The Emilia-Romagna Region successfully participated remotly in the European Week of Regions and Cities on October 13, 2025, which is taking place in Brussels, contributing to the critical debate on culture and regional development. The event, hosted at the Region’s Delegation to the EU (Rue Montoyer, 21), was titled "ENGAGE, EMPOWER, EVOLVE: Cultural strategies for regional growth."

The session's core focus was the 11:40 Round Table on "Creative talent attraction and retention in Emilia-Romagna – Driving the regional growth."

The discussion provided a platform to highlight the Region’s comprehensive strategy, anchored by Regional Law n. 2 of 2023 on the attraction, retention, and valorization of highly specialized talent. This landmark legislation is the first of its kind in Italy and establishes a coordinated framework of policies and services aimed at attracting skilled professionals, researchers, and students to the territory.

Emilia-Romagna’s expertise and commitment to this strategy were presented by two key representatives who joined the discussion online:

• Gabriele Marzano, Policy Manager for the Emilia-Romagna Region.
• Eleonora Sette, Senior Project Manager on talent attraction and retention at ART-ER (Attractiveness Research Territory, the Region's development agency).

Their joint intervention underscored how cultural vitality is intrinsically linked to talent attraction, detailing how the Region is operationalizing the new law by creating an integrated ecosystem of services—from welfare support for families to specialized training and career placement. By placing the attraction and retention of high-specialization talent at the centre of its agenda, Emilia-Romagna is actively working to enhance its competitiveness and ensure sustained regional growth, leveraging both its robust cultural sector and its pioneering legislative framework.