BOLOGNA INSIDE SECOND EDITION
Launched
The IWF proudly presents Bologna Inside, Second Edition: everything you need to know to make Bologna home, a guidebook for English speakers living in or around Bologna, Italy. The guidebook, available in a 192-page volume and online at www.iwfbologna.com, is aimed not at tourists, but rather at newcomers who seek to make Bologna “casa” and need help orienting themselves to the area’s resources, services and bureaucratic procedures. The guidebook contains 10 chapters on all aspects of getting settled, including: Plugging In, Essential Services, Housing, Health, Work, Family, Shopping, Tempo Libero, Provincia and Long Term. The guide’s insightful tips on Italian customs and Bolognese dialect also provide recent arrivals with specific information to help them better understand their new adopted culture. With 90 personal vignettes by 60 unique women authors and 10 portraits of IWF members who call Bologna home, this guide offers a unique, personal read for those interested in a truly “inside” view of daily life in Italy.
Distribution
The guidebook is a service project for our community and is distributed free of charge. Individual copies may be requested at general meetings of the IWF Bologna, at the URP (Office of Public Relations) of the Province of Bologna located in Via Benedetto XIV, 3 and at the URP of the City of Bologna located in Piazza Maggiore. Companies, associations and other groups are asked to contact president@iwfbologna.com for multiple copies.
Launch Event
On 12 October 2006, the IWF, together with the Assessorato alla Cultura e Pari Opportunitą della Provincia di Bologna, launched Bologna Inside, Second Edition in the Sala del Consiglio della Residenza Provinciale. Over 150 people attended the event including members of the Giunta Provinciale, members of the Giunta Comunale, members of the IWF Bologna and friends. Download invitation.
After a welcome from 2006-2007 IWF President Christine Ricci, Assessora Simona Lembi read a letter of greetings from the President of the Province Beatrice Draghetti. She then shared her own motivations for supporting the project and for sponsoring the online version of the guidebook. Project Director Kathryn Knowles thanked major institutional sponsors and creative contributors, and Editor Andrea Vogt spoke about the editorial creation of the guidebook. Five of the special essays published in the volume were then read aloud by their authors.
Fundraising
Bologna Inside, Second Edition is in many ways a model for service projects, as it is the product of a cross-sector collaboration between non-profit, private and public entities in our community. Thanks to two years of fundraising activities, including two silent auctions with donations from members and local businesses, the International Women’s Forum of Bologna raised the seed funding for the project. This funding is complimented by the generous contribution of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, as always, a leader in support for cultural initiatives in our territory and by PromoBologna, a local development agency promoting the Bologna metropolitan area. The Assessorato alla Cultura e Pari Opportunitą della Provincia di Bologna financed the internet realization of the guidebook, maximizing the number of people who will have access to its content, even before arriving in Bologna. There are also sponsors from the private sector, notably a group of five, young Italian women, consultants for Banca Mediolanum, who understood from the early stages how a collaboration between Italian and foreign women could further enrich the project. The project is also honored by the patronage of both the Province and City of Bologna. Read letters of support from President Draghetti and Mayor Cofferati.
Bologna Inside in the News
Bologna Inside, Second Edition was featured in the Resto del Carlino in the article "Ecco Bologna Spiegata alle Straniere" on 12 October 2006. On the same day, Rete 7 (e-tv) broadcast a news piece about the guidebook, featuring clips from the press conference and an interview with Project Director Kathryn Knowles. The piece was aired on all five news broadcasts of the day. The following week, another interview was broadcast on Telesanterno.
History of the Bologna Inside Guidebook
In 2001, the IWF, in collaboration with Bologna-based talkaBOut magazine, published Bologna Inside, a guidebook to the city of Bologna. The original project was financed by the city of Bologna’s Comitato per Bologna 2000 and realized by co-editors Ann Gagliardi, Elizabeth Garvey, Ella Carpenter, copyeditor Lisa Strickland and a team of additional IWF volunteers. Bologna Inside, Second Edition is proudly presented with gratitude to the creators of the first edition.