The Forum Metropolitano degli Spazi per l’Innovazione (Metropolitan Forum for Innovation Spaces) is an initiative launched by the Città Metropolitana di Bologna in 2021. It seeks to connect and promote coworking spaces, fab labs, incubators, accelerators, and technopoles operating across the metropolitan area. The initiative aims to foster the development of a collaborative, attractive and inclusive ecosystem for individuals and organisations engaged in innovation. There are over fifty innovation spaces in the Bologna area alone, all of which share the capacity to foster exchange, stimulate the creation of new enterprises, and support innovative working practices. The Forum encourages ongoing dialogue between these spaces and public institutions, creating opportunities for discussion, mutual influence, and collaborative development.
Support for the facilitation and strategic development of the Innovation Spaces ecosystem
The Project
Why?
Building and sustaining a collaborative network demands tools, methods, and skills that enable meaningful dialogue among individuals with differing backgrounds, goals, and ways of communicating. To support this, the Città Metropolitana di Bologna has engaged BAM! to design and implement a process of listening and co-planning shared actions, while also facilitating interaction and overseeing strategic communication both within the network and externally.
The project is structured around two main pillars. The first focuses on internal network activities, including a series of meetings designed to foster dialogue, promote co-design, and strengthen connections among members. The second centres on public events aimed at promotion, capacity building, and networking, offering visibility to Forum participants and engaging new stakeholders.
How?
BAM!’s contribution to the Forum Metropolitano degli Spazi per l’Innovazione is developed along several lines, with an integrated approach that combines facilitation, strategic communication and project support.
At the core of the initiative is a programme dedicated to network members: a series of meetings intended to spark dialogue, support co-planning, and reinforce connections between innovation spaces, institutions, and other key players within the local ecosystem.
At the same time, BAM! is working in partnership with the Metropolitan City to craft a shared narrative, managing both internal and external communications and supporting the promotion of activities through coordinated tools and materials. This includes the organisation of the public event “Spazio all’Innovazione: Scoprire, creare, connettere” (Space for Innovation: Discover, Create, Connect), taking place on 20 May 2025 in Piazza Lucio Dalla. As the project’s first open event, it offers a valuable opportunity for visibility and exchange between innovation spaces, start-ups, and institutional stakeholders.
The assignment also includes the development of tools for collecting and analysing data to assess the programme’s effectiveness. The entire project is grounded in a collaborative working approach, designed to generate tangible impact and ensure the long-term sustainability of the network.
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