The University Foundation for the training of Public Administration (FUAP) financed a project for training and research, “Metropolitan cities at the beginning: hints of a change”, in agreement with the SPISA (Post-Graduate Studies on Public Administration) of the University of Bologna;

a preparatory workshop to training was held on the 17th of March 2015. It was attended by representatives of universities, of stakeholders and of nine metropolitan cities (Venice, Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bari and Catania); the aim was to define questions and content of the training course;

the training course will be held from the 26th of May during 5 days (five sessions of 6-7 hours each): May 26 Establishment and context; June 3 Organization and resources; June 9 Strategic planning; June 16 Urban planning; June 23 Democracy, information, participation). The notice provides 40 spaces free of charge for public administrators of metropolitan cities, who are committed to take part in some days, while an executive may attend the other sessions;

in a second phase an Observatory on the constitutive process of metropolitan cities will be set up with the network of universities belonging to Urban@it, possibly supplemented by other ones, maintaining contacts with each metropolitan city and monitoring the different constitutional processes together with local Urban Agendas in their relevant phases and peculiarities;

This working group will also face the issue of the reform of local government levels in the relationship with their territories with regard to non-metropolitan contexts.