The regional education system is spread throughout the territory, providing highly qualified human resources and talents. Universities and training centres are the key players enhancing high competences and skills related with the regional research and innovation ecosystem.

The region is home to six universities: Bologna, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Ferrara, Parma, along with the satellite campuses of Politecnico di Milano and Università Cattolica di Milano in Piacenza, and the Johns Hopkins University campus. The university system attracts more than 190,000 students, including over 10,000 doctoral and specialization students. These numbers attest to its vitality and its crucial role in training new generations of highly qualified researchers and professionals.

Moreover, the university system, with its professionalizing degrees, is closely linked to technical training. Through the two-year programs offered by the 7 ITS Foundations operating in the area, it's possible to obtain a higher technical diploma and consequently receive university credit recognition. This initiative aims to train highly specialized technicians in economic sectors where there's a significant shortage of specialized personnel.

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Higher Education System

The regional system of higher education includes, among its leading institutions, the Bologna Business School, which offers Masters and MBA programs, and the School of Advanced Studies in Food Safety. Muner, the consortium that unites universities and companies in the automotive sector, particularly relevant in Emilia-Romagna, is an example of excellence and collaboration between education and industry.

Bologna Business School (Master/Mba)

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Fooder (School of advanced studies in Food Safety)​

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Muner (Motor vehicle University of Emilia-Romagna)​

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Emilia-Romagna has developed a solid system of connection between education, training and the business world, with the aim of becoming a region at the forefront of knowledge and skills.

The regional training system guarantees the connection between the world of education, training, and businesses through the Network of ITS – Higher Technical Institutes, organized into 7 Foundations, offering 70 courses, and 163 accredited training centres.

The first strategic objective of the Pact for Work and Climate is to make Emilia-Romagna a region of knowledge and expertise by investing in education, instruction, training, research, and culture. Central to this design are high-level skills: strengthening and specializing them means promoting the attractiveness and retention of young people in the regional territory, supporting an acceleration of the green transition for growth capable of combining quality of work and respect for the environment, productivity and added value, fostering the digital transition for new employment and new opportunities, and accompanying the economic, productive, and services system in the system's ability to generate value.

Super - University School for Technical Professions Emilia-Romagna

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Association of Higher Education Technical Institutes Emilia-Romagna

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Attractiveness of Investments and Talents

Recognizing skills as a driving force for economic and social growth, the Region, first in Italy, adopted Regional Law 2/2023 “Attraction, retention and enhancement of highly specialised talents in Emilia-Romagna”. The law provides for a series of interventions, including reception services for talents and their families, placement support for students and researchers, new degree programs tailored to the needs of productive sectors, and mobility programs for workers abroad. Among the activated projects is the reconversion of the ten S3 spaces into Emilia-Romagna Talent Hubs, territorial terminals to enhance the skills necessary for the regional productive economic system outlined in the Smart specialisation strategy. The implementation of the law also includes a governance structure, the Regional Committee for Talent Attraction, which monitors and supports regional policies.

In May 2024, the Regional Council approved the Manifesto for the Attraction of Talents, which establishes the strategic priorities for the implementation of the law.

Previously, Regional Law 14/2014 “Promotion of investments in Emilia-Romagna” outlined interventions to increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of the regional economic system and achieve high levels of environmental and social sustainability for the development.

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Ultimo aggiornamento: 26-01-2026 16:09