Bologna for Talent — Italy's first regional talent attraction law (Emilia-Romagna L.R. 2/2023)

On 21 February 2023, the Emilia-Romagna Region enacted Regional Law no. 2/2023 — the first Italian law at regional level specifically dedicated to attracting, retaining and valorising highly specialised talent. The law established a permanent Regional Committee of 50 representatives (local authorities, universities, arts and music institutes, vocational institutions, and business organisations) and an Observatory on Talents to monitor mobility patterns and coordinate community engagement.

Implementation is structured in two strands:
1. Municipal services (€1.87M, 2023-2025): 10 territorial contact points across nine provincial capitals, offering 60+ free English-language services covering housing, bureaucracy navigation, language courses, career matching and business creation support for highly specialised talents and their families.
2. University strand (€5.26M ESF+, 2023-2025): 11 interventions at Emilia-Romagna's universities and arts/music institutes (AFAM), including information services on employment opportunities, career days, study visits to companies, and career-matching actions.

Bologna for Talent is the metropolitan node of the programme in the Bologna province, covering 55 municipalities, jointly run by the Metropolitan City and Municipality of Bologna, the University of Bologna and the Almae Matris Alumni Association, with €176,000 in project funding (2023-2025). Talents from over 30 nations are registered in the network; 100+ stakeholders are engaged across the region.

The IT-ER (International Talents Emilia-Romagna) label managed by ART-ER — a regional development agency — brings together the services under a single regional brand accessible at https://internationaltalents.art-er.it/.

Source 1 (primary): https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/talenti/english
Source 2 (independent): https://internationaltalents.art-er.it/ (ART-ER, Attrattività Ricerca Territorio Emilia-Romagna — public-private regional development agency)

Read the full analysis: https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/talenti/english