The Unit performs activities aimed at exploring, driving and fostering the sustainable and fair transformation of urban ecosystems, meaning complex systems in which communities of people, buildings, networks and infrastructures, public spaces and green areas, natural resources, goods and services all interact. The Unit can rely on multidisciplinary skills and on the ability to detect the need for and deploy crosswise actions within ART-ER and to serve the shareholders.
The activities it engages in can be broken down into five topic macro-streams:
Housing: within the Regional Housing System Observatory - ORSA, housing is investigated through seminars, research and studies, in order to provide the local competent authorities and the sector players (Municipalities, ACER, trade unions, etc.) with data and indicators that can be useful to understand housing demand, whereby planning choices and urban policies on housing can be accurately steered.
Urban regeneration: the transformation action on the region’s territories requires constant upskilling by the authorities engaged in starting and managing urban regeneration processes. The Unit deploys capacity building actions and experimentation and dissemination of tools, models and collaborative practices, involving all local organizations, from local public authorities to the third sector, in accordance with an open innovation model.
Research and innovation for cities: the Unit oversees the research and innovation scopes associated with the cities of the future, including digitalization and decarbonization of the real estate heritage and of cities, urban economy, sustainable mobility, in accordance with the regional priorities laid down by the S3 Smart Specialisation Strategy. In order to do so, it deploys technological foresight actions, participates in strategic planning and assists the regional innovation players in their growth (Clust-ERs, research laboratories, Technopoles);
Construction supply chain: the analysis of the main economic, real estate and innovation dynamics in the construction sector and in the allied supply chains is an integral part of the observatory action that the Unit performs in order to monitor and foresee development scenarios for the regional productive sector;
Occupational health and safety: the Unit provides technical assistance to the Emilia-Romagna Region on occupational health and safety, first of all collecting and analyzing data on prevention, assistance and control at work places.
Furthermore, the Unit’s staff is directly involved in the coordination and implementation of the Tecnopolo Manifattura strategic project.
The activities are carried out in cooperation with the leading players in the construction and urban innovation sector, at a regional, national and EU level, and through participation in work groups, networks and associations, such as the Regional Urban Regeneration Board, ASviS, AUDIS and the NEB local chapter.
UNIT HEAD
Serena Maioli
