The City of Bologna is the capital of Emilia-Romagna, in Northern Italy, the seventh Italian city by population (400.000 inhabitants) and one of the main metropolitan areas (1 million inhabitants). The old town with arcades extending for 40 km is one of the most beautifully preserved medieval cities in the Old World. Over 50 museums, churches and noble palaces make the city an open air exhibition, where music, art and cinema hold a prominent role in city life.

Bologna hosts the oldest University in Europe (dated 1088), that has marked its history and character, making Bologna a young and cosmopolitan city. Its open-mindedness made it the cradle and capital of the Italian LGBT movement as well as a multi-cultural citiy: it counts almost 400.000, adding up to a million in the Metropolitan area, 15% of which are Third Country nationals. The most represented nationalities are Romanians, Bengali, Filipinos, Moroccans and Tunisians.