The Challenges for the Next Decade: Notes for a Debate on the Development of the Emilia-Romagna Region

With regard to the exogenous changes and the endogenous impasses that Emilia-Romagna is now facing, this paper presents what appear to be the main issues in the present transformation era of one of the richest regions in Europe. In particular, we outline the dynamics of changes at regional level with regard to both the changes in the interrelationships among the major actors, and the emergence of new phenomena, such as the demographic trends. The main regional policy measures to foster local development are sketched by focusing on industrial policies, transport infrastructure plans and policy measures on learning processes, as they emerge in the changes undertaken at regional level in technical and vocational education.