in Rome’s
via Frattina, a street historically dedicated to
luxury items. An OMAS fountain pen is the
result of over 100 phases of workmanship:
from the initial 18k gold leaf shearing, the
lamination, the cutting, to the shaping, which
give the pens their exceptional flexibility; there
are 7 steps necessary in order to create the ink
tube; 35 rapid movements for attaching the
three facets (without glue) to the pen surface
in the faceted model. A total of up to 100 days
is necessary in order to give life to an OMAS
fountain pen.
Bonafè,
Shoes for Presidents
It boasts of at least two presidents among its
clients: George Bush
Sr. and Carlo Azeglio
Ciampi. The Bolognese
Enzo Bonafè, “shoemaker” by profession,
founded the company
a bit more than forty
years ago and today
earns 1.3 million euro,
producing shoes for
the classic, “timeless” man.
In order to guarantee shoes of the highest quality from the Bolognese workshop, where 20
artisans are employed, the maximum amount
of shoes produced per day is 30 pairs. Bonafè
exports his creations to Germany, France,
Belgium, Austria and, most of all, to Japan. His
footwear is aimed at high level market consumers: “We have always prefered,” says the
company president, “not to follow trends,
instead maintaining a classic style. It’s a choice which has proved winning, seeing as we are
still here after so many years and so many
trends that have come in, passed on and come
back again.
Les Copains, Hosiery and
Fashion Made in Bologna
have been created in collaboration with well-known designers,
and have been quite successful
on the market. Les Copains is
always present at prestigious
events in international style,
such as Milano Moda Donna
and Pitti Immagine Uomo. Les
Copains’ creations have always
distinguished themselves for
their extremely high quality, their
avant-garde know how and for
the continuous technical research applied to selected and precious materials. The Bolognese Les Copains, with 14
boutiques worldwide, also produces glasses,
purses, ties, scarves, shoes and perfumes.
La Perla, The Lingerie Colossus
La Perla group was established in Bologna in the
1950s. The forefathers of this house of haute couture are the members of the Masotti family, who gave
life to what is now a fashion colossus with 77 brand
name boutiques throughout the world; over 2,500
employees and an income that exceeds 230 million
euro. The inventor of La Perla was Ada Masotti, who
began producing lingerie in a small corset making
factory. Sophia Lauren was among her clients, and
would order girdles to hug her hips and emphasize
her waistline. Today one can also choose from swimwear lines and ready-to-wear lines in romantic style.
From the bras to high fashion, in a development process unique to this stylist (it is much more usual for
designers to first conquer the cat-walks and then
commission a line of lingerie to other companies).
Even today, as Alberto Masotti administrates La
Perla’s production, the brand is distinguished by the
importance it places on artisan design and the knowledge it has of the female body.
The Les Copains label was created in Bologna
at the end of the 1950s, an era in which
France dictated the rules of the fashion world.
When one of the radio transmissions most
listened to was “Salut Les Copains.” Hence the
“French flavor” of this label.
The company, today BVM Spa, began its activity as a producer of hosiery, and has always
been considered one of the finest groups in the
sector, both for quality and technique. Currently
the company is launching a campaign to further consolidate its label: the latest collections
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Pagina 18
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Health and Medical
Technology
In the different areas of medical research Bologna always has a role of primary importance,
even on an international level, thanks to the important work done by the University of Bologna
and the presence of first-rate hospitals and health care facilities that specialize in patient diagnosis and treatment (especially rehabilitation), as well as scientific research. This explains the
presence of important pharmaceutical companies, biomedical multinationals, and a true cluster of
orthopaedic establishments in Bologna. In particular, there are activities specialized in the assembly, adaptation and –most of all– personalization of orthopaedic prosthesis, prosthesis and rehabilitation equipment, and unique centers designed to follow and aid a disabled patient from surgical intervention to their complete social reintegration. The mix of different know how from different disciplines –medicine, chemistry, genetics, computer science, electronic and mechanical
engineering– in which Bologna boasts a high level of specialization, explains the ample possibility for development and investment opportunity that this sector can hold for the future.
I
Vigorso,
The Center of Artificials Limbs
Alex Zanardi, a Life Champion
Alessandro Zanardi claims he's never cried over the fate of
losing both of his legs at EuroSpeedway Lausitz on
September 15th, 2001. He returned to the CART scene as
a visitor in Toronto in July 2002 and at the end of the year
took part in a karting event, driving with artificial limbs. Alex
became only the Third back-to-back CART Champion with
Titles in 1997 and 1998; won a Series-High Seven CART
Races in 1998; owns CART Single Season Scoring Record
of 285 Points (1998); earned CART’s Jim Trueman Rookie
of the Year Award in 1996; CART’s All-time Leader in
Podium Finishes in a Season (15 in 1998); owns CART’s
All-time Best Winning Percentage (15 Victories in 51
Starts). Zanardi is the 2005 winner of the Italian
Supertourism Championship with Bmw thanks to his artificial limbs which were engineered in Vigorso
18
By now the Bolognese tradition in the field of
orthopedics and the use of artificial limbs is
centuries old. Its roots date back to the war in
Africa in 1889-96. It was in this occasion that
four Bolognese doctors were sent by the Red
Cross to help cure around 10 thousand Italian
and Ethiopian prisoners considered traitors,
which upon capture had their arms, hands or
legs amputated. These are the origins, the
past. In the present this tradition and its local
establishments have taken on characteristics
of true excellence, which though born in
Bologna, have won worldwide recognition.
One of these establishments is the Centro
Protesi Inail (Italian Workers’ Compensation
Authority) of Vigorso in Budrio, which is highly
avant-garde for the quality of orthopedic and
rehabilitative assistance it offers to its
patients and for the advanced scientific and
technological levels of its research and production centers for artificial limbs.
Founded in 1961 thanks to the will and dedication of professor Hans Schmidl, who was
the institute’s director until 1992, the structure has always been in a constant state of
evolution, both in terms of its receptive capa-
city and in terms of the quality of its research
and the services it offers to its patients. In the
past ten years it has become recognized as a
center for excellence in health care, rehabilitation and orthopedics aimed at social reintegration, and has been awarded the ISO 9001
and the Vision 2000 certificates.
This center in Budrio offers assistance to
INAIL holders who have been injured on the
job in Italy and in the E.U., to national invalid
patients assisted by the national health care
system, and to foreign disabled patients. The
center operates in three basic areas: research in new technology aimed at the production of new artificial limbs, production and
supply of artificial limbs and orthopedic supplies; rehabilitation and training in the use of
artificial limbs. The goal of the center is to
reconstruct the functional, social aspect of
the injured patient and to thus guarantee a
complete reintegration into the work world,
family life, and society in general. The center
is involved in numerous research projects,
some in collaboration with the Rizzoli
Orthopedic Center, which also enjoys international recognition.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Alfa Wassermann
in the United States
The European Foundation of Oncology
and Environmental Sciences “B. Ramazzini”
The European Ramazzini Foundation is a noprofit, private institution with official governmental recognition. Located in Bentivoglio, in
the province of Bologna, its facilities include a
Cancer Research Center with more than
10,000 m2 of laboratories and archives and
an Epidemiological Research Center.
The researchers of the European Ramazzini
Foundation have worked in environmental
health sciences, oncology and toxicology for
more than 25 years. In the laboratories of the
Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center
(CMCRC), experiments on more than 15,000
animals may be conducted simultaneously and
carcinogenicity studies on more than 200
compounds present in the work and the general environments have been completed.
Among the compounds demonstrated to be
carcinogenic by the CMCRC are vinyl chloride,
benzene, formaldehyde, gasolines and their
components and some pesticides. Results of
CMCRC studies are used by national and inter-
national agencies when taking regulatory
actions.
The European Ramazzini Foundation has
scientific relationships with many Italian institutions including the National Health Institute
(Istituto Superiore di Sanità), the Institute for
On-The-Job Security and Accident prevention
(Istituto Superiore per la Prevenzione e la
Sicurezza del Lavoro) of the Italian
Government, the Regional Environmental
Protection Agency (Agenzia Regionale per la
Prevenzione e l’Ambiente) and the University of
Padua. On the international level, the European
Ramazzini Foundation has standing contractual relationships on scientific projects of
mutual interest with the following institutions:
the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS) of the US Government, the
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
of Columbia University, USA and the
Department of Biometry and Epidemiology of
the Medical University of South Carolina, USA.
Montecatone, The Rehabilitation Hospital
Among the medical structures of excellence in
the Province of Bologna, Montecantone hospital is well-known for its rehabilitation of
patients with severe back and head injuries.
What makes this hospital unique is the understanding it had, as far back as thirty years ago,
of the need for a specialized structure which
could cater to the needs of patients with
medullar injuries and/or head injuries.
Since 1997, the hospital has been run by the
company Montecatone Rehabilitation Institute
S.P.A., a mixed public-private health care
group authorized by the region of EmiliaRomagna. Currently this hospital can host 150
full time patients along with 8 out-patients. It is
equipped with 50 places dedicated to “highly
specialized rehabilitation” (Spinal Department),
to ensure Italian myelosis patients an intensive
rehabilitation regime. 22 places have also
been reserved for those suffering from severe head injuries caused by traumatic incidents. The intensive care unit, with 8 beds
for intensive therapy and 10 for semi-intensive therapy, is equipped with the most
advanced technology. It allows the hospital to
Alfa Wassermann, founded in Bologna in 1948, is today
a global pharmaceutical company among the leaders in
its domestic market. International sales account for 40%
of its turnover which was 187 Million Euros in 2004 with
a 9% growth over 2003. Alfa Wassermann employs over
1,000 people, 400 of which work in its affiliates in Spain,
Portugal, Tunisia, China and United States.
"Over the past few years," states Stefano Golinelli, Chief
Executive Officer of Alfa Wassermann, "we have made
important acquisitions in Spain and Portugal and started
new subsidiaries in China and Poland. We also export our
products in more than 65 countries through a network of
local distributors. But the United States have always played and will play an important role in our strategy".
Alfa Wassermann Inc, the US subsidiary of the Group, is
located in West Caldwell, New Jersey, and employs 140
people. Alfa Wassermann Inc. is a medical technology
company that designs, manufactures and sells clinical
chemistry systems and other diagnostic products to serve
healthcare institutions and clinical laboratories. The company turnover has been growing at a double digit rate in
the recent years and it is expected to reach USD 45
Million in 2005. "We are also proud that on May 26,
2004", continues Golinelli "the prestigious Food and Drug
Administration approved Rifaximin, an innovative antibiotic, discovered in Alfa Wassermann R&D labs located
under Bologna's twin towers. The product is now prescribed by the US physicians under the trademark Xifaxan
and tagged as Product of Italy". In 2005 Alfa Wassermann
expects its turnover to grow 12% to 210 million Euros.
host patients with acute injuries in order to
begin the rehabilitative process immediately
during the first phases following a detrimental or pathological incident. This type of availability inserts the spinal unit of Montecatone
within the network of regional and national
emergency-urgent care and trauma centers.
The untimeliness of the patient’s admittance
allows for the elaboration of a “personalized
global rehabilitation project” immediately following a traumatic event, aimed at recovering the maximum amount of autonomy possible and a reintegration in economic and
social life.
19
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Mechanical Engineering
he mechanical engineering industry is the most representative traditional Bolognese
industry. The numerous leading international producers are only the “tip of the iceberg”
in the complex network of production companies, designing enterprises, avant-garde
training schools, research and technological transfer centers, specialized consortiums
and associations, and companies which organize and promote trade fair activities. The numerous museums, sporting events and other local goings-on attest to how deeply rooted in
Bologna’s economic fabric this production is.
There are over 6,600 engineering industries present in Bologna alone, which account for 23%
of the regional total and 2.5% of the national total. Bolognese exports in this sector resulted in
earnings of over 6 billion euro in 2004—over 70% of overall regional export.
Beyond the industrial automated machinery, motor and electronic groups, qualified sub-suppliers
and leading industrial machinery enterprises (for the food and plastic industries) are present in
Bologna, along with companies dealing in oil-pressure, mechanical tools, appliances, laundromat equipment, and transport and lifting gear.
T
Sacmi,
A Cooperative with a Strong Value System
Sacmi Imola is a cooperative company at the
head of an international group that is a world
leader in the designing, production and commercialization of machinery and systems for
the ceramic tiles, plastic, beverage packing
and food processing industries. A cooperative
born in Imola, a municipality of Bologna, in
1919 with the initiative of 9 mechanics and
smiths. Over 70 companies on all continents
are lead by the company headquarters in
Imola, the heart of the mechathronics district,
through the holding company H.P.S. Spa. The
group is present in 23 countries
with its factories, distribution and
service companies: over 80% of
Sacmi Imola’s turnover – that in
2005 is expected to exceed 1
billion euro – is tied to export.
Eugenio Emiliani (in the pictures) is
the general manager.
Sacmi is a multinational that has known
how to innovate the
very concept of
cooperative…
The strong point
20
of this cooperative has always been the participation and the cohesion on common goals.
The typology of a company leads to putting the
customer at the center of the attention and
thus –the customer’s satisfaction is always the
final aim. Sacmi Imola became successful
because it has always focused on customer
care which throughout the years, creates loyalty. The starting point was never the search for
profit in the short term. This approach lead the
company to focus more and more on organizational efficiency able to offer adequate
customer assistance.
Diversification of the core business and
internationalization are the paths followed by
Sacmi, but the heart of the company has
always been in Imola. How important are
territorial ties for you?
For a cooperative territorial ties have the
utmost importance. It is at the basis of the
company itself. The quality of the workers can’t
be separated from Imola, a town densely filled
with cooperatives and rich in culture. The personnel is the spring board for development,
just as the system of local subcontracting,
characterized by a network of small and
medium specialized enterprises, is the field for
the company’s outsourcing. It shouldn’t be forgotten though that in the era of globalization
Sacmi too made a move towards locations
abroad in order to find districts and suppliers
and give life to a long process of internationalization that has its roots in Imola.
Sacmi represents the successful Made in
Italy that focuses on quality. It has plants and
partners throughout the world. The next
move?
For Sacmi the near future is without a doubt
characterized by the development and the
consolidation of the companies in the group,
active in different sectors. But also by research, which is the cornerstone of innovation in
all sectors with high added value that Sacmi
has been successfully dealing with over the
past decades.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Busi,
Planning and Developing
Advanced Technological
Systems
The Busi Group offers global management
solutions in the construction, planning and
development of advanced technological
systems. It operates in three principal sectors:
integrated construction of systems, advanced
systems of energy management, supervision
and tele-security systems.
With 50 years of activity under its belt, the Busi
Group is one of the most important entities in
the field of Italian civil, industrial and manufacturing plant engineering and has progressively
developed multidisciplinary engineering projects. The Busi Group has branches in EmiliaRomagna, Lombardia, Lazio and Sardegna, as
well as international companies in Russia and
Brazil. Its principal areas of activity are industry;
health care; direction, commercial and theatrical complexes; research, academic and sports
centers; energy production from renewable
resources; and infrastructure. Stefano
Aldrovandi is its president.
What type of business could one start in this
era of globalization and developing economies?
Our strategy is to enforce a managerial and
technical structure with high professional
competencies. This is essential in order to
work on an international level, offering optimal
services and optimal products, beyond the
stress of pricing. It’s the market, really, that
chooses quality among the different offers.
How did your internationalization evolve?
In the 70s and 80s Busi Impianti always worked directly from Italy. Then we realized that in
order to offer high level plant engineering services, we had to make on site investments. Our
major international establishments are in
Russia and South America (Brazil).
Expanding markets?
As far as plant engineering in the energy field
goes, surely the Middle East, for plant engineering in general Russia and the ex soviet bloc
countries, while for electronic power plants the
main market expansion is in the Far East and
the Mediterranean area.
Carpigiani and The “Gelato” University
arpigiani Group, based in Bologna,
is world leader in the design,
manufacture and supply of equipment, including support services,
for traditional and soft ice cream or “gelato”, and also slush or “granita” and cold
drink dispensers.
The business was established in 1946 by
the Carpigiani brothers, the pioneers of ice
cream making technology, on the back of
their success with the launch of the first
automatic “gelato” machine. Since then,
and more rapidly during the Nineties,
Carpigiani has developed, organically and
via acquisitions, to become the world largest manufacturer of ice cream machines,
with revenue of approximately 120 million
euro, 500 employees worldwide, direct
subsidiaries or branches in 10 different
countries, and sales to more than 100
nations. In the US, large food chains such
as McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken
(KFC) and Burger King or the fast growing
ice cream franchise Cold Stone are among
Carpigiani Group customers. Its 50-strong
international R&D team of engineers relies
on global product and market information
to develop advanced equipment and
systems for making ice cream and slush
and dispensing cold beverages. The company’s know-how is covered by over 100
international patents.
Revenue from the Group’s main business
lines, comprising traditional and soft ice
cream making machinery, represent an
almost 50% share of the world market, an
increase from 15% in the early nineties. To
further promote and export the true Italian
C
“gelato” culture, in 2001 the Group founded Carpigiani Gelato University, an international center for specialist training of
“gelato” artisans. “The courses that
Carpigiani organizes throughout the world
and at our headquarters in Bologna are
attended by over 5,000 participants every
year, and the number is growing” explains
Gino Cocchi, CEO of Carpigiani Group, “the
courses are divided into three levels, preparatory, designed for those who want to
know what it means to ‘open a gelato
store’; fundamentals, for novices who want
to open a gelato store or a pastry shop; and
advanced, that caters to expert artisans
that wish to improve their professional
skills”.
21
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bonfiglioli,
49 Years of Technology Innovation
onfiglioli’s history begins in 1956 with the
C.M.B. label, Costruzioni Mecchaniche
Bonfiglioli, with an innovative project in the production of speed reducers. The first reducers,
produced and planned entirely by the company where
fundamentally screw designs, followed by gear-based
designs, and finally a series of models based on parallel
and orthogonal axes. Bonfiglioli expanded its field of specialization with these products, until successfully entering
into the automatic machinery sector, for which Bologna is
the most important center in Italy.
Its strong will to grow and improve itself lead the company to patent a two-phase epicyclical reducer that was a
reference point for the sector for many years. Thanks to
the skill and reliability of its production, Bonfiglioli conquered more and more quotas on the market, and began
its international development program, first in Spain, then
throughout Europe. “In order to respond to new and growing requests, the company launched its first company
development campaign with the purchase of other industries –says Sonia Bonfiglioli, the Chief Executive Officer
(in the picture). After Forlì’s Trasmital, bought in 1976,
Bonfiglioli invested in factories for fusion work, gear production, assembly lines, productive units in India; it
bought out Vectron Elektronik in Germany, and finally the
Tecnoingranaggi company”. Today in Italy Bonfiglioli
counts 1,151 employees spread throughout 6 productive
plants (4 in Bologna, 1 in Forlì, 1 in Vignola near Modena)
and 579 employees who work in the European an world
branches in Spain, France, England, Germany, Sweden,
Greece, Canada, the USA, Austrailia, South Africa, India
and China. In 2004 Bonfilglioli’s earnings reached 339
million euro, 33.6% in Italy and 66.4% abroad.
B
22
Hera,
the Second Largest Listed
Utility Company in Italy
Hera was created in 2002 after the first public
service company conglomeration project in
Emilia-Romagna, and has been listed on the
stock market since June 2003. The group,
today the second largest among the utility
companies listed on the stock market, is active in the energy, water and environmental
areas, and employs over 5,000 workers in the
areas of Bologna, Ravenna, Rimini, ForlìCesena, Ferrara, and, starting in 2006,
Modena. It serves a wide range of consumers
amounting to over 2.5 million residents; it
distributes over 2.2 billion cubic meters of gas
and 234 billion cubic meters of water; it manages 1.5 million tons of urban garbage, falling
into either first or second place among the
local utilities used on a national level for all of
the areas it works in. Hera’s nominal capital
can be divided as follows: 56.44% owned by
public institutions (City administrations, the largest being the City of Bologna), the 43.56%
remaining owned by institutional investors and
private parties. Tomaso Tommasi of Vignano
(in the picture) is company president.
This utility company developed itself on a
regional level starting from Bologna. It arrived in Romagna, and, more recently, it has
spread out to the Modena area.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Building
and Utilities
ologna is without a doubt the Italian construction capital. Bologna is, in fact, the site of
the most important Italian expo events dedicated to this sector: The International Expo
of Housing Industrialization, SAIE, and its analogous expo which takes place in the
spring, SAIEDUE, dedicated to architecture, interior design, renovation and building
technologies. These are accompanied by CERSAIE, the most important international expo dealing with ceramics. There are numerous research centers in Bologna dedicated to the construction industry and real estate. Bologna is also home base for major private construction firms and
cooperatives, but it’s also the reference point for a true “regional construction district”. In the province of Bologna alone there are over 12,000 construction and equipment installation activities.
Beyond this, 21 of the top 60 Italian construction companies (35%) are located in EmiliaRomagna, and depend on regional associations centered in Bologna. This percentage rises to a
full 50% if the top 20 companies are considered. This type of excellence is also apparent in the
smaller companies, where highly specialized companies (in the renovation field for example) can
be found.
The recent liberalization of the energy market has brought about noteworthy changes on the
Italian market. In a highly dynamic moment, marked by numerous fusions and acquisitions,
Bologna has been able to act as an element of aggregation and has known how to effectively
create one of the most important Italian groups tied to the local utility company, that works with
energy (gas and electricity), water and waste management services.
B
With the integration of Modena in the near
future, the Hera group will further consolidate
its position in Emilia-Romagna, arriving at a
territorial coverage of about 70%. It is now the
second largest listed utility activity on a national level, with earnings, in 2004, amounting to
about 1.8 billion euro and an effective gross
income margin of over 360 million euro. Hera
operates in an extremely dynamic and avantgarde geographic area, most of all in publics
services, and we are aware of the fact that
much of our strength is due to our deep territorial rooting in this area. One the one hand,
this is the confirmation of the success of this
business model, that mixes tradition and innovation, but on the other hand, it is also a stimulus to better respond to the needs of our clients
and the communities, which, through the local
governments, hold the majority of Hera’s shares.
What are your goals and strategies for the
near future?
Our main goal now is to consolidate the results
we’ve obtained and better the competitiveness
of our group. To do this it is necessary to strengthen the capacity of our energy supply, both
through new power plant construction projects
and through national an international agreements.
In the next few months some of our own initiatives to increase energy production will be
developed, for example the construction of a
cogeneration plant in Imola, and the development of thermal evaluation systems.
What services do you offer for businesses?
The process of liberalization of the energy
market offers new an real opportunities to the
business world. Today all businesses are free
to choose their energy company and Hera,
through Hera Comm, the company which
takes care of energy service sales, has created
offers that allow companies to save money and
have access to services. Hera Comm’s offers
are designed to guarantee rate reductions,
most of all for activities whose energy costs
tend to be high.
This is one reason behind the “dual fuel” offer,
an innovative plan that offers one discounted
price for both methane gas and electricity.
Other offers have been structured on the basis
of consumption and provide for variable
discounts for both gas and electricity.
Galotti,
Promotion and Real Estate
Development in Urban Areas
Founded in Bologna in 1950 by Luciano Marchesini,
Galotti Spa. deals in real estate promotion and development in large urban areas, paying particular attention to the environment and the well-being of the interested customer, resident, economic operator, or investor as the case may be. The Meridiana district of
Casalecchio di Reno, in the province of Bologna, serves as an example: a true city within a city, planned by
Galotti to meet housing needs and commercial realities while respecting and exploiting the natural surroundings. This is how the Meridiana
park came to be, complete with a
small lake that faces villas, single
family homes, apartment buildings a
square and a superstore. But it also
includes an area for schools, a multiplex 9-screen cinema, health and fitness centers, and a directional center
where many international companies,
like Nike, have their headquarters. A
neighborhood of 8 thousand inhabitants where it’s easy to live and work.
The company is active in all areas of
real estate: from the acquisition of
land to the planning, creation, exploitation and commercialization of entire urban areas for
different uses. It is particularly active in EmiliaRomagna and in Lombardia, where it is involved in
major development projects for neighborhoods, residential complexes, administrative centers and shopping centers, with the aim of creating true districts.
“We operate on the territory to add value to our cities,”
explains Luigi Marchesini, company vice-president (in
the picture), “in order to improve the lives of everyone
by giving back unused areas to the community.”
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Segafredo Zanetti
The Italian Espresso in the World
The love for coffee is what has made the Bolognese
Segafredo Zanetti a multinational company which can
today be found all over the world. The company's leadership in the bar espresso coffee sector is the result of
an unparalleled combination of passion and professionality. The company buys its coffee right from the source and sees it as its mission to bring authentic Italianstyle espresso coffee, the outcome of an unmistakable
blend and of unrivalled expertise in the making, to the
world. The Segafredo Zanetti Group has planted solid
roots in Brazil through the acquisition of the Brazilian
growing and exporting firm Nossa Senhora da Guia, one
of the major companies in this sector.
Segafredo Zanetti knows the art of roasting coffee beans
well and its roasting plants in Austria, Brazil, Finland,
France, Italy, Poland and The Netherlands, all operate
according to the best traditions in the sector as well as
the most innovative procedures. Passion and professionality from the raw material to the final cup: to ensure
that the quality of its product is as it should be,
Segafredo Zanetti decided that also the quality of the
espresso coffee machine itself could not be overlooked.
That's why La San Marco, world leading manufacturer
of professional espresso coffee machines and other
equipment, incorporating the state-of-the-art technology as well as the expertise and commitment of what
goes into preparing a good cup of espresso of its manufacturers, has become part of the Group.
24
Food
and Agroindustry
griculture and farming have always played an important role in Bologna’s economy. Throughout time this sector, which counts more than 10,000 producers, has
been able to renovate itself and evolve in three different directions: the promotion
and protection of typical products; a development of the preserves and canned
food industry; the exploitation of regional territory for tourism purposes. Thanks to this progress, along with the region’s typical agricultural products—many of which have earned
the European Union’s highest certification, the Certificate of Origin—there are currently a
total of about 1,500 food producers, some of which are leaders in the production and conservation of fruits and vegetables, meats, and dairy products. This sector in particular is
dominated by cooperatives, many of which are national leaders, due to recent acquisitions,
and reinforce Bologna’s overall agro-industrial standing. There are several multinational
companies as well, such as coffee producers and large-scale cooperatives, which continue
to broaden their range of sales points in Italy.
A
Granarolo,
The Italian Alimentary Producer of Fresh Milk
The Bolognese brand Granarolo is the leading
Italian alimentary producer of fresh milk, and
ranks at the top of the industrial food and
ready-made meal markets, with an income
recorded at 852 million euro in 2004, 13 factories and over 100 distribution
centers with 1,920 employees.
As of June 2004, through their
subsidiary Yogolat, they acquired control of the companies
making up the Yomo group as
well. Granarolo’s aim is to gain
leadership of all market sectors
they operate in, by stressing
production quality and integrating the first phases of the production process
into this system, which will be guaranteed
through their relations with the holding company (Granlatte).
Founded in 1959 as a small cooperative situated right outside the gates of Bologna, the
company continued to grow until, in the
1980s, it assumed a leading role in the national milk and dairy industry. Granarolo has been
awarded the SA 8000 certification for business
ethics, which highlights the company’s dedication to ethical conduct. This certification can be
added to another for traceability in the production and certification processes. The group is
made up of two distinct, synergistic realities: a
cooperative of milk producers–Granlatte –
which operated in the agricultural field and collects raw material; and a joint-stock company
–Granarolo Spa– which produces convenience
goods, which transforms and commercializes
its product, acting in the role of
industrial and commercial head
for several companies they
directly and indirectly control.
Since 1998 the group has
drawn up a Sustainable
Balance Sheet in order to make
known to its shareholders in a
clear and transparent way what
the social and environmental
impacts of its activities are. Granarolo’s
Sustainable Balance Sheet received the honorable mention award at the 2003 edition of the
Sustainable Balance Sheet Oscars.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Conserve Italia, European Leader in Fruit And Vegetable Processing
European leader in fruit and vegetable processing, the Conserve Italia group, based in San
Lazzaro di Savena (province of Bologna), offers
an ample variety of products on the market,
from fruit-based products (nectars and juices,
canned fruits, jams and jellies) to tomatobased products (peeled and blended tomatoes, tomato pulp, sauce and paste) and canned
vegetable products (beans, peas, green beans
and corn).
As far as juices and fruit drinks go, this food
processing colossus holds the leading position
on the Italian market (where it comprises
brands such as Yoga, Derby Blue and
Valfrutta), with a quota of 30%; and it’s not far
behind on the Spanish market as well, (through
the Juver brand), where its holds a 12% quota.
As for canned fruit in syrup, Conserve Italia is
the top brand in France through the St. Mamet
label, covering a quota of 45%; while in Italy it
is co-leader with the Valfrutta brand (at about
14%). The group also holds the top position in
the tomato products area in Italy, with a mar-
ket quota of 22% (through the Valfrutta and
Cirio De Rica brands), whereas with its vegetable products it holds a 19% quota (through the
Valfrutta brand).
The company’s excellent results in the major
markets of the “Old World” are the result of the
high quality level of its products. A quality level
that begins in the countryside, with the timely
experience and daily dedication of the 17,000
agricultural producers that supply this company with its raw materials, its true legacy as a
cooperative group. Every year in its 17 factories (10 in Italy, 4 in France, 1 in Spain, 1 in
Portugal and 1 in Poland) 900,000 tons of
fruits and vegetables are processed by 8,000
people between salaried employees and seasonal wage workers.
In December 2004, Conserve Italia, along with
three investment funds, bought out Cirio De
Rica, the historic Italian food processing group,
with two establishments in Italy (San Polo di
Podenzano (PC) and Caivano (NA), and another
in Mora, Portugal. “Starting from the high qua-
lity and freshness of our raw materials, constantly guaranteed by our production methods,
as opposed to those of our competitors,” states president Maurizio Gardini, “the strategy of
Conserve Italia is centered on reinforcing its
leadership on the Italian market while further
developing it’s position on all European markets, though the strengthening and consolidation of commercial relations with the biggest
names in food distribution, research aiming at
the constant innovation of our product, and
implementation of new technology throughout
the production process”.
Coop Adriatica, The Largest Italian Distribution Chain
The Coop Adriatica, with over 868,000 members, 9,000 employees and total earnings
that will reach 1.8 billion euro by the end of
2005, is made up of a network of 13
Ipercoop hypermarkets and 120 supermarkets distributed in the regions of EmiliaRomagna (with its headquarters in Bologna),
Veneto, Marche and Abruzzo. “The Coop”,
explains president Pierluigi Stefanini, “is both
the largest Italian distribution chain and a
huge consumer organization: our mission
statement is to offer the most convenient and
safe products and services to our members,
favor consumer awareness, better the working environment in which our cooperative
operates, recognize the hard work and dedication of our employees, and implement the
development and innovation of our enterprise.” Since 2001 the Coop Adriatica has been
making public its economic, social and environmental results in the “Sustainability Scale”
(Bilancio della sostenibilità) studies, which are
based on the highest standards of social
responsibility in business.
As far as its social policies are concerned, the
“Ausilio for shopping and culture” program (a
program run by Coop volunteers offering free
delivery of groceries and books to the old and
the disabled) reached 1,305 users in 2004
with the help of 724 volunteers. Beyond this,
over 41,500 students took part in consumer
awareness activities. In order to reduce its
environmental impact, the Coop has continued with projects in the reduction of energy
consumption, packing materials, air pollution
and noise pollution at its sales points. By the
end of 2005 the “Ugly but Good” (Brutti ma
buoni) program, which uses the proceeds
from food sales for social projects, will be
extended to 11 sales points.
The Coop Adriatica Group
There are other realities that make up the Coop
Adriatica Group alongside the actual Coop Adriatica
supermarket chain: the company IGD (Immobiliare
Grande Distribuzione), which has been quoted in the
Milan Stock Exchange since February 2005 and
active real estate manager, valued at 550 million
euro; Robintur, with around 100 travel agencies and
200,000 travelers a year, is one of Italy’s principal
tourism operators; and Pharmacoop, a company
created together with Coop Estense, Coop Nordest
and Coop Lombardia, that bought out six communal
pharmacies in Padova in September 2005. The
Coop Adriatica is also an action holder of Holmo, a
financing company in the world of cooperatives
which, through Finsoe, is the majority action holder
of Unipol Insurance, also quoted in Piazza Affari.
25
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Pagina 26
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Logistics
CAAB, Bologna’s Expanding
Agroindustrial Center
Bologna’s Agroindustrial Center covers an area of
583,000 m2, with around 140,000 m2 reserved for different factories, 304,500 m2 of parking lots and roads and
138,000 m2 of green space. At the heart of the establishment is the Fruit and Vegetable Market, with yearly earnings of 400 million euro, a movement of 350,000,000
kg of fruit and vegetable products, 34 commercial operators in sales, and the largest consortium of producers in
the province with about 290 members, 100 small farmers, 2,000 clients (of which 400 wholesale buyers who
account for 80% of total sales and distribute these goods
throughout the Italian regions).
This market is the third largest in Italy as regards the
amount of merchandise it circulates, and the second largest as regards the number of clients involved in territorial
redistribution of the products on a national level — about
3,000 people and 80,000 vehicles are involved in these
activities each year.
Besides the traditional wholesale market network, in the
past few years a more modern logistical function has been
developed based on big buyers who, using what’as known
as the “picking” system, are able to organize the supplying
of their own networks.
Bologna’s market represents a logistic platform able to
satisfy the needs of many different types of buyers by furnishing not only products but also services in terms of
selection and quality control, thus guaranteeing both good
hygiene and health. But CAAB is much more than just this:
of the millions of square meters making up its surface
area only 60% has been used for the creation of the
Agroindustrial Center, while the remaining areas have
been developed with other significant projects, starting
from the construction of the new Agrarian Department
building (roughly 30,000 m2), the Retail Park (a commercial theme park used for selling furniture, clothing, do-ityourself supplies, etc.), which occupies about 40,000 m2
– both already fully functioning — along with a Business
Park to be constructed shortly, which will hold 35,000 m2
of office blocks. Currently there are various other proposals regarding the building possibilities on the remaining
100,000 m2 of this space known as the “annexed areas.”
26
Bologna is the perfect place for logistic activities with high added value. There are numerous advantages in location that the territory offers for business in this sector: its strategic geographic position with respect to national highway and railway systems, and its
central location in the midst of rich markets; an excellent infrastructure which is currently being amplified and potentialized, the presence of the Interporto – one of the main freight villages on national and European levels – and of other large dimension distribution platforms, the
availability of ample areas with high accessibility for new constructions, the local presence of companies able to furnish systems and machinery for movement, warehouse facilities, packaging
equipment, RFID and optical reading tools, as well as other tools and instruments useful for logistic activities, and the presence of numerous merchandise transport and logistics companies, specialized in commodity economics. Some of the main global logistics providers have already added
Bologna to their European platform network (TNT Logistics, Kühne&Nagel, Schenker, Geodis,
Saima Avandero-ABX, DHL, Gefco, Artoni, Bartolini). Other multinational industrial groups can be
added to this list, such as Ford and Indesit Company, not to mention Prologis, an important real
estate deveper, specialized in logistics plaforms, which has invested in this area.
B
Centergross, The Fashion Trading Center
Centergross, Bologna’s Fashion Trading
Center, was established in 1971. It counts
approximately 650 fully independent companies employing 5,500 workers and distributing products of top commercial quality.
The complex covers an area of 1,000,000
square metres, with 400,000 square metres
of covered storage surface, effectively arranged around a two-storey, 820-meter-long
central building. The warehouses provide a
broad and assorted range of goods while the
central building is a service area including
banks, insurance companies, post-office,
restaurant and other services.
About 80% of Center companies operate in
the fashion industry, creating a fundamental
showcase for all operators in this field- a
fashion trade-fair open 365 days a year.
Today, 10% of the companies in the
Centergross export over 50% of distributed
products. The business volume of ready-towear garments accounts for an annual turnover of around 3 billion euro, not counting
the revenues generated by the sorrounding
economic cluster. On foreign markets, the
Centergross has adopted the new world
community dimension and developed its
activities at an international level. The result
is an increased presence of buyers from
eastern Europe, Asia, the U.S.A., Latin
America and the Middle East, while a growing number of foreign economic operators
prefer the Centergross as a point of access
into the Italian market.
The development plan which the
Centergross intends to implement over the
next three years can be summarized as follows: Internationalization of the system;
Alliance with the Bologna Intercontinental
Airport, Trade-Fairs and the Region;
Possibility of alliances with leading international trade-fairs; Creation of a Consortium
to represent the Center; Planning advertising
campaigns at national and international
levels; Acquisition of surrounding land areas
by companies to double the size of the
Center.
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Pagina 27
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Interporto, The Freight Village
The company was created in 1971 in a joint
effort made by the City of Bologna, the
Province of Bologna, Bologna’s Chamber of
Commerce and other partners on the basis
of the outcome of a feasibility study aimed
at creating a logistical platform in the
Bolognese area. Its yearly earnings currently
amount to 8 million euro and its investment
quota is 216 million.
Bologna’s Interporto is a complex of structures
and services dedicated to merchandise
exchange and different means of transport. It
is managed by the mixed private-public enterprise, Interporto Bologna SpA, which designs
and creates all the buildings, complementary
implants for the Interporto itself; offers consulting activities concerning the creation of intermodal terminals, urban area distribution solutions, and carries out studies and research
dealing with the decongestion of heavy traffic
in urban areas, the development of synergistic
projects aimed at the integration of all
methods of transport (locomotive/automotive/sea) and the development of an integration
system connecting the Interporto with maritime ports. In addition it carries out studies relative to optimizing the efficiency of intermodal
activities; implementing computerized solu-
tions; along with other consulting activities for
the Public Sector and transportation associations. In addition it promotes the development
of marketing activities, and it is currently studying the possibility of developing transEuropean corridors.
Bologna’s Interporto covers a surface area of
around 227 hectares and has a development
potential of up to 427 hectares. “Bologna’s
Interporto currently occupies a surface area
of about 220 hectares, but we are planning
an expansion which will occupy a total surface area of over 400 hectares— explains
president Alessandro Ricci — the projects
are aimed at developing new traffic relations
with Europe, and more specifically with the
developing Eastern European countries. We
are examining the feasibility of creating new
logistical platforms in territories strategic to
traffic relations, developing and implementing computerized systems that will make
merchandise transport more safe and efficient, to devise solutions in favor of intermodal transport”. The amount of railway transport in 2004 equaled about 2,000,000
tons, but with the infrastructure currently
available it has a potential of reaching
3,500,000 tons.
Interporto Figures
Intermodal Structures
147,000 m2 container terminal (access to 5 tracks)
130,000 m2 intermodal terminal (access to 10 tracks)
General Warehouses
150,900 m2 (51.5 m2 total surface area)
Warehouses with Tailboard
386,400 m2 (140,100 m2 total surface area) with
48,400 m2 currently being constructed
(22,040 m2 total surface area)
Warehouses Rail/Auto Import-Export 66,800 m2 (25,400 m2 total surface area)
Parking Area
16,000 m2 lighted and fenced in an over approx.
400,000 m2 space for loading and unloading cargo.
Characteristics
Location
Bologna’s Interporto is located in a prime position for land travel between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. It is
about 15 km from the city of Bologna, where the main railway lines and highways meet.
The Interporto is in the middle of two key highway corridors:
Corridor 1 (Berlin-Palermo) and the Adriatic Corridor, and it is
also connected the Corridor 5 (Lisbon-Kiev).
Links
Five major railway lines and four highway systems connected
to the regular roadways efficiently link Bologna up to the rest
of Europe.
Bologna’s Interporto is directly linked to the national railway
system through the Bologna Venice railway line, a line able to
sustain a high amount of traffic.
Bologna’s Interporto is also working to create new railway
links:
• Bologna Interporto—Ravenna
• Bologna Interporto—Leghorn (Livorno)
• Bologna Interporto—Eastern Europe
• Bologna Interporto—Puglia
• Bologna Interporto—Trieste-Sezana
The highway exit “Bologna Interporto” on highway A13 links
the Interporto directly to the Italian highway network.
Technology/Safety
Bologna’s Interporto is supplied with a telematic infrastructure with the following characteristics: 7km of fiber optics, 9
servers, 100 on line PCs, 10/100Mbit speed, Ethernet 8023
net.
Internationalization
Bologna’s Interporto actively participates in euro platforms,
the European association of logistical platforms, which puts
62 of these structures in contact with each other throughout
Europe. It is also a partner in various European projects with
a principle aim of developing railway and intermodal transport.
CARGO TRAFFIC
Tons
Road Transport
Railway Transport
1999
1,910,000
1,493,615
2000
2001
2,120,000 2,150,000
1,380,273 1,683,000
2002
2,200,000
1,706,000
2003
2,250,000
1,777,000
2004
2,400,000
2,000,000
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Pagina 28
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
ProLogis Wagers on Bologna
roLogis (NYSE: PLD) is a leading
provider of distribution facilities
and services with 311 million
square feet (29 million square
meters) in 2,043 distribution facilities
owned, managed and under development
in 75 markets in North America, Europe and
Asia. ProLogis continues to expand the
industry's first and largest global network of
distribution facilities with the objective of
building shareholder value. The company
expects to achieve this through the
ProLogis Operating System® and its commitment to be 'The Global Distribution
Solution' for its customers, providing
exceptional facilities and services to meet
their expansion and reconfiguration needs.
As far as the Italian market is concerned,
Prologis started in 1999 to develop 82,000
sqm of the ProLogis Park Piacenza (EmiliaRomagna) and continued through
Lombardy, Venetie and Piedmont. In
Bologna ProLogis arrived in 2004 with the
delivery of a 49,000 sqm warehouse for
Indesit Company (formerly Merloni
Elettrodomestici) inside the Interporto. “This
project is the result of international studies
applied to the Italian reality, carried out by a
group of international professionals in
development and investment, together with
Italian professionals in the same field”, says
Carlo Walder, Market Officer of ProLogis
Italy (in the picture).
What inspired ProLogis to invest in the
Province of Bologna?
Thanks to its strategic geographical location, the availability of fine areas, its industrial dynamism and its elevated economic
capabilities, the Province of Bologna is an
area of primary importance in the move-
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28
ment of goods from the North to the South
of Italy, and thus it’s in a privileged logistical position. The meeting of the A1, A13
and A14 (all principal highways in Italy),
together with the close proximity of the port
in Ravenna and the thorough rail coverage
in this area, make the Province of Bologna
a “must” for the transport and goods storage sectors.
And in the future?
ProLogis has always strongly believed in
the key role that the Province of Bologna
plays as a strategic location for its real
estate investments. After handing over
49,000 sqm of warehouses to the Indesit
Company, we have just acquired 37 acres
(150,000 sqm) of land in Castel San Pietro,
15 km southeast of Bologna, for the development of ProLogis Park Bologna, which
will ultimately include three distribution
facilities totalling 72,000 sqm. The site has
direct frontage on motorway A14 at 500 m
from the tollgate “Castel San Pietro”. The
park’s first facility will be 22,252 sqm, with
construction to begin in the second quarter
of 2005 and completion expected by the
end of the year. Total expected investment
in the park is estimated at approximately
35 million euro.
Bologna Airport
Main Gate to the City
Located four miles from the city’s center, the
“Guglielmo Marconi” International Airport is
the main portal to the city of Bologna and the
Emilia-Romagna region. With a passenger
traffic volume that topped 3,5 million in
2003 and almost 57,000 flights, this is one
of the leading italian airports. In 2005 the
volumne of passenger traffic is expected to
reach 4 million.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna Airport
Goes Intercontinental
ologna’s International Airport
“Guglielmo Marconi,” which became
intercontinental in 2004, is the tool
which will “allow our economy to
meet and interact with other economies and
cultures.” Gian Carlo Sangalli is the President of
Bologna’s Airport and believes that nowadays
“it offers a wide choice to Emilia-Romagna,
Veneto, Tuscany and Marche”.
How is Bologna Airport expanding and what
does the future hold for it?
Our figures and projections for Bologna Airport
come from a desire to grow along with the people who live in the city and the businesses that
are based in Bologna area. This is why we have
been making important investments in the last
few years: they make it possible to fly directly
from Bologna both to Asia and the Americas.
After the runway extension, which was finished
in July 2004, Bologna Airport is now well equipped for intercontinental flights. The direct flight
from Bologna to JFK operated by Eurofly will
take off again —after the first season— in May
2006.
What is the role of the newly expanded airport in Bologna’s economy?
Bologna Airport is playing a major role: it allows
B
our economy to meet and interact with other
economies and cultures. Movements and trade
exchange are the core of our ideas and of our
quality of life. This has always been our goal,
and we obviously have to be provided with the
best means and tools to meet our target, supplying the technology, security systems and
services necessary for travellers and airlines.
This is why we are getting on with our investment policies and commercial development
strategies in Bologna airport.
What is Bologna Airport offering today?
Bologna Airport has entered the intercontinental market, making it the third Italian airport for
its number of long haul destinations and the
third airport for number of passengers.
Currently there are eight intercontinental destinations on four different continents: Bangkok,
Havana, Cancun, New York, La Romana,
Zanzibar, Mombasa and Capo Verde. Our catchment area has grown from short range (21
Italian provinces, 10 million inhabitants) to long
range (41 Italian provinces, 18 million inhabitants). Thanks to the above connections,
Bologna airport is offering a wide choice to
Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Tuscany and Marche.
How does the airport link up and fit into the
local transportation systems?
The airport, the Interporto, the highways and
railway systems and our telecommunications
infrastructure are pieces of a puzzle: by themselves, they have a certain value; placed together, they create a unified picture, one that is
useful and easy to use. In Bologna, unlike many
other European cities, these pieces are in place
and they all work together. This creates a growing and highly specialized service industry
dedicated to logistics.
Traffic Data
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna 2004
Number of Events
Net exhibition space used
Exhibitors
Italian
non-Italian
Trade Visitors
Italian
non-Italian
28
1,114,466 m2
22,053
15,652
6,401
1,305,664
1,143,266
162,398
Bologna Expo Center,
Main Exhibition
EUROPOLIS www.europolis.it
Exhibition of technologies for a liveable city
QUADRUM SACA www.quadrumsaca.com
Mouldings, frames, graphics and technologies
SAIEDUE www.saiedue.it
International exhibitions on architecture, interior finishings,
building renewal and technologies
DOCET www.docet.bolognafiere.it
Ideas and materials for education and teaching
LINEAPELLE www.lineapelle-fair.it
SIMAC www.assomac.it
International exhibition of machines and technologies for
footwear and leathergoods industries
LAMIERA www.lamiera.net
Machines and equipment for the machining of sheet metal,
pipes, sections wire and metal structural work – dies – welding – heat treatments – surface treatment and finishing
EXPOSANITÀ www.senaf.it
International healthcare exhibition
CERSAIE www.cersaie.it
International exhibition of ceramics for the building industry
and bathroom furnishings
TANNING TECH www.assomac.it
International exhibition of machines and technologies
for tanning industry
COM-P.A. www.compa.it
European exhibition of public communication and services
to the citizen and business
EIMA & EIMA GARDEN www.eima.it
International exhibition of agricultural and gardening machinery manufacturers
MOTOR SHOW www.motorshow.it
International car and motorcycle exhibition
The Strategic Asset for the City’s Future
Michele Porcelli, the new managing director of
the Bologna Expo Center, considers the expo
grounds a strategic asset for the city’s future
and places his wagers on China, where he has
just concluded an investment in the majority of
shares of the main expo center in the field of
health and wellness.
How much can the presence of an Expo
center like that of Bologna have an influence on overcome the challenges posed by
globalization?
Having an important asset like the Expo
Center of Bologna represents a crucial aspect
which will enhance the value of the entire
region. We are living in a society that has to
rely more and more on its service industries,
due to outsourcing and the highly specialized
nature of its own industrial activity. The service industry is closely tied to art and culture:
the Expo Center is aiming at moving in this
direction, which will create noteworthy opportunities. When thinking of our Expo Center, it’s
important to keep in mind that it gives life to
linked activities which generate one and a half
billion euro a year. These figures help to
understand how this area is a development
engine. The Expo Center and the territory
together can work to create a new urban
Renaissance.
What kinds of new investments do you have
in store?
In 2004 we invested 75 million euro just to
amplify and modernize the exhibition area.
Other investments will be added on in 2005, a
year in which we have already spent 23 million
euro to buy enough shares to control a company organizing leading exhibition is sectors
such as cosmetics, well-being and natural
products. Through this project, BolognaFiere,
will become a company with clear business
breakdown: area management, direct events
manager, and, for a fourth of its income, a
company providing services which raise quality standards and cater to the needs of the
customer in the best possible way.
And on an international level?
By the end of this year we will control the
majority of shares of the most important
Chinese expo in the area of health and wellbeing. We already have a leading role internationally in the building industry, the leather
industry, fine arts, health, the automotive industry and information technology, and we’re
currently working to expand into other sectors
such as food production. Infrastructure and
service, mobility and links, hospitality and territorial vitality will all help us through the growth
of their competitiveness.
Top Shows in Bo
The number of expos run by the Bologna Trade Fair
Company has reached eleven. The recent acquisition of the Sana and Cosmoprof expos represents
an important step forward for this Bolognese enterprise’s position on the national and international
scenes. Beyond these last two expos, the other
main expos run by this enterprise are: Arte fiera
(an exhibit dedicated to Modern and Contemporary
Art, along with up-and-coming galleries, publishers,
book stores and institutions); Research to
30
Business (an exhibit dedicated to high mechanical
technology, biotechnology, energy and environment, new materials and nano technology);
Bologna Children’s Book Fair (the world's leading event for children's publishing copyright professionals); and Saie (international exhibition of
industrialized building).
Sana, an international exhibit of natural products
and foods, health and environment, is the largest
and most complete expo in the world dealing with
natural products. Cosmoprof is the international
exhibition dedicated to cosmetics. The Bolognese
firm SoGeCos, which has been organizing
Bologna’s Cosmoprof since 1996, is also the operational and strategic guide for Cosmoprof Asia and
Cosmoprof Cosmetics, which are held every year in
Hong Kong and Sao Paolo respectively. In 2003 and
2005 two other international events were added to
the docket: Cosmoprof North America in Las Vegas
and Cosmoprof Expobeauty in Moscow.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Multimedia & Digital Economy
hanks to the culture, creativity and innovative ability that has always been present on its
territory, Bologna has become a small center of attraction for companies active in the
creation of multimedia events and initiatives tied to digital economy in the past few years.
The frequent ties between these companies, University and research centers such as
Cineca can’t help but stimulate a further development and attraction of analogous new enterprises. Around 71% of multimedia companies in the province are situated in Bologna. They are new
activities (less than 3 years old), busy in the development of new software, creation of new web
solutions (sites, e-commerce, e-procurement), multimedia graphics and editing, and related services (consulting, assistance, ISP, security and training). Palinsesto Italia, a national competition for
innovative multimedia and multiplatform editorial ideas aimed at young artists, has been created
in Bologna. It is promoted by local institutions, from the Bologna Cineteca (The Film Library) to the
Expo Center, to other local realities dedicated to promoting the growth of this type of activity.
T
NCH, Software for Automatic Banking
From the two towers to the global market,
through new, highly sophisticated systems of
payment. That of the NCH — Network
Computer House S.p.A. – is a new “vision” in
full expansion. This leader in software for
automatic banking and electronic payment
systems was founded in Bologna in 1985 by
Paolo Ottani, with the goal of creating optimal solutions in automatic banking and
“payment system” activities.
From the offices in Strada Maggiore, in the
heart of Bologna, NCH (a leader in ATM, POS,
Credit Card, RNI and SWIFT network software) is looking at the future from an international prospective. “The most important change
has been the new acquisitions of NCH,”
explains president Paolo Ottani. At the end of
last year, DS Data Systems became a part of
this group, allowing for a diversification and
expansion of NCH’s market, by taking advantage of the company’s offers and solutions,
as well as its innovative technological competencies in strategic areas such as
Business Intelligence, EAI (Enterprise
Application Integration) and Mobile
Computing.
This purchase has also brought the advantage of being able to exploit opportunities on
the foreign market, thanks to the direct presence of branches in England, France, Spain,
Germany and Russia. Such opportunities
allow for a growth in markets offering high
potential: banks, financial services, fashion
and luxury items.
The newest entries in the NCH company are
the Spanish enterprise RT and the TAS
group. The last was purchased—after a total
shares offering—with the intent of forming
an automatic banking center. Beyond this, in
the past few months the NCH group has
been creating new structures in the Far East:
one in India (in Calcutta, West Bengal) and
another in Shanghai, China. RT (80 employees) has worked in the area of credit card an
POS services for the past ten years, specializing in automatic banking systems and stadium management—it has been the official
supplier for Real Madrid of the technology
necessary for personalized tickets and electronic season passes allowing access to the
“Santiago Bernabeu” stadium.
TAS, on the other hand, boasts a sophisticated and innovative computerized banking
system active in 10 Swiss banks, which
allows for the monitoring of a client’s possibilities and qualities. “These are two highly
strategic acquisitions for the NCH group,”
stresses Ottani, “thanks to new products
which allow us to expand on an international
scale. In Italy we will be distributing the RT
product for computerized management of
stadium entrance fees, and for international
payments concerning the remittances of
immigrants through credit cards and cell
phones. At the same time, the sophisticated
Swiss product is destined for the world market, staring with India.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Cineca,
The Biggest Italian
Calculation Center
The Telecomunication Network
of Emilia-Romagna
he largest broad band telecommunications network among public administrations offices in Italy belongs to
Emilia-Romagna. It’s called Lepida,
and by 2006 it will reach every inch of the
regional territory.
The region has invested 60 million euro in this
project, since the beginning of the construction
of this ‘digital via Emilia’ in 2003, which by the
end of this year will reach 50% of the public
administration offices in the region.
Translated into numbers, this means that 43
thousand state employees will be able to work
around a huge digital desk with access to an
immense data base and at the same time
every citizen will potentially have access to a
wide variety of services without having to wait
in the long lines of counter service. In Bologna,
for example, it’s already possible to pay real
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estate tax online, while in Reggio Emilia a project in virtual medical consultation is being
piloted, which allows hospitals to transmit
audio and video tracks along with data from
one hospital to another. Soon it will also be
possible for people to pay their taxes online
and browse through multimedia libraries from
their own homes.
And while the wires are being lain for Lepida,
the regions use of the web is growing by giant
leaps: the municipalities which use online services are now 94%, whereas just under a year
ago the percentage was only 74%. 45% of
surfers use the web regularly on a daily basis.
Web access in schools, which all have at least
one connection station, is in line with the
European average.
When the work is finished, there will be 52
thousand kilometers of fiber optic lines owned
by the Region and 150 thousand owned by
service agencies that work in territorial development. The network will link 340 municipalities in Emilia-Romagna, the 9 provinces and
the 18 mountain-dwelling communities. 85%
of the population, residing in 209 different
municipal areas will be linked with fiber optic
lines, while the inhabitants of the Apennine
areas will be served by Xdsl satellite links.
The Cineca (Interuniversity Automatic
Calculation Consortium of North-Eastern
Italy) is the biggest Italian calculation center
and one of the most important in the world.
It is made up of 25 universities, and in over
thirty years of activity it has become the
meeting point for high technology between
academic and research institutions, as well
as the industrial world and public administration.
With more than 250 workers, it offers support to research carried out by the scientific
community, thanks to the maximum levels of
technology available and highly advanced
hardware resources. Its specialized personnel aids its researchers in the use of its
technological infrastructure, both in academic and in industrial areas. It represents Italy
in European Union projects, participating in
numerous initiatives tied to the promotion,
development and diffusion of the most
advanced computer technology
6-06-2007
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
A Foundation for Marconi,
the Father of Telecomunication
he Guglielmo Marconi Foundation of
Villa Griffone, the seventeenth century
residence of the Marconi family, situated in the Bolognese hillside, is the
place where Marconi made his first experiments with the cable less telegraph in 1895.
The foundation was established in 1938 with
the aims of promoting and encouraging research and studies about radio communications,
and protecting Marconi’s memoirs.
In order to fulfill its goals the Foundation is
involved in a variety of intense activities which
can be divided into three main areas: museum
activities and historic research, programs in
advanced specialization and programs in
advanced research. The Marconi Museum,
dedicated to the birth and development of telecommunications, offers an original combination of historical apparatuses, hyper textual
pieces, film footage and interactive exhibits
through which visitors can follow the fundamental moments in the life and the education
of the inventor, with a particular focus on the
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period running from 1895 to 1901. The
Foundation dedicates particular attention to
explaining scientific concepts, both inside its
structure through its didactic laboratory on
electromagnetism and telecommunications,
specifically designed for schools, and
through promotion of or participation in exhibits in Italy and abroad with its website
(www.fgm.it). Particularly interesting are the
recent studies on the early education of
Marconi, carried out in part due to the collaboration of the Accademia dei Lincei; as well
as those dealing with Marconi’s coverage as
a personality in the press of the time, carried
out in collaboration with Bologna’s local
newspaper, Il Resto del Carlino. Among the
most important research subjects of the Villa
Griffone research group are fiber optics,
GSM and UMTS. Today, besides the new
generation wireless communication network,
the main fields researched are digital television and the environmental impact of electomagnetic waves.
Guglielmo Marconi,
The Man of Transatlantic
Transmissions
Fascinated by physics from the time he was
a little boy, inventor first of wireless telegraphs and later the radio, Guglielmo
Marconi, intuitive and brilliant but never
motivated by formulas and text book studying, never graduated from college, settling
instead for a Nobel Prize. Bolognese by birth
but citizen of the world, he worked in Italy,
England and the United States: in 1895 he
carried out his first experiments on the roof
of the Villa Griffone in Bologna, in 1901 he
transmitted the first wireless signal across
the Atlantic, in 1929, thanks to his discoveries the SOS signals sent by the Titanic
saved hundreds of shipwrecked passengers,
in 1930 from his ship-lab Elettra anchored in
Genoa he pressed a button turning on all the
lights in the city of Sydney, thousands of
miles away, initiating the World Fair.
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6-06-2007
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Achtoons Cartoons,
Not so Loony Business Leanings
Television cartoons for communication campaigns. They’re successfully created, on an
international level, by Achtoons of Bologna. A
new artistic cooperative founded by two
artist-entrepreneurs, Giovanna Bo and Anna
Lucia Pisanelli.
Giovanna, the Achtoons project is really an
avant-garde national product. How was it
created? What are its goals?
Achtoons was born in 1999 and originally
went on the market as a service organization
for cartoon production houses. The first few
years were dedicated to collaboration projects for television series (Coccobill, Corto
Maltese, Winx Club) and feature films (Totò
Sapore, Aida degli Alberi). Then the creation
of our own internal projects that went on to
receive international recognition pushed us
towards the world of advertising and production: today we develop television projects and
communication campaigns using animation
as our main tool.
What do you expect from the future?
We strongly believe in animation as a communication tool and we are currently studying
new communication channels that could
transmit these products. We like to think of
Achtoons as a breeding ground for ideas and
an animated communications agency.
Innovation, research and development.
What do they mean to a company born in
Bologna and raised to the tune of animated
34
cinema and cine-television production?
For us innovation, research and development
are all the same thing. Innovation means
giving life to new ideas using new tools to do
so; research and development are made up
by the studies that allow us to respond to the
demands of the market and the creativity to
know how to do this in the best way possible,
using the most effective tools and techniques. Technological convergence makes it
possible to benefit from a cartoon on different
levels, which allows you to use the same language for different forms of media and reach
a highly varied range of targets with a simple
and entertaining message. Fantasy needs
technology in order to come to life in the best
form possible, with the most moderate price;
but technology alone lacking valid content is,
of course, just an empty container.
The Movie World in Bologna
The two new movie theaters of the Cinema
Lumière (one with 140 seats, the other with
170); and the University’s workshops for
Music and Spectacle, that are composed of
a theater (150 moveable seats which allow
for the elimination of the incline in order to
favor a centralized design), a space dedicated to cinema and audio-visual activities (a
television recording studio, a directors box,
a digital mixer, an editing and post-production room), an Auditorium (over 210 seats)
and a space made of glass and steel, where
one can find the offices of the Soffitta
Center. Among the noteworthy events
tied to cinema in Bologna are: Il
Cinema Ritrovato, (“Rediscovered
Cinema Festival”) eight days dedicated to pure cinematographic passion
and its wonderful variety. From the
eloquence of silent films to the
Cinemascope spectacle, moving
through the charm of films to discover, today, in newly restored forms;
The Future Film Festival, an event
dedicated to animation and special
effects, experiments with new forms
of media and new digital technology.
This is the first and most important
Italian festival dedicated to the production of images created with new
computer technology.
6-06-2007
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Pagina 35
DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Cineteca
The Film Library of Bologna
he site of the Former Tobacco
Manufacturer now hosts the Film
Library of Bologna, and the old
Mulino Tamburini paper mill is now
the seat of the University’s Communication
Sciences department.
In the area at the end of via Lame, the old
slaughter house, dating back to the end of
the 19th century one can find the newest
spaces belonging to the Film Library of
Bologna: the library (with over 170 study places over an area of 2800 m2, 60 places
reserved for those consulting preserved
materials, 24 places for film viewing and 8
spaces where one can use the internet; the
library conserves 20,000 volumes and
200,000 posters and playbills); the graphic
and photographic archives (with over 1 million photographs); the two new movie theaters of the Cinema Lumière; and the
University’s workshops for Music and
Spectacle, that are composed of a theater, a
space dedicated to cinema and audio-visual
activities (a television recording studio, a
directors box, a digital mixer, an editing and
post-production room), an Auditorium (over
210 seats) and a space made of glass and
steel, where one can find the offices of the
Soffitta Center.
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Two Towers,
Countless Publishers
he Bolognese publishing houses
don’t only live off of narrative. Next
to historic names like Zanichelli
(founded in 1859), which first
published Giosuè Carducci and Giovanni
Pascoli, and is known the world over for its
bilingual and monolingual dictionaries,
small publishers specialized in antique
works and other particular fields, but especially in university books, art magazines and
comic books continue to flourish under the
two towers.
The most prestigious and well-known on an
international level is the publishing house Il
Mulino, created in 1954 to contribute to
the development and modernization of the
Italian culture through the social sciences.
Atesa publishers, on the other hand, specializes in new editions of antique and rare
texts and offers particularly valuable and
interesting works, as does Cappelli publishers in the fields of Art and History.
The Pendragon publishing house, founded
in 1993, has the most rooted tradition in
narrative and presents hundreds of titles
marked by their originality and quality. If
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Perseo Libri is known internationally as
one of the authorities in the field of science
fiction and fantasy, then Gallo&Calzati is
widely known for proposing narrative publications and the works of up-and-coming
authors.
On the university front the king of publishers is Clueb, editor of not only the department guides for the Alma Mater, but also
non-fiction and narrative texts, even though
many other local publishers have been able
to establish their position on the market,
such as Monduzzi (in the medical-scientific field); Calderini-Edagricole (in the
judicial, economic, artistic, but most of all
the topographic, zootechny, and agronomic
fields); Alberto Perdisa (in technicalscientific series, environmental essays, guidebooks, cinema and communications);
and Giraldi (with scientific publications, but
also narrative works and poetry). In contrast, publishers like Alessandro, Black
Velvet, Dynamic Italia, Kappa Edizioni
and Puntozero specialize in comics, while
others like Giannino Stoppani are dedicated to children’s literature.
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6-06-2007
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Transfer of Technological
Knowledge
he Emilia-Romagna’s network of
laboratories and centers is “a challenge designed to make our regional system highly competitive on an
international level in terms of knowledge
and innovation”. Duccio Campagnoli (in the
picture) is the Regional Councilor of Industry
and Productive Activity.
What type of investment has there been on
a regional level in order to promote a network of laboratories like this one and what
are its final goals?
In the past few years, the Emilia-Romagna
Region has concentrated its efforts on creating a new network of centers focused on
applied research activity aiming at the full
realization of industrial potential and the
transfer of technological knowledge. It’s a
challenge designed to make our regional
system highly competitive on an international level in terms of knowledge and innovation. Our goal is to promote a new regional
productive system that will lead to the
development of new industry and newly
competitive aspects within already existing
companies. A new productive system that
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focuses on the development of knowledge,
human resources, and the ability to respond
quickly to the demand for innovation, and to
anticipate this demand. The value of this
network is that finally the universities are
being given an active role in our economic
framework, because they will throw knowledge acquired through research into circulation, thus developing what’s been called abroad the “third function” of the universities, that is the transfer of technological
knowledge. The universities present in the
Emilia-Romagna region will have the
opportunity to contribute to the competitiveness of the regional system. This network
will be a tool for sharing methods, strategies, services, and for developing collaboration and strategic programs. So, the value of
the network will be in its multiplication of
the region’s innovative impact.
What are the areas of research? The next
goals?
The areas of research are related to the following topics: first of all, advanced mechanics, which represents the most consistent
type of project tied to the industrial aspect
The Network of Innovation Research
CENTRACONI Center for the Transfer of Industrial Knowledge; CERMET CALL Center for Innovation in the Application
of Light Alloys; CIO Center for Organizational Innovation; CISA Center for Innovation in Environmental Sustainability;
CITER Center for Innovation in Clothing Fabrics; CNA INNOVAZIONE Management and organizational innovation in
artisan workshops and SME; CROSS Innovation and Technology Transfer for Collaboration and Business Networks;
ICOS Center for Innovation in the Building Industry; INDICI Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer for
Construction and System Installation Clusters; INNOVAMI Innovation for Business Management MARCONI WIRELESS Center for Wireless Innovation; PIMINET IPL – SME On-line for Excellence in Work and Production; T3LAB
Technology Transfer Center in Bologna.
Complete List of Laboratories
ASCLAB Staminal cells for Tissue Repair: Product and Protocol Preparation for Research Labs; CECERBENCH
Development Laboratory for Functional Tile Surfaces; GEA Advanced Development Center for the LEPIDA Telematic
Network; ERG Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory in the Energy Sector; GeBBA-Lab Virtual Laboratory
destributed for the application of Bioinformatics to Genomics and Medical Biotechnology; LARCO Research Laboratory
for Safe, Sustainable and Efficient Construction; LARER Laboratory for the Automation of the Emilia-Romagna Region;
MATMEC Laboratory for Mechanical Planning Tools; MECTRON Mechathronics Laboratory of Emilia-Romagna;
MIST.E-R Laboratory of Qualifying Technological Development in Emilia-Romagna; NANOFABERLaboratory for
Nanofabrication in Emilia-Romagna; STARTER Laboratory for Rehabilitation Technology.
36
of the region which is the most competitive
and the most geared towards innovation.
Then there are the programs that deal with
strategic industrial themes for the Region,
like agriculture and food programs, or construction, but also life science and information technology, as well as technology designed for industrial application, which has
the goal of respecting the environment and
saving energy. Finally, organizational innovation, fundamental to small and medium
enterprises interested in expansion. The
goal is to heighten the Region’s knowledge
and circulate this knowledge throughout its
productive system, to favor spin offs and
collaboration with industry.
Has this network been designed as a tool for
promoting competitiveness?
Absolutely. It’s the new tool for promoting a
new, competitive regional industry, to build
and consolidate innovative groups with a
high intensity level of research and knowledge. The regional productive system is
already highly competitive, rich with highly
specialized and innovative industries, world
leaders in many specialty items. These
businesses should be supported in the realization of their full potential and encouraged to adopt an even stronger commitment
to research and innovation.
6-06-2007
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna, City of Knowledge:
University and Research
ologna hosts Europe’s oldest University, the Alma Mater Studiorum, founded in 1088. It
was the first ex-ample in Europe of students and teachers forming an organization dedicated to the study of specific cultur-al interests outside of the context of the Catholic
Church. However, the importance of the University of Bologna lies not only in its ancient
tradition but also in the quality of that tradition and the prestige gained through the centuries.
Its rich historic patrimony can be visited at the museums located in the Palazzo Poggi building and
in the majestic University Library, which is one of the largest in Europe, containing one million precious volumes including rare editions, manuscripts, Greek and Latin papyruses, paintings and
prints.
B
The Alma Mater Today
Today the University has 104,000 students
(with 17,600 incoming Freshmen and 17,480
graduating Seniors for the 2004-05 academic
year) and is one of the most important and
prestigious academic institutions in Europe for
excellence in teaching, research and student
services. The University has 23 different faculties and 72 departments, including 132
Undergraduate programs, 95 Specialized
Degree programs, 90 Master’s Degree programs, 65 Specialization Schools (including
Humanities Studies and Almaweb, the
Graduate School of Information Technology),
along with 115 Ph.D. programs. The University
of Bologna has four main branches: Ravenna,
Forlì, Cesena and Rimini. This University’s
important international role was recognized in
1999 when 29 European Ministers of
Continuing Education signed the Declaration of
Bologna, which defines the basis for coordination in continuing education among the various
EU countries, in order to promote high quality
levels able to compete on the international
market.
Other Academic Activities
The Dickinson College of the University of
Pennsylvania has been in Bologna for over 40
years, hosting American students on exchange
programs with the Alma Mater Studiorum. The
Collegio di Spagna, or “College of Spain”,
founded in 1367, is another of the oldest institutions in continuing education in Europe,
where Spanish students pursuing graduate
work at the University of Bologna are hosted.
ENEA, a Center
with 600 Researchers
The research centers that comprise ENEA
(the Italian National Agency for New
Technologies, Energy and the Environment,
the leading government agency for research in Italy) are involved in technological
research and development. Three ENEA
centers are located in the greater Bologna
area: the Brasimone Center in Camugnano,
the “E. Clementel” Centre in Bologna, and
the Research Center for New Materials in
Faenza. These leading-edge laboratories
employ 600 researchers that represent
18% of the total ENEA researchers in the
country. Some special areas of research
include innovative
nuclear systems, non destructive diagnostic methodology, models and instruments
for environmental planning, natural risk
prevention and mitigation effects, water
resource management, protection from
ionizing radiation, manufacturing systems
innovation, calculus, design and construction of models, computer science, and support activities for the National Program of
Research in Antarctica.
The National Research Council
The CNR (National Research Council) is the Italian government agency charged with undertaking, promoting, spreading, transferring, and
creating added value to research activities in major areas, developing
knowledge and applications to aid Italy’s growth in the scientific,
technological, business and social fields. One of CNR’s leading centers
is located in Bologna which is the seat of four CNR institutes and seven
CNR laboratories. Human and social sciences, basic sciences, earth
and environmental sciences, technology and engineering are among
the areas of specialization of the researchers in Bologna.
The city is also the seat of an institute for the study of nanotechnology, an institute for atmospheric and climatic science, an institute
for electronics, information engineering and telecommunications,
and an institute for the study of organ transplants and immunocytology.
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6-06-2007
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Dean of Bologna University:
“Offering the most valuable
resources for the SME”
ier Ugo Calzolari is the Dean of
Alma Mater Studiorum and believes in agreements with industrial
associations in order to collaborate
in the sector of technology transfer.
What are the challenges facing the leaders of the oldest University in the world
as it moves into the 21st century?
The most important issue is the involvement of private companies in the economy
of knowledge. The aim of the University is to
cooperate with businesses in order to conquer worldwide technological challenges.
There is a lot of discussion concerning
innovation and technological transfer:
what is the Università di Bologna doing in
this regard?
Thanks to an agreement with the Chamber
of Commerce, the University is offering its
most valuable resources —knowledge and
brains— to meet the demands of small and
medium-sized enterprises, which are typical of this area. We are directly involved in
various technological transfer and innovation projects with the Emilia-Romagna
region, including education and e-learning.
We have also entered into agreements with
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industrial institutions and trade organizations in order to collaborate in the field of
technology transfer. Furthermore, the
University supports Alma Cube, an incubator
for new businesses and for the development
of academic spin-off using a fresh supply of
researchers and recent graduates.
What is the Più Project?
The Più project is unique in Italy. It provides
a flexible, useful tool for smaller businesses
to facilitate their projects. We offer services
such as a university researcher, help in
streamlining the patent application process,
and specific training provided in high-ly
professional manner.
What are the main projects currently in
progress?
One of our many projects is Hi-Mech, a collaborative effort between the University,
several research centers, and some of the
leading companies in the Bologna mechanical industry. I would like to point out also
that Arces, a center for excellence located
in our city, has been working for many years
with multinational electronics companies
and that important nanotechnology research has been carried out in Bologna.
How does the University strengthen its
competitiveness?
An important factor is probably the increasing need for funds to sustain competition
among universities at an international level.
We must also mention the indispensable
need to widen collaboration with the private sector, with an emphasis on the local
companies and local economic strengths.
The First Chinese Academy in Italy
Bologna is home to the first Chinese
Academy in Italy. The structure, reserved for
students from this country, was opened in
September. The building was formerly a part
of the traditional meat market/butchery
complex in Bologna and is now property of
the City, managed by the Ceur Foundation,
which has managed the majority of student
housing complexes and other university
structures in Bologna since 1990. The
Chinese Academy Association, a center
dedicated to collaboration with China in
matters such as research, education, culture and industrial development, has also
been inaugurated, and all major
38
regional institutions are participants. “There
are 70 Chinese students studying here this
year,” states International Relations Dean,
Roberto Grandi: “which can be added to the
50 students who have been studying here
since last year and are now continuing their
studies in Bologna and the university’s other
regional branches.” Economics has proved
the most popular subject matter to major in
among these Chinese students, as 65%
have chosen this field. Newly arriving students take their first steps under the two
towers with their tutor, Hu Guiping, who
has been a resident of Italy for twenty
years. After this first phase of general
orientation, the idea behind the program is
to work towards an integration between
these Chinese students, the other 4,000
foreign students attending the University
and Italian students through integration
programs thought up and managed by the
University’s International Relations
Department. In this way, these young students who are destined to earn a university degree and complete their academic
formation in Bologna, can become familiar
enough with the city to conduct an independent lifestyle, similar to that of other
students who travel from all over Italy to
attend this University.
6-06-2007
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Bologna Center of the
Johns Hopkins University
he Paul Nitze School of Advanced
International Studies (SAIS) is one
of Johns Hopkins’ nine graduate
schools and is considered one of
the preeminent U.S. schools for the study of
international relations. The Bologna Center
—the European campus of SAIS— was
founded in 1955 by Professor Grove Haines
using funds from the
Marshall Plan, with the
goal of keeping the two
sides of the Atlantic united
culturally as well. Fifty
years ago, only ten students were enrolled in the
very first semester and
there were four professors.
Since then, the Bologna
Center has seen 5,500
students study there
representing one-hundred
coun-tries. Marisa Lino (in the picture) is a
former American ambassador and director
of the Bologna Center.
Why did Johns Hopkins choose Bologna?
Bologna is a hidden jewel which isn’t as
well known as it should be: the quality of life
is one of the highest in Italy and it is located in the very heart of the Italian economy.
Besides meeting the academic needs
required for our program, Bologna is a college town, an authentic model of the Italian
lifestyle, and is perfect for our goals thanks
to its internationalism in both the economic
as well as tourist sectors. I also believe that
SAIS students share many common ambitions with the students of the University.
What liaisons and connections occur between the University and Johns Hopkins?
We participate in various programs of study
with the Università di Bologna, their law
school in particular. Together, we founded
the Center for Constitutional Studies and
Democratic Development (CCSDD) which
organizes training courses for lawyers and
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judges in the Balkans. About a year ago we
jointly organized an international conference for the writing of the Iraqi constitution. Of
course the major liaison between the two
universities are the professors teaching in
both schools.
What levels of success do Johns Hopkins
students achieve?
Graduates of SAIS occupy
high-level positions worldwide in institutions such as
the World Bank and the
International
Monetary
Fund, multinational corporations, banks and investment companies, the
media, non-governmental
organizations and, of course, diplomacy. A good percentage of our students,
approximately seven percent, become college professors.
What importance and value does the network created by Johns Hopkins alumni
have on an international scale? What sort
of relationship with Bologna remains after
they graduate?
Every SAIS student becomes an ambassador of Bologna and of Italy and it doesn’t
matter where they eventually transfer to or
end up working. Beyond the knowledge
acquired in SAIS, the students carry with
them a superb memory of Bologna. At
Johns Hopkins it’s a pleasure to know how
happy our students are to live in a city that
welcomes and sup ports them. The list of
alumni who have achieved international
distinction is quite long and they are too
numerous to mention. Among our Advisory
Council members, however, I must mention
Romano Prodi, former president of the
European Commission, and Reginald
Bartholomew, former American ambassador and vice president of Merrill Lynch
Europe.
The Fifty Year Anniversary
of the Bologna Center
Representatives from both American and Italian
institutions, along with 700 alumni, took part in
the fifty year anniversary of the founding of the
Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University,
celebrated in May 2005. This University specializing in international relations, which is one of the
most famous in the world, owes its location in
Bologna to an agreement made a half-century
ago between the former Dean of Students at the
University of Bologna, Felice Battaglia, and professor Grove Haines. The American Secretary of
State Nicholas Burns, a graduate from the
American Johns Hopkins participated in the celebrations, as did the U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick and the Italian
Minister of Cultural Heritage, Rocco Buttiglione.
From 1955 until the present, 5,564 students
from 100 different countries have attended
Johns Hopkins in Bologna. Its American counterpart was founded in 1876 in Baltimore, thanks to
a donation of 7 million dollars by the Quaker
Johns Hopkins, railway builder. The University,
according to its founding father, was to compete
on an international level with the institution which
in those years gave instruction to the best political science researchers in the world: Humboldt
University in Berlin. The success enjoyed by the
School of Advanced International Studies in via
Belmeloro, after 50 years, demonstrates that
Johns Hopkins was right: looking to Europe was
a good way to start.
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6-06-2007
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna, A City
to Experience
owers, porticoes, churches and
museums. The medieval center of
Bologna, second largest in Europe,
fascinates its visitors, enveloping
them in a magical, warm, and authentic
atmos-phere. The city is unique, with its
unmistakable and ubiquitous red bricks and
tiled roofs and 26 miles of porticoes, which
protect visitors from sun and rain. The San
Luca porticoes, with 2 miles and 666 consecutive arches are the longest in the world.
They lead to the hilltop Sanctuary of
Madonna of San Luca.
The Two Towers of Bologna are maybe the
best-known symbols of the city, dating back
to 1109. The tallest, Asinelli Tower (297 feet
high, with an incredible slant of about 9.6
feet), and its companion, the Garisenda
Tower, are both named in Canto XXXI of
Dante’s Divine Comedy. Some of the rest —
originally Bologna had over 200 towers, erected by noble families in the Middle Ages—
can still be seen downtown.
Beautiful villages, green hills and woods,
Bologna is a great city to live in and, thanks
to its University, really alive “day and night”.
People enjoy its ancient Osterie (taverns), the
traditional Bolognese cousine as well as the
many ethnic restaurants. Plenty of different
places in town, along with a wide range of
musical entertainment and special events.
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PDO - Protected Designations of Origin:
• Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
• Potatoes of Bologna
PGI - Protected Geographical Indications:
• Green Asparagus of Altedo
• Chestnuts of Castel del Rio
• Mortadella (Bologna sausage) Bologna
• “White” Veil of the Central Apennines
• Onions of Medicina
• Tortellini of Bologna
Wines
The gamut of vines produced in the Bolognese
territory is vast, thanks also to advanced
techniques in wine production. It has reached
high quality standards that render these wines
adapt to various types of culinary combinations. There are numerous initiatives aimed at
exploiting and protecting the local wines,
among which those of the Regional Wine
Cellar Institution of Emilia-Romagna. Beyond
this, following the initiative of some wine producers of the Bolognese Hills, the consortium
“Colli Bolognesi” has been created, open to
local wine producers matching the highest
quality standard. The local wines are:
Pignoletto (local species); Chardonnay; Pinot
Bianco; Sauvignon; Riesling italico; Bianco Colli
Bolognesi; Cabernet Sauvignon; Barbera;
Merlot.
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Bologna Gourmet
Food and Wine
Bologna city of knowledge as well as city of
flavours. The city is well known far its gastranomic specialties and cousine: from fresh
pasta such as tagliatelle (in a tomato meat
sauce so called "ragù") to stuffed pasta such
as tortellini (cooked in meat broth) tortelloni
and lasagne. Famous are also the meats for
the bollito alla bolognese, the numerous desserts such as torta di riso and certosino, all
accompanied by the local wines. The city is
the heart of a region that offers some world
wide famous typical products, such as mortadella, prosciutto and Parmesan cheese
(Parmigiano Reggiano).
Bologna has managed to "marry" traditional
food and an enjoy-able lifestyle, in a authentic convivial atmosphere you will find in the
whole area. The warmth of its osterie and
restaurants and the food shop-windows have
earned Bologna the "Grassa" (the "Fat" one)
along with "La Dotta" (The "Learned" one). At
the end of via Caprarie, the gothic Palazzo
della Mercanzia building, ancient mercantile
center and present-day seat of the Chamber
of Commerce, preserves the authentic recipes of the most famous Bolognese dishes,
placed here beginning in the 1970s by the
Italian Academy of Cuisine. One curious fact
is the official model for the tagliatelle, whose
width (once cooked) has been fixed at 8 mm.
Flavors and Values
Throughout Europe today, for a product to be
recognized with a Protected Geographical
indications (Igp) or for a product of Protected
Designations of Origin (Doc) certain criteria
have to be met, that is established production
norms that are implemented during the different production phases.
The Bolognese territory offers precious food
and wine products of excellent quality, tied to
a long and well-established tradition: products able to satisfy the most demanding
palates without ignoring the cultural heritage
of this land. The Province of Bologna, in order
to exploit cultural and culinary traditions, promote such products risking extinction and
favor the development of quality restoration
activities, has selected certain agricultural
and culinary products to be considered typical to this region for culinary farmhouse tourism. This list of typical products is aimed at
determining the raw materials to be used in
the restoration by the companies in the province of Bologna.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna,
The Example of “Glocalismo”
he culture based on hospitality and
a long-lived tradition in gourmet
food and wine with roots reaching
back to the Middle Ages. In the
eyes of Angelo Varni, professor of
Contemporary History at the Alma Mater
Studiorum, Bologna has always been an
example of what Italians have coined “glocalismo”: that is to say, able to combine
international characteristics and local tradition.
How much has the University influenced
the tradition of hospitality here?
The presence of the University has always
been of fundamental importance – already
in the 12th and 13th centuries it was
attracting thousands of students to the city
from all over Europe. The quality of these
relationships founded on the exchange of
knowledge, transmission of learning and
educational ties were such that the physiognomy of the city reached far beyond its
geographical dimensions. Bologna has
always been defined both “wise and fat,”
which proves the inseparableness of these
two aspects.
Bologna has been a crossroad with wideopen borders since the Middle Age, as far
as both culture and kitchen go: could this
be considered one of the original examples of globalization?
Likewise, the city’s visitors didn’t necessa-
T
rily come here only in search of the wellknown traditional dishes, of course based
on fresh pasta and cold cuts most of all
(mortadella in particular, which had already
been documented as far back as in Roman
times), but also because Bologna prided
itself on offering specialties from all over
the world. In this sense, one could say that
the city knew how to mix a broader international dimension with local detail, in an act
which people now like to call in Italian “glocalismo.”
The American author John Grisham set
his latest legal thriller “The Broker” in
Bologna. He describes it as a “delightful
old city,” adorable and majestic. Has
Bologna charm remained the same throughout the ages or has it changed?
I believe that the doubtless charm of
Bologna lies in what you’ve just said, and
that it can’t be limited only to its gastronomic aspect: the mixture of attention to
external experiences and strong roots in the
local territory. This gives the city a rather
intimate country life dimension, without its
provincial mentality, where human relations
are fully understood in all their richness but
never locked into stereotypes, where there’s a sensitivity for what’s new, which
Bologna always mixes in with the experiences accumulated under the regular, critic
advance of time under its porticoes.
Grisham:
The Broker, a Best Seller
Under the Two Towers
The city of Bologna and its most delightful
sites now have a unique and original tour
guide: the spy story "The
Broker" written by John
Grisham. In the book
Bologna is described as “a
nice city with almost no
crime” and “a real city, with
people living where they
work”. Bologna “is safe and
clean, timeless. Things
haven't changed much over
the centuries. The people
enjoy their history and they're proud of their accomplishments". But Bologna is
more than that. "The central floor of the cathedral (San Petronio) was
big enough for a hockey match with large
crowds on both sides”, the Asinelli and
Garisenda towers are “the Lauren and
Hardy of medieval architecture” and “to get
up to the Santuario di San Luca, without
getting wet or sunburned, the Bolognesi
decided to do what they'd always done best
- build a covered sidewalk". Finally, in the
author’s note, Grisham says: “I had the
great luxury of tossing a dart at a map of
the world to find a place to hide Mr.
Backman. Almost anywhere would work.
But I adore Italy and all things Italian, and I
have to confess that I was not blindfolded
when I threw the dart. My research (too
severe a word) led me to Bologna, a delightful old city that I immediately came to
adore”.
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Why not Stay in Bologna?
The Top Reasons to Book a Room Here
Great hospitality, quality services and
attention to detail.” For Angelo Di
Giansante (in the picture), president of
the Hotel Association of Bologna, the
city’s excellent offer in hotel accommodation
is the icing on its cake. The guest is always at
the center of attention under the two towers.
What are the aspects that distinguish the
hotel accommodation offer in Bologna?
Bologna’s hotels stand out for the exceptional
hospitality, the quality services and the attention to detail they offer. Choosing a hotel in
Bologna means not only receiving a high profile product, but also choosing to be lead by
instincts, subtleties and to share a lifestyle
based on the quality of details and close
attention to what the Bolognese territory has
to offer.
What does Bologna have to offer over the
surrounding cities?
Bologna is a warm and welcoming city, a
well-preserved historical center surrounded
by green hillsides, rich with art and culture
and with a university that has taught us the
art of hospitality. It boasts a cuisine famous in
all the world, it is an international crossroad
of communication and services, famous
throughout the world for its high quality of life
and lovely porticoes.
“
WHERE TO SLEEP
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All of these aspects in one city…
In addition to all its remarkable assets, now,
thanks to the brand new international airport
on its outskirts, it’s easy to travel anywhere in
the world from Bologna or to simply organize
day trips to Venice and Florence, Verona,
Parma, Modena, Ferrara, Ravenna, Imola and
Rimini.
Business touring and leisure touring. What
kinds of activities does Bologna offer to the
traveler?
Bologna offers vacations for lovers of golf and
cycling, a rich opera and symphony season in
one of the most beautiful and famous historic
theaters of Europe (constructed in the
Eighteenth Century by the Bibbiena brothers).
The city and its surroundings offer excursions
to natural parks and hot springs; wine cellars
and distilleries; balsamic vinegar producers
and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese factories;
Ferrari, Ducati and Lamborghini museums;
Roman and Estruscan ruins; antique neighborhoods, historical gardens and estates;
local art collections and finally the University
Museums which conserve an important artistic patrimony from the Etruscans to the
Romans, from the 12th to the 20th centuries,
with a particular focus on the 17th and 18th
centuries.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Gallery of Modern Art
in Bologna
he Gallery of Modern Art in Bologna –
GAM - is among the most important
Italian museums of contemporary art.
Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi (in the picture), the museum’s President, is working
towards making this museum one of the most
recognized in Europe by hosting prestigious
exhibits and educational initiatives for youth. In
2007, with the opening of its new venue, the
museum will become the largest in Italy dedicated to Contemporary Art.
The GAM’s proposals have been becoming
more and more international in the past
years. What prospects are there for the latest
projects?
In the next few years, the Gallery of Modern Art
will be developed in order to make Bologna an
important center for Contemporary art. Our
aim is to place the GAM among the top
Contemporary art museums in Europe in terms
of the quality of its offer, its scientific prestige
and notoriety. In order to obtain these results it
will be necessary to work on exposition
methods, following the international vision of
contemporaniety by organizing significant
exhibits in terms of our choice in artists and our
individualization of cultural themes. We will
need to exploit the potential of our permanent
collections by acquiring a sampling of all that
is contemporary through donations, loans and
purchases, while favoring collectionism and
privileging quality over quantity.
T
Bologna and Contemporary Art, a combination to exploit through educational initiatives
as well. The GAM has created an ad hoc
workshop…
We consider educational activities a fundamental element for the future of the museum.
The GAM has to serve as an informational and
educational center for Contemporary art. For
this reason it is necessary to create the highest
interactivity level possible with the public
through didactic workshops, conferences, guided tours, and direct presentations by artists.
All of this will be thoroughly coordinated with
the University and the various local art academies.
The GAM already effectively contributes to
Bologna’s museum offering and holds a
strong position in the European cultural
panorama…and the next step?
Thanks to the January 2007 opening of the
new Museum of Modern Art at the Manifattura
di Arti, the GAM will become the largest
museum dedicated to Contemporary Art in the
country. It will be a unique opportunity for the
city to collocate itself at the heart of the
Contemporary art phenomenon, which is gaining much interest in the public eye. We will
also be further promoting the works of
Morandi, our most important local artist for the
Twentieth Century, in the museum dedicated to
his works at the Palazzo d’Accursio.
Culture And Museums
Bologna is one of the liveliest Italian cities culturally speaking. It is the city with the highest
level of cultural and leisure time expenditures.
Museums, libraries, theaters, cinemas, exhibits
and festivals are at the heart of this city’s cultural life. Bologna’s cultural patrimony is made
up of over 50 museums (which become over
100 if one considers the entire province) 12
theaters, more than 60 cinemas and over 200
libraries. The city’s art collections are testament of the international importance of many
Bolognese artists: from Giorgio Morandi, perhaps the most important Italian painter of the
20th century, to the Carraccis, Donato Creti
and Nicolo dell’Arca.
Among the most significant of these museums
rank the Archeological Museum (Museo
Civico Archeologico) with its Egyptian, Etruscan
and Roman collections; the Medieval
Museum (Museo Medievale) exhibiting tomb
stones, fabrics, weapons, and illuminated
manuscripts; the National Picture Gallery
(Pinacoteca Nazionale); and the Gallery of
Modern Art (Galleria d’Arte Moderna). Inside
the Palazzo d’Accursio building, which houses
the Town Hall, one can find the Municipal Art
Collections (Collezioni Comunali d’Arte), collections of Medieval and Renaissance paintings, and the Morandi Museum (Museo
Morandi), 200 works which make up the largest collection in the world by this artist.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Manifattura
of the Fine Arts
Located in the heart of Bologna, the
Manifattura delle Arti (the reclaimed ‘industrial’ fine arts center) extends over about 10
hectares of land and is today one of the most
important cultural centers in Europe, both for
its size and for the presence of some of the
most prestigious Bolognese cultural activities. This area was the harbor of the city from
the Renaissance through the 19th century
and it was the mercantile and manufacturing
center of the Bolognese economy until the
end of the 17th century, together with its
proto-industrial hinterland. The site of the
Former Tobacco Manufacturer now hosts the
Film Library of Bologna, and the old Mulino
Tamburini paper mill is now the seat of the
University’s Communication Sciences department.
The Museum of Industrial
Patrimony
Bologna’s Museum of Industrial Patrimony
studies and evaluates the industrial and productive history of the city from 14 to 21
Century. In a complex and fascinating voyage that allows the visitor to discover the antique city of water and silk of the 15-18
Century, the exhibits display the modern
industrial area tied to the packaging and
motor industries, and the progression of
technical-productive transformations, which
during the 19 Century modified the city’s
design. The museum’s collection includes
machines, engines, models, and tools, complemented by archives, bibliographies and
photographs. The historic nucleus of the collection is made up of materials from the
Aldini-Valeriani Institution of the City of
Bologna, founded in the first half of the 19
Century to promote different forms of technical instruction. Beyond this, the museum has
enriched its collections through donations,
machinery bequests, tools, utensils, other
technical apparatuses, products aimed at
documenting the variety of productive areas,
books and documents referring to the productive areas of Bologna and its territory.
Among the noteworthy exhibits is a functional half-scale model of a Bolognese-style
silk mill.
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Bologna Mondo,
Culture Moving Under The Two Towers
Founded at the end of 2004, Bologna Mondo is a new cultural association
made up of academics, entrepreneurs and journalists. The association, officially recognized by the Emilia-Romagna region, aims to motivate civil work
and participation, open to citizens of all political leanings and religions. The
association specifically works to create initiatives locally that lead to a greater understanding of the different realities and worlds of European and nonEuropean cultures, at the same time promoting a greater knowledge of
Bologna and Emilia-Romagna in the world. Some of the first activities the
association has in store are a new edition of the History of Bologna; the
publication of a magazine called BM —Bologna Mondo— an international
initiative hosting journalists from all over the world; and the organization of
cultural initiatives dedicated to learning about specific countries and
cultures (the year 2005 will be dedicated to China).
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Bologna’s
Historic Theaters
The Arena del Sole
The Teatro Duse
During the French occupation of Bologna
(1796-1816), the businessman Pietro Bonini
gives life to an initiative within the occupied
antique convent of St. Mary Magdalene—an
Arena which was to host theatrical productions from the afternoon until sunset—the
Arena del Sole (“Arena of the Sun”). In 1916
the theater invests in removable roofing that
allows it to continue its programming into the
winter, offering cinematic events as well. The
Arena is then equipped with a modular wooden platform (the first of its kind in Italy),
which, thanks to a hydraulic pump mechanism, can raise the level of the stalls to that
of the stage, in this way extending the stage
by up to 25 meters. The theater’s large hall
holds an audience of 952 and its small hall
from 220 to 300.
Up until the middle of the seventh century, a
theater hall used for end of the year and carnival performances by the students attending
the Jesuit Collegio dei Nobili could be found
in the Palazzo del Giglio building in via
Cartoleria. The modern day name of this theater, dedicated to the actress Eleonora Duse,
dates back to 1898, when the theater changed hands.
The most recent restoration work on this
theater can be traced back to 1904, with a
project by Lorenzo Colliva and to 1940-42
when the theater took on its present form with
its spacious galleries that substituted the original balconies, in a design by the engineer
Paolo Graziani. Famous theater companies,
singers and dancers continue to animate this
theater’s programs.
The Aldrovandi Mazzacorati
Villa Theater
This theater is truly a gem, located in the left
wing of the Aldrovandi Mazzacorati Villa, and it
is the only example of a private suburban theater in the Bologna area. This theater is an
expression of the lively cultural life to be had
during the age of the Enlightenment. Its inauguration took place in 1763 with Voltaire’s
1736 tragedy Alzira, translated into Italian by
Vicenzo Fontanelli, member of the D’Este court
in Modena. The theater is rectangular in structure with a double order of balconies that
swerve around in a U-shape. The refined style
of this theater is found in the four sumptuous
canephors and twenty tritons holding up the
balconies and their painted canvas parapets.
Flower wreaths, small branches or festoons
would be hung from these sculptures in the
event of special occasions or celebrations.
The Teatro Comunale, Bologna’s Premiere Opera House
In 1756 the Bolognese Senate, thanks as well
to the concrete dedication of Cardinal
Lambertini, commissioned the renowned
architect Antonio Galli Bibiena to build a new
theater. Eleven years earlier, the private
Palazzo Malvezzi theater had been destroyed
by a fire, and the public theater “della Sala”
was in need of restoration. The new project
was carried out in what was then via San
Donato (now via Zamboni) on the site of the
area once occupied by the magnificent
Bentivoglio building, destroyed during a popular uprising in 1507. Bibiena’s original design,
which is still visible in the foyer of the current
theater, was modified for economic reasons
after criticism coming from the Academia
Clementina (in particular from A. Torreggiani
and C.F. Dotti). Numerous transitional elaborations were then necessary before the theater
could take on its actual form.
Inauguration took place in 1763 with the
world premiere of the Metastasio opera “The
Triumph of Clelia” with music by Gluck and set
design by Bibiena himself. A complete restoration of the dressing rooms, the stage and
the theater was carried out between 1818
and 1820 by the local architect Giuseppe
Tubertini. In the second half of the same century the ceiling of the hall was repainted by
Luigi Busi and Luigi Samoggia, while
Coriolano Monti took care of reworking the
rear façade.
The main façade was only completed in
1935-36 by Umberto Ricci, just a few days
after a fire had destroyed the stage and curtain by N. Angiolini. The theater is an autonomous establishment and has, beyond all of
the normal features, a historic archive, a library, a practice room for choirs and another for
orchestra.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
On the Apennines
Snow
Situated on the crests of the Bolognese
Apennines, at the halfway point between
Bologna and Florence, the Corno alle Scale
ski station is classified as a “pre-park area”
tied into the Parco naturale Regionale
(Regional Natural Park). This district ranks
quite high for Apennine standards, fanning
out over the North-Western peaks of the
mountains: 36 Km of ski slopes, 80% of
which are furnished with artificial snow
machinery, which surround the area’s periphery. This ski station is located at a height
of between 1,358 and 1,945 meters, and it’s
possible to ski here 150 days a year thanks
to the constant snow. These tracks have
hosts international ski competitions, and are
the training sight for Alberto Tomba, gold
Olympic medal winner. The station offers ski
instruction, equipment rental, and restaurants for enjoyable and relaxing moments. A
convenient shuttle service links the slopes to
the railway station of Porretta Terme, assuring daily visits from those living in towns in
the district of Corno alle Scale.
Corno alle Scale
The Regional Park of Corno all Scale is made
up of both landscapes typical to the
Apennines and those with more of an Alpine
feel, with high altitude prairies and the characteristic moorland. Covered in great part by
forests of beech and chestnut trees, the park
hosts many different protected botanical
species, like the Alpine aster and the “beareared” primrose. The park is also rich with
wildlife, from foxes to roe deer, moufflons
and marmots, along with birds such as the
owl, the buzzard, and at the highest peeks
even the golden eagle. From a naturalistic
point of view, the spectacular Dardagna and
Tanamalia cascades are without a doubt one
of the most evocative aspects of the park.
The examples of typical architectural styles
in these mountains and the historical testimony of the ancient inhabitants of this area
are also noteworthy and can be seen in the
Museo Etnografico di Poggiolforato
(Ethnographic Museum of Poggiolforato).
Parco regionale dei Gessi
Bolognesi e Calanchi
dell’Abbadessa
This park, situated right next to Bologna, is
very well-known for its over 200 caves, products of karsts phenomena in the area. The
46
largest of these, the Grotta della Spipola,
can also be seen by guided tour. It’s also
possible to take interesting day trips through
the woods and sunny gypseous outcrops of
the highlands of Miserazano, which give this
landscape a distinctly lunar characteristic,
from which one can enjoy the splendid
panoramas of the Spipola, the city of
Bologna, and the spectacular gullies of
Abbadessa.
Parco regionale dei Laghi
di Suviana e Brasimone
This is a vast Apennine territory covered by
dense forests of secular chestnut trees, characterized by the two lake formations of
Suviana and Brasimone, where one can
practice different aquatic sports. The almost
completely abandoned villages made of rock
spread throughout the park are extremely
evocative.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
The Golf Circuit
in the Province of Bologna
Bologna Golf Club
Monte San Pietro
Le Fonti Golf Club
Castel San Pietro Terme
One of the historic Italian golf courses, built in
1959, designed by Cotton & Harris, is located
12 km from Bologna, on a suggestive, hilly
landscape with beautiful views of the surrounding hillside and plains. The course, constantly updated, has repeatedly hosted The
Italian Amateur Championships and numerous professional competitions in the past
few years. The somber and elegant Club
House repeatedly ranked as one of the top
ten restaurants in the Italian golf club circuit.
The course, which measures 6,480 meters,
72 par, is located in the beautiful Torrente
Sillaro valley, characterized by particularly
mild weather conditions and salubrious air,
adjacent to the renowned thermal baths. The
newly designed course offers a wide range of
services and a restaurant which artistically
interprets the gastronomic vocations of the
territory.
Molino del Pero
Golf Club - Monzuno
A nine holes course, Founded in 1991, the
Molino del Pero Golf Club is located 25km
from Bologna and it’s a technical course.
Even though the fairways are wide, the green
areas are small and tricky, making the course extremely enjoyable even for experts.
Casalunga
Golf Club Castenaso
The Casalunga Golf Club is a course right
outside of Bologna’s city gates, less than ten
minutes away from the historical center. The
Casalunga Golf Club is a flat course with 9
holes, simple, beautiful to look at, and in the
middle of exceptional natural surroundings.
Hot Springs
A pathway of fire and powerful medicative waters, generated
by natural underground phenomena: It’s the pathway which
leads to the hot springs, a majestic route that winds through
the Emilian Apennines and finds its way to the Bolognese territory, where one can find various thermal localities with antique traditions and specialized health centers.
Porretta Terme is halfway between Bologna and Florence,
surrounded by evocative forests of beech trees, fir trees, chestnuts and pines, in the heart of the Tuscan-Emilian
Apennines. Its fame is owed to the extraordinary characteristics of its spring waters. Legend has it that an ailing ox, who
could no longer pull his plow, was set free by his master and
found his way to these waters. After the ox drunkfrom the
“Puzzola” font, its master found the animal surprisingly well
again, and thus its curative properties were discovered. Since
then the ox has been the symbol of Porretta’s hot springs.
These celebrated ancient springs are an important center of
natural well-being, used originally by the Etruscans and the
Romans, then by figures such as Machiavelli in the era of the
Mandragola, followed by noblemen, intellectuals, artists and
guests from all over Italy, who reached this center during the
Belle Époque to exploit the benevolent effects of these
springs, rich with sulfur, sodium chloride, bromide, and iodide.
In Castel San Pietro Terme, a town immersed in the green
countryside, there is an important serviceable thermal center.
Recognized by the Minister of Health as being in the “First
Superior Category”, it is endowed with three thermal baths,
equipped for balneotherapy and hydro massage treatments.
Here one can also do physiotherapy treatments, respiratory
rehabilitation, mud treatments, and enjoy thermal baths with
spring water containing sulfur, sodium chloride and iodide.
The locality of Monterenzio, 15 kilometers from Castel San
Pietro Terme and Imola, hosts the Villaggio della Salute Più, a
farm house complete with a beauty center, where one can
attend courses and conventions to better understand the
uses of herbs and natural remedies. This is also the first thermal complex designed to cater to children as well.
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Promobologna,
the Investor’s Partner in Town
romobologna, a territorial marketing
agency in the metropolitan area of
Bologna, is the expression of local
entities and an example of “system
creation.” Sponsored by Bologna’s Chamber
of Commerce, the Province of Bologna and
the City of Bologna, with the participation of
many other local communities and local
administration, Promobologna was created
to promote the local economy and attract
investments in its provincial territory.
Promobologna acts as a ‘one-stop-shop’
agency, a privileged point of reference and a
mediator between the public and private
sectors. In order to accomplish its mission,
Promobologna organizes and participates in
international conventions, workshops, and
educational tours; prepares field reports;
produces documentary and promotional
material; and assists potential investors
throughout the entire decisional process,
offering useful information and helping them
to settle in the area. All of the agency’s services are free of charge and confidential.
Promobologna describes itself as a technical
partner and an expression of local institutions, which works with them to help define
strategies and operations for economic
development, mainly on an international
level. “In order to do all of this it is necessa-
P
48
ry to share a common vision of the ‘Bologna
system’s’ future and act with concretely
aimed initiatives” –explains director
Giuseppina Gualtieri (in the picture).
“Promobologna, exploiting its own recent
establishment and the result of ample studies conducted in the field of feasibility, is a
network agency, a specialized entity which
works together with the other players in the
local system, and holds a strong commitment to all local institutions.”
“Bologna is an advanced area, both from an
economic stand point and because of the
high quality of life it offers, as is stated in all
recent studies. In order to maintain the present level of sustainable development we
have reached, the Bologna-system needs
constant innovative input, and not only in
enterprise. Promobologna’s responsibility
today is to aim at concrete actions which
involve local development policies, research
and innovational policies, and those concerning education and investment attraction.
We work to promote and potentialize the
most established productive activities in the
area (mechanics, electronics, food industry,
fashion), as well as those full of future potential such as logistics, welfare and multimedia.”
Promobologna works for a unified promotion
of the Bolognese productive sector throughout the world, through an awareness of the
need to expose the unique qualities and
opportunities this territory offers to foreign
investors, not always obvious at first glance.
“We are promoting important local resources,” states Gualtieri, “also on an international level, beginning with business, the
University, and the Expo center. We are working to support new territorial policies (ecologically equipped productive areas) and to
create specific networking projects together
with local institutions, economic representatives and the work force.
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DISCOVER BOLOGNA
Useful Links
Bologna Chamber of Commerce
Province of Bologna Administration
Bologna Municipality
Emilia-Romagna Region
PromoBologna
Bologna Turismo
Bologna Congressi
Spa Waters
www.bo.camcom.it
www.provincia.bologna.it
www.comune.bologna.it
www.regione.emilia-romagna.it
www.promobologna.it
www.bolognaturismo.info
www.bolognacongressi.it
www.termediporretta.it
www.termedicastelsanpietro.it
www.villaggiodellasalutepiu.it
Parks and Nature
www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/parchi/english
Bologna Apenine’s Promotion
www.bolognappennino.com
Golf
www.emiliaromagnagolf.it
Skiing
www.cornoallescale.net
Food&Wine
www.terredibologna.it
Invest in Emilia-Romagna
www.investinemiliaromagna.it
Ducati
www.ducati.com
Lamborghini
www.lamborghini.com
Motor Valley
www.motorvalley.it
Promotor
www.promotorinternational.it
Motor Show
www.motorshow.it
Imola Circuit
www.autodromoimola.com
Imola Municipality
www.comune.imola.bo.it
Ima
www.ima.it
G.D.
www.gidi.it
Marposs
www.marposs.com
Datalogic
www.datalogic.com
Granarolo
www.granarolo.it
Segafredo
www.segafredo.it
Coop Adriatica
www.coop.it
Conserve Italia
www.conserveitalia.it
Sacmi
www.sacmi.com
Carpigiani
www.carpigiani.it
Busi Impianti
www.busigroup.it
Bonfiglioli
www.bonfiglioli.com
Building Construction
www.nuovaquasco.it
Galotti
www.galottispa.it
Hera
www.gruppohera.it
Vigorso Center
www.inail.it
Ramazzini Foundation
www.ramazzini.it
Montecatone
www.montecatone.com
Alfa Wassermann
www.alfawassermann.it
Yoox
www.yoox.com
Mandarina Duck
www.mandarinaduck.com
Omas
www.omas.net
Les Copains
www.lescopains.it
Furla
www.furla.it
Piquadro
www.piquadro.com
Bruno Magli
www.brunomagli.it
La Perla
www.laperla.com
NCH
www.nch.it
Achtoons
www.achtoons.it
Cineca
www.cineca.it
Centergross
www.centergross.com
Caab
www.caab.it
Interporto - Freight village
www.bo.interporto.it
Prologis
www.prologis.com
Bologna Airport
www.bologna-airport.it
Bologna Expo Center
www.bolognafiere.it
SUAP
www.suap.provincia.bologna.it
Telecommunication Network
www.regionedigitale.net
Research Labs
www.aster.it
CNR
www.bo.cnr.it
Enea
www.enea.it
University of Bologna
www.unibo.it
Johns Hopkins University
www.jhubc.it
Marconi’s Foundation
www.fgm.it
Gallery of Modern Art
www.galleriadartemoderna.bo.it
Bologna Museums
www.iperbole.bologna.it/iperbole/bomusei/
Bologna Mondo
www.bolognamondo.it
Bologna Historic Theaters www.comune.bologna/bolognaturismo/teatri
Opera House, The Teatro Comunale
www.comunalebologna.it
Arena del Sole Theater
www.arenadelsole.it
Future Film Festival
www.futurefilmfestival.org
Film Library
www.cinetecadibologna.it
6-06-2007
17:56
Pagina IV

Discover Bologna

Transcription

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