Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the following:

• skills and expertise shown by candidates;
• disciplinary results and overall potential to contribute to the definition of the development proposal;
• understanding of the local context;
• motivation shown in the expression of interest;
• experience with similar projects (joint planning, urban regeneration, etc.).

The selection will be performed jointly by the proposing entities, partners and technical partners, supported by a panel of experts in local development, dismissed industrial sites development, investment policy and promotion, urban planning, startups and innovation. The panel will provide cross-cutting expertise in the working group and it includes:

Andrea Di Benedetto
Entrepreneur, founder and CEO of 3logic MK, a company focused on augmented reality and also founder of Tunia and Spazio Dati. He is vice-president of CNA at a national level and president of the Navacchio Technological District, where he is responsible for the relationships with the companies occupying the site for the structuring of innovative services. Andrea is also a member of the Boards of Directors of the University of Siena and a founding partner of Wikitalia.

Annibale D’Elia
Researcher and specialist in training and orientation, Mr. D’Elia is the Director of the Office of Youth Affairs and Legality of the Puglia Region, where he works on web strategies for new public policies in southern Italy. After a career as a musician, he attended the University of Bari and the University of Florence, and he was the co-founder of a company that was named the best young company in Italy in 2000. Annibale is a member of the Ministry of Economic Development’s task force on innovative start-ups (established in 2012) and also of the steering committee of the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research. He is also the coordinator of Bollenti Spiriti, the program for young people promoted by the Region of Puglia.

Carolina Pacchi
Researcher at the Polytechnic University of Milan, Ms/ Pacchi focuses on local problems and urban policies planning, activism and participation and urban social innovation. Carolina took part in research projects that focus on the local, urban and territorial level of innovation paths in Italy and Europe. Ms. Pacchi is a founding member of Avanzi and regularly attends national and international meetings on the above-mentioned topics.

Ernesto Somma
Full professor of Industrial Economics at the University of Bari Aldo Moro and coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Programme Board in Marketing. Mr. Somma is an expert in policies for local development, innovation and support to start-ups Mr Somma is Senior Advisor in charge of the special projects of the National Agency for Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development (Invitalia SpA). He also held similar positions at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and in some public companies.

Fabrizio Barca
Statistician and economist, specialist in territorial development policies, public administrator. Mr. Barca was the Italian Minister for Territorial Cohesion during Mario Monti’s government. Today, Mr. Barca is the Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Finances.

Gianluca Salvatori
Managing Director of Fondazione Euricse, a research institute located in Trento that promotes innovation in cooperative, social and non-profit enterprises for the production of goods and services. Gianluca was assessor of programming, research and innovation for the Autonomous Province of Trento. Mr. Salvatori is also the founder, President and Managing Director of Progetto Manifattura Domani in Rovereto, a company promoted by the provincial administration to regenerate an abandoned industrial site and turn it into a green economy innovation cluster.

Palma Librato
Architect, PhD in architectural planning for Mediterranean countries, Ms. Librato is the President of GAB, an architecture think tank, and the scientific coordinator of the Pugliarch International Festival of Architecture.

The results will be announced by the promoters, who will arrange with the selected participants the logistics of their stay in Rieti.