New services for company management In the provinces of and Reggio Emilia, the ERDF has promoted seven innovative company management projects. These schemes concerned all the production sectors in the area. They were co-ordinated by consortia of SMEs with the aim of strengthening relations between the companies involved.

In the mechanical engineering sector, a survey was conducted on the need for the companies to adopt innovative services in the areas of technical standards, technological innovation, product safety and industrial computer technology. The findings of this survey were subsequently disseminated and followed up with awareness enhancing activities, publication of articles and technical seminars. A website was created for companies in the farm machinery sector offering international market monitoring services and a database with pages where the companies can describe their operations. In addition, a telecommunications network, “Technet”, was created for a group of 120 companies to promote an exchange of information between entrepreneurs’ associations and companies in the region. In the financial sector, the projects put forward focused on computerisation, including a credit and financial advice system capable of providing data on the state of the markets in real time. Computer technology was also introduced to support the process of internationalisation in which textile and clothing sector companies are presently engaged. To this end, an on-line data bank was created showing the progress of textile products on international markets. In addition, in order to increase the competitiveness of 1,400 textile companies in the province of Carpi, an information campaign on the types of raw materials used in the production process was launched with the aim of identifying manufacturing defects and reducing production costs. Finally, in an effort to boost foreign sales of locally produced wooden staircases, a project was implemented to draw the attention of companies in and around Nodi () to the “guarantee of quality”. For this purpose, a general table was drawn up giving the internationally recognised standards for pre-fabricated staircases.

A new type of tourism along the Francigena Way Various complementary measures have been taken to rehabilitate the ancient Francigena Way. A tourist information centre equipped with multimedia consultation systems and a permanent exhibition was set up at (province of ) in the Valley. The Centre, housed in Vernasca’s ancient parish church, provides general information about the entire Francigena Way, from Canterbury to Rome, whereas the exhibition highlights the tourist attractions of the Francigena Way in the provinces of Piacenza and such as the abbeys of the Arda Valley, which were overnight stops at which pilgrims were bound to stay as they made their way to Rome. The monastery of the Observant Franciscan Friars Minor in Bardi () in the region of Monte Bardone, an important Apennine pass on the Francigena Way, has been restored. It includes the monastic buildings, a church, vegetable gardens and orchards. The project included restoration of the original architectural features of the baroque church of Saint Francis, which had been subdivided by a partition between the nave and the sanctuary during the twentieth century. The church has been deconsecrated and is now used as a hall for conferences, exhibitions and concerts, at the disposal of the Centro Studi della Val Ceno (Ceno Valley Study Centre), local promoters of cultural events. To enable visitors to admire the various environmental features of this Apennine area, the old paths linking the valleys of the province of Bardi, which had fallen into disrepair due to the gradual depopulation of the mountain regions, have been rehabilitated. These paths, covering about 100 km in all, have been signposted for the benefit of tourists.

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