Smart cities working together to create sustainable opportunities.

Both cities are proud of their history and are even more excited about their future. Central to this project is the development of new career opportunities for students and young professionals. With strong ties between the universities and schools of both cities and regions, we are opening opportunities for students, faculty, young professionals and life-long learners to exchange ideas, and gain professional and cultural experience. Support services will be set-up to administer and help fund academic programs, experiential learning and internships in each respective city and region.

Austin has consistently been ranked at the top of every list as one of the best large cities to start a business, and the City continues to accelerate with no sign of slowing down. Austin’s melding of new industry development with its unique creative culture adds up to a healthy environment for entrepreneurs and start-ups. Florence is a pillar of art and design and has been a foundation for creative excellence for centuries The Alliance seeks to develop a new and focused channel for collaboration between Austin and Florence. New ideas, funding, projects and new technologies will be exchanged to create new realities connecting innovation with history, art and design.

Austin is clearly one the most vibrant cities in the US for music. It is home to a number of large festivals and calls itself “the live music capital of the word”. It has over 100 music venues with a calendar of events every week, running throughout the year. Florence is a vibrant and active university city and the perfect venue to expand a festival culture. It has a major central park that already host a number of music events each year. In addition, both cities boast professional soccer teams and are centers for healthy active lifestyles. The Alliance seeks to bring the vibrant festival culture to Italy and Florence would be the spot to scale a major project.

Italy is the cradle of western art and boast more important works of art, historically, than any other country in the world, and Florence is at its historical center. The US is a major contributor to contemporary art, and Austin has a vibrant art scene with both young artists, designers and patrons of the arts, collectors, galleries, and projects. AF seeks to align the cities artistically, opening a channel for the commerce and exchange of creative art/design collaborations. New galleries, exposure and traveling art exhibits exchanged and hosted in each respective city. Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings in Austin for three months – why not?

Austin has been coined “Silicon Hills” and is a worldwide leader of new tech development, a pillar for the game industry and the epicenter for innovation. There has not only been a massive migration of talent from California to Austin, but also from other US states. Texas incentivizes businesses to come set-up here, and they are coming in hoards. In addition, there is significant VC support and development funding. Florence is home to a vibrant and creative youth movement through its university and central incubator Nana Bianca. AF seeks to align young entrepreneurs in tech and related industries such as gaming and e-sports, to collaborate and form new ideas, projects and eventual businesses in both cities and countries.

The objective here is to take a creative look beyond traditional food culture. Instead we’ll focus on the innovative and vibrant food, wine and hospitality scene coming out of Italy, seeking to bring its dynamic history to Austin and the Texas Hill Country. This includes culinary projects, education, wine making and the expansion of Italian products into the up-and-coming Texas industries in and around Austin. Opportunities to support and help Italian organizations that wish to work with Texas and Texans are being pursued.