2. TO INSTITUTIONS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES

For the University of Ferrara, the interaction with the social and institutional external environment is particularly relevant. The University’s mission, in fact, considers social responsibility in relations with local stakeholders as one of the University’s main strategic axes for future development. The importance of local stakeholder is reflected also by their participation in the University’s goverrnance. In fact, the new Statute has provided for the inclusion of the “Supporters Committee” in the University governing bodies. The Supporters Committee was established in 2004 by means of an agreement signed by representatives of the Municipality of Ferrara, Province of Ferrara, Ferrara Savings Bank, Ferrara Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Craftsmanship, Cento Savings Bank, Ferrara Savings Banks Foundation and Cento Savings Bank Foundation.

In 2008, for the fourth year in a row, the Committee, despite the difficult financial situation that members were facing, financially supported the University’s research activities. This has confirmed the Committee’s connecting role between cultural, social and business institutions operating on the territory with important spill over effects on the research activities of the University.

The focus groups with local stakeholders

One of the most relevant goals of social reporting is to contribute to the development of long-lasting relations with the University’s main stakeholders, which have an influence on and are concerned by the University’s actions. For this reason, in May and June 2009 the University of Ferrara carried out a series of focus groups with the main stakeholders on the territory, The meetings involved the territories of Rovigo, Cento, Pieve di Cento, Faenza, Codigoro, Rovereto, Argenta and Bolzano, and mainly aimed at bringing out and discussing the stakeholders’ main expectations about the University role on the local territory.

The focus group in Rovigo

During the focus group carried out in Rovigo on the 14ht May 2009 at the seat of the Rovigo University Consortium (C.U.R. - Corsorzio Universitario Rovigo) the following issues were discussed:

• local stakeholder expressed satisfaction for the activities carried out by the University of Ferrara on the territory and for the results achieved, both in terms of training programs (number of students enrolled, their satisfaction about the courses, number of graduated students, etc.) and of research branches developed;
• very positively was judged the role of the “School for Constitutional Consciousness and Understanding” (“Scuola di formazione per una consapevole cultura costituzionale”) for the socio-cultural development of the territory;
• the issue of the reduction of off-centre University seats was discussed and local stakeholders stated their appreciation for the University of Ferrara policy of integration – and not decentralization – of off-centre seats on the territory;
• the existence of further growth potential for the University seat in Rovigo, to be developed through the diversification of training programs in different study areas and the transfer to Rovigo of some of the activities carried out at the central seat in Ferrara. In particular, local stakeholders stated their willingness to pursue a stronger specialization of the training programs toward European Union Law Studies;
• the presence of the University has become a relevant resource for the rather non-specialized economic tissue of Rovigo’s territory. For this reason, local stakeholders stated the need to better know and quantify, in economic terms, the University impact on the territory, in order to strengthen communication and make local institutions more aware of the its role importance for the local economy;
• the need to strengthen accountability of local stakeholders through the development of synergies deriving from shared social reporting (social reports, sustainability reports, etc.).

The focus groups in Cento and Pieve di Cento

The focus groups were carried out on the 14th May 2009 at the headquarters of the Ca.Ri.Cento Foundation.

As far as the meeting on Cento is concerned, the discussion involved the following themes:

• given the business high concentration on the territory, above all of manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises, relations with the University have developed in the direction  of research and development, innovation and technology transfer, as well as of joint research projects;
• the positive economic outcome does not limit itself to the shaping of professional skills for local business, but also to the modernization of local civil services as well as to the spreading of new technologies. Stakeholders found the figures on students’ internships in local firms as particularly positive, as they give firms skilled human resources and allow students to enrich their competences. Furthermore, the discussion brought out another interesting fact: after graduation, most Bachelor of Science students (3 years) enroll at a Master of Science Program (3 + 2 years).

• The meeting dealt with two issues for which the need to improve the study programs was underlined:

- companies would welcome the changing of the Bachelor of Science study program curriculum “Technology Transfer” into a single five-years Master Degree;

- the low number of students enrolling at the study courses in Engineering offered on the territory and the subsequent lack of qualified human resources for local companies requires the improvement of the orientation activities carried out by the University in local schools, above all in scientific and training colleges.

As for the focus group on Pieve di Cento, the meeting dealt with the following themes:

• the very positive figures on placement after graduation. Indeed, students find a job immediately after finishing their studies (within 6 months), above all in the Local Health Authorities (U.S.L) of Ferrara and Bologna. Very positive is the fact on internships too, as students find easy training opportunities in local hospitals;
• the Degree Course in Nursing has a positive socio-economic outcome on the city.

The relation with stakeholders in Faenza, Codigoro and Rovereto

The meetings with stakeholders in Faenza, Codigoro and Rovereto took place on the 13th of May 2009 in the University of Ferrara Chancellor Office.

As far as the meeting with Faenza’s stakeholders is concerned, the discussion focused on the socio-economic role that the University plays on the territory. The Degree Course in Physiotherapy, indeed, is a good example of how the University can contribute to the creation of a visible value-added at province and regional level. Students spend the first six months of their training in Ferrara to familiarize themselves with basic teachings like chemistry, physics, etc, and then move to Faenza for a “full immersion” in the core teachings.

Facts underline the strong attractiveness of the Degree Course in Faenza and that enrolled students are highly motivated. In particular:

- in the last few years, the number of enrolled students has grown steadily, with a relevant part being out-of-the-region students;

- because of selection to enter the Degree Course in Faenza and support to students all along their training, the number of students who have not passed their exams within the prescribed time is almost zero;

- thanks to the presence in the area of many spas (such as in Bagno di Romagna) and of the Local Health Authority in Ravenna, placement after completing studies is good.

With reference to the focus group on Codigoro, the small town in the Province of Ferrara hosts a Degree Course in Nursing showing an increasing number of enrolled students and a close to zero drop-out rate over the last years. Placement rates too are particularly positive as graduates easily find a job in the numerous retirement homes and hospitals, in particular those in the Po Delta Region and in the towns of Argenta and Copparo. Moreover, stakeholders stressed the important contribution of the University of Ferrara in the debate about a possible policy to fight against he aging of the population and demographic decline. In particular, two main strategies were considered:

• encouraging education in information technology, in order to create business opportunities and to modernize local civil services;
• given the presence in the area of several hospitals, the further development of university education in the medical field.

As for the focus group on Rovereto, stakeholders enthusiastically welcomed the facts and figures about the Degree Course in “Health Educator”, an important kind of professional officially recognized by the National Health System. Over the last years, the number of enrolled students has grown steadily, almost all of them being from the Trentino-Alto-Adige Region, particularly from the Autonomous Province of Trento (around 75%)

Facts about the number of students who have not passed their exams within the prescribed time and the drop-outs are very positive too, being them close to zero. In 2009, there will be the first graduates and for the first session the expected rate of graduates is 90%. As for placement, it has been estimated that graduates will find a job right after graduation and the remaining part within a few months. Finally, it was underlined that the creation of the Degree Course in Rovereto has been propelled by the local stakeholders’ strong willingness, as demonstrated by the round table established to better estimate the demand of such professionals in local medical facilities.

The University relations with the territories of Argenta and Bolzano

The meeting with Bolzano’s stakeholders took place on the 28th of May, while for Argenta the focus group was scheduled at the occasion of one of the meetings held on a monthly basis in Ferrara, as stated in the Agreement between the University and the Municipality of Argenta.

As for the Degree Course in Physiotherapy in Bolzano, the number of enrolled students has increased steadily over the last years, the students’ origin being predominantly regional. The number of students who have failed to passed their exams in the prescribed time and the number of drop-outs are both close to zero. The number of graduated students has remained steady, while placement rates show that students find a job within 2-3 months after graduation, both in the public and private medical sector, even abroad (Austria).

As for Argenta, the town in the Province of Ferrara was chosen by the University and local authorities to host the official e-learning centre. Three e-learning courses are currently hosted in Argenta: Communication Technology Expert, Cultural Tourism Tour Operator and Cultural Heritage Science. In the academic year 2007/08, the three courses witnessed a decreasing number of enrolled students with respect to the two previous academic years, whereas the number of drop-outs significantly decreased.

As for postgraduate education, in Argenta training programs are mainly designed for teachers and social workers, as well as for experts in the new communication technologies. In 2008, the training programs proposed were the following: Theory and Techniques for Teaching Material; Scientific Communication and Journalism, Younger people’s Rights Safeguard and Protection; Didactical and Technological Aspects in Learning Assessment, Teaching Theory and Techniques for differently able persons. The total number of enrolled students was 662.

The focus groups with local stakeholders are described in detail in paragraph 6.2 of the Social Report.

The University Centre for Valley Agriculture

The University of Ferrara Centre for Valley Agriculture aims at supporting the widely diffused and important agro-industrial activities on the territory, by means of know-how transfer, research and technology. The Centre, established in 2007 as part of the Scientific Park for Agro-Industrial Technologies (“Parco Scientifico per le Tecnologie Agro-Industriali – ParcAgri”) is the place where the University of Ferrara works in synergy with the experimental research activities carried out by the Navarra Foundation.

The main activities at the Centre deal with dissemination and coordination of agricultural and food research for the development of valley agriculture. In this perspective, in 2008 the Centre launched a fund-raising campaign to finance the AGRI-PORT Project (part II). In collaboration with the Province of Ferrara, the Centre submitted several research projects, in order to obtain funds at a regional, national and European level.

The Agriunife Centre is described in detail in paragraph 6.3 of the Social Report.

The Project for the “Hermitage Research Centre”

Since 2005, the University has taken part in the project promoted by the Province for the establishment, in collaboration with the Hermitage Museum in San Petersburg, of a scientific and cultural Centre named “Hermitage Italy” and based in Ferrara. The Project formally started in 2007 with a Protocol of Agreement signed by the Province of Ferrara, the Municipality of Ferrara, the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Hermitage Museum.

In 2008, the Foundation dedicated an exposition to Benvenuto Tisi da Garofalo, one of the leading figures of Ferrara’s painting in the sixteenth Century. Besides the Hermitage Museum – which owns a number of important works of the above mentioned artist – the exhibition has involved some of the most important among European museums, such as the London National Gallery, the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden, the Paris Louvre. The aim was the collection of a considerable and as complete as possible group of the artist’s works.

Thanks to the first scholarships, research, the Foundation’s main activity, has achieved important scientific results. These latter were then presented by Italian and Russian scholars at the occasion of two different conferences held in October 2008 and January 2009.

In the framework of the cooperation between the Hermitage Foundation and the University (in particular the Departments of History and Human Sciences), in October 2008 two round tables were organized in the Sala Agnelli of the Ariostea Library, with the title “Ascetic ideals and architectural inventions from Middle Age to Enlightenment”. The round tables were aimed at studying the concept of hermitage throughout history. Participants were both Italian and foreign scholars.

Finally, in 2008, the Hermitage Italy Foundation engaged in the review of the Hermitage Museum’s inventory of seventeenth Century works, in order to publish a catalogue on these works in 2009. Thanks to the support and experience of the University of Ferrara’s Department of History, the initiative also includes the study of art collecting history in Italy and Europe. After a fist seminar on art collecting in minor cities held in 2006, in November 2008 a conference has been dedicated to Art Colleting in the Este States and in the Legation of Ferrara.

The project fot the “Hermitage Research Centre” is described in detail in paragraph 9.2 of the Social Report.

The University interaction with the local medical system

A relevant field of interaction with local authorities in social terms is the one the University of Ferrara has established with the local medical system. The interaction concerns several activities: the University staff supplies medical help services and contributes to the coordination of medical activities in local hospitals; the medical research carried out at the University often leads to innovative treatments for some diseases; the University staff, besides doing a relevant part of its training in local medical facilities, collaborates with these latter in some teachings.

The University is firmly committed to achieving and maintaining high good health standards on the territory, and in this perspective it operates in strict synergy with the Sant’Anna Teaching Hospital (Azienda Ospedaliero - Universitaria “Sant’Anna” - AOU), an institution fully integrated within the University and operating both in medical help, diasognis and care and in medical research.

The integration with the AOU is part of the larger cooperation with the Regional Medical System (Sistema Sanitario Regionale - SSR) – as stated in the regional Law n. 29/2004 on the collaboration between University and SSR.

Tables below show figures on the University’ employees who carry out activities in agreement with the Medical System, in accordance with regional and national laws[1].

(* Technical and Administration Staff working in the medical assistance field)

The detailed description of the relations with the institutions and local medical facilities is to be found in paragraphs 6.4 and 10.3 of the Social Report.

The University’s Relational Capital – Growth and Innovation Attitude Indicators

The Relational Capital represents the University external intangible asset and refers to all relations with both actors involved in the research activities, in national and international projects, and companies and spin-offs. Through the relational capital, the results of the research activities as well as the know-how and technologies developed are transferred to the territory.

Tables below, by showing the number and type of actors as well as joint projects, report all relations between the University and its partners in research activities.

(** Non EU Agreements – for detailed information please look at Section VII).

The University’s Relational Capital is described in detail in paragraph 3.4 of the Social Report.

[1] L. n. 213/71; L. n.200/74; D.P.R. n. 761/79; D. Lgs n. 502/92; D. Lgs. n. 229/99;  D. Lgs. n. 517/99, L.R. n. 6/04, L.R. N. 29/04.