A meeting held at the production facility in Borgo Panigale provided Ducati with the opportunity to introduce the numerous activities that the company has been conducting in the field of youth training and education for over 11 years. 

As a company, Ducati is highly attentive and proactive in the field of social responsibility, and constantly strives to ensure that the brand’s values are in line with the needs of the local territory. In 2006, this DNA gave rise to the Fondazione Ducati, which operates on three different fronts: Museum and Historical Heritage, Education and Road Safety. 

To date, all the Education activities conducted have been conceived and developed in collaboration with Scholastic, University, and Research institutions, for which Ducati has rendered available its wealth of human, technical, and professional expertise. Bolstered also by the appeal that the “Rosse di Borgo Panigale” have for today’s youth, these initiatives have given rise to new and increasingly synergistic opportunities with institutions and local communities. Initiatives that bridge the gap between scholastic, university, and research institutions and businesses, with offerings that range from the middle school level to post-graduate masters courses, all aimed at bringing out talent, providing guidance, encouraging the pursuit of further studies, fostering creativity, and improving youth employment possibilities, always following the same method of “hands-on learning.”

“Cultural and technical training plays a fundamental role in the Corporate Responsibility strategy of the company and the Ducati Foundation," says Claudio Domenicali, C.E.O. of Ducati Motor Holding. “At this historical moment, in which the extraordinary technological developments are allowing increasingly large quantities of data and information to be instantaneously transmitted all over the planet at zero cost, I believe that knowledge is the one thing that can allow territories and nations to maintain their cultural and economic independence. Ducati has therefore actively engaged itself on several fronts to help disseminate this culture throughout our territory. We’ re proud of the activities we offer, which consist of various training tools, like Physics In Motion, the interactive physics workshop that arose from a project developed in collaboration with the Liceo Malpighi high school, and was realised in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Universities, and Research, which, over the course of its 11 year history, has seen the participation of over 71,000 high school students. And then there’s the DESI, the program intended for fourth and fifth year students of professional institutes, which is structured according to the dual model, and has already awarded diplomas to 75 students from the Belluzzi-Fioravanti Institute, all of whom are already currently employed. Thanks to the ongoing agreement with the Emilia Romagna Region and the Regional Education Office, this program will begin its fourth cycle of training during the course of 2019. And these are complemented by activities offered in conjunction with the local universities, like the Degree Course in Mechanical Engineering with specialisation in Motorcycle Engineering, developed in collaboration with the University of Bologna, and the creation of the Motor Valley University of Emilia-Romagna (MUNER), which includes participation in Motostudent, an international competition between university teams from all over the world, where the UNIBO Motostudent Team introduced an electric motorcycle prototype built with the help of our engineers, and won third place overall. This program not only gave the students the opportunity to design the motorcycle and physically build many of its components, but also to cover various roles within a complex organisation, thus gaining experience with group dynamics that are often missing at our universities. In closing I would also like to mention our partnership with the Bologna Business School for the “Global MBA in Supercars, Superbikes, and Motorsports”, another major activity of which we are particularly proud. All this allows us to create pathways of growth and education that, thanks also to our constructive partnerships with various Institutions and Organisations, are capable of generating extraordinary training opportunities, as well as to exalt, celebrate, and disseminate the company’s wealth of mechanical and design knowledge and experience.”

“The various activities and projects that Ducati for Education has been promoting for numerous years, and are progressively implemented with new initiatives, represent one of the most virtuous and exemplary cases of collaboration between the worlds of business and education,” says Carmela Palumbo, Head of the Department of Education, Instruction and Training at the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research. “It is precisely the richness and comprehensiveness of the educational projects that led to the stipulation of a framework agreement between Ducati and the Ministry of Education, Universities, and Research during February of last year. The planned initiatives are all of great value, and allow schools to supplement their teaching activities in a profitable manner: the STEM courses, the guidance, the focus upon excellence, and the development of technical and multidisciplinary skills are all objectives found within the Ducati for Education initiatives.”

During the course of the meeting, Elena Ugolini, Education Councillor for the Ducati Foundation and Dean of the Malpighi High School in Bologna, noted that, “all the projects conceived and developed over these 11 years are an example of what can arise from a virtuous relationship between scholastic institutions, universities, and businesses. Ducati has not only rendered economic resources available, but, in collaboration with teachers and students, it has also invested human, technical, and professional resources to plan activities that have given rise to a new way of learning and thinking about the future. Together, we have created and proposed various new formats, and the results achieved have encouraged us to continue pursuing this pathway.”

“4 international racetracks, 7 vehicle manufacturers, 11 exciting museums, 19 awe-inspiring collections, 188 sports teams, and 6 specialised training centres in the Emilia Romagna Region,” begins Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia Romagna Region. “Our leadership draws thousands of enthusiasts each year, thus consolidating our internationally recognised title of ‘Motor Valley’. It’s a place that was built with passion, tenacity, ingenuity, entrepreneurial skills, quality work, and, above all, lots of ‘human capital’. Ducati has always played a strategic role by contributing to the design and realisation of unique worldwide training projects, in collaboration with the Region itself and other leading players in Motor Valley. DESI immediately became the nationwide benchmark for the dual system. Every year, MUNER attracts talents from all over the world to Emilia Romagna, intent on training at one of the world’s most ancient and prestigious universities, and, together, at extraordinary companies capable of offering a combination of excitement, sports competition, industrial design, precision craftsmanship, and cutting edge technological innovation. I am truly grateful to Ducati for this commitment, which not only has allowed many young people to cultivate and pursue their passions, but has also shown how collaboration between institutions, schools, universities and businesses can give rise to truly extraordinary training projects, which are crucial to every development process.”

The relationship between the University of Bologna and Ducati is based on a solid synergy that arose from a multi-year partnership, which has allowed us to achieve excellent results in terms of training, research and technology transfer,” explains Francesco Ubertini, Chancellor of Alma Mater Studiorum at the University of Bologna. “Together we were able to launch a Master’s Program in Mechanical Engineering with a specialisation in Motorcycle Engineering, which offers students the opportunity to carry out traineeships and thesis research activities directly on the company’s premises. And then there’s the innovative and game-changing experience offered by MUNER, the Motor Valley University of Emilia-Romagna, which is designed to attract and train the world’s best students in the automotive field. There’s also the partnership with the Bologna Business School for the brand new Global MBA in Supercars, Superbikes and Motorsports. And then again there’s the extraordinary project carried out with the Unibo Motostudent team, which gave rise to the Alpha Leonis, the electric motorbike that managed to immediately conquer the podium during its debut at the MotoStudent International Competition just a few months ago. Alma Mater is highly committed to cultivating its relationships with the region’s most important companies. Among these, the synergy that it has developed with Ducati over the years is undoubtedly one of the most significant and fruitful, and is a perfect example of how the worlds of business and education can work together to offer students fundamental opportunities for future growth.”