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ART-ER is the Emilia-Romagna Consortium aimed at fostering the region’s sustainable growth by developing innovation and knowledge, attractiveness and internationalisation. Its shareholders are the regional government, universities, research centers, business support organizations, local bodies and other organizations and its offices are located in Emilia-Romagna, Brussels and San Francisco. ART-ER activities are focused on:

• Coordination and development of the regional ecosystem for innovation and knowledge, support to startups and boosting business;
• Sustainable territorial development, internationalisation and attractiveness of the community and promotion of investments in Emilia-Romagna;
• Promotion of the region’s productive systems and cities through projects on infrastructure, social innovation, skills development and environmental sustainability

ART-ER will contribute to the different activities of the ROCK project by involving in particular the following departments:

• the Start-Up Dept, active for 15 years in the promotion of business creation culture, which directly provides support services for knowledge-based, innovative and creative start-ups setup in Emilia-Romagna. Its main initiative is EmiliaRomagnaStartUp, aimed at boosting enterprise creation through a network of actors and initiatives in the region. Since 2012, ART-ER manages the programme Climate-KIC Startup Accelerator Italy, providing funding and support services for startups in the climate sector.
• the Building Dept, focused on 3 strategic lines of research and innovation: conservation and enhancement of the buildings, historical and artistic heritage, recovery, restoration and intelligent reuse; energy efficiency and sustainability energy-efficiency, resilient and sustainable buildings; security of buildings and civil infrastructures, reduction of their vulnerability and mitigation of environmental risks (seismic, hydraulic and hydrogeological).
• the Cultural and Creative Dept, which takes into consideration the following strategic lines: Fashion; CultTech - Technologies for digital culture; Advanced Design & Digital Craft Technologies; Multimodel - Multimedia and new business model Tourism and urban reactivation.
• the core activities of the Economic Development and Environment Dept focus on the support of regional programming and planning in order to promote the sustainable development of the Emilia-Romagna region. In particular, the Unit is providing permanent technical support for the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the regional plan for green public procurement. The Unit is also involved in the implementation of regional policies within innovation and sustainability, supporting and monitoring the regional green economy.