Open Laboratories: The Places of Innovation

Ten places opened to local communities in order to promote digital inclusion and citizen participation.

Stimulating and increasing the participation of citizens in the development of cities through the use of ICT technologies and promoting the cultural actors representative of the cultural identity of the cities: on these objectives is based the project for the creation of the “Rete di Laboratori aperti dell’Emilia-Romagna”, among the priority axes of the Por Fesr 2014-2020 – Attractive and participatory cities , promoted by the Emilia-Romagna Region, thanks to the European Fund for Regional Development.

The European Urban Agenda recognizes cities a central role as a territorial hub, providing for actions to qualify cultural heritage and to develop all the factors that favor the participation of citizens in the strategic choices of the city, with new technologies.

The nine main municipalities of the Region, plus Cesena, were involved, responsible for implementing sustainable urban development strategies that designed their own open laboratory focused on the vocation of the city.

The spaces dedicated to becoming Open Laboratories are equipped with advanced solutions in which forms of comparison, cooperation and collaboration are developed between companies, citizens, the third sector, universities and the world of research and public administration and, in general, of all the actors who have a significant role in the transformation of the information society in the urban environment.

With UE Factor – Stories of Cohesion we also tell these important experiences, including the focus on InLab of the Cloisters of San Pietro in Reggio Emilia to which we dedicated a video clip: https://youtu.be/IkrAIFTfI5s

The site dedicated to Open Laboratories: https://www.laboratoriaperti.it/