A second meeting was held on Tuesday 7 May between the municipal administration of Casalecchio di Reno and the University of Bologna to discuss the possibility of creating a student residence in the city area, a hypothesis already investigated in October 2022 with the Rector and his collaborators.
In addition to the Rector’s Delegate Professor for Construction and the Student Delegate of the University of Bologna, the meeting was also attended by the Director of ER.GO, the Regional Agency for the Right to Higher Education of Emilia Romagna which is It also provides housing services for students.
From the discussion between the institutional representatives of the Municipality and the University, several critical issues were confirmed with respect to the hypothesis of creating a student residence, in particular:
– the absence of teaching facilities of the University of Bologna in the Casalecchio di Reno area which therefore makes the idea of a student residence less useful;
– the impossibility of using any funds deriving from the PNRR (for works to be completed by 2026) due to objective difficulties in the technical times for planning, approval and disbursement of the funds. At the time, in 2022, the possibility of restructuring the Ex Hatù for this purpose was discarded and therefore procedures for other residential uses are already underway for that building with 30% ERS construction for the so-called gray band;
– the lack of public properties to be allocated for use or properties already set up for rooms, which need to be renovated quickly;
– the difficulty regarding the timing and economic balance to be found for potential private investors.
The meeting ended with the mutual awareness that at the moment there are no conditions for the creation of a student residence.
Looking ahead, given the proximity of some university offices and the presence of Cineca in our municipality, which after the latest resolutions of the City Council will carry out an expansion of the premises, the dialogue will be able to resume.
It should be noted that during the discussion the University of Bologna expressed its full interest in considering the possibility of creating student residences in the Municipality of Casalecchio di Reno, as in any other Municipality in the area, where the appropriate sustainability conditions exist economic and public interest.
