NIMI – MAKIN’ ITALY: Dialogues at the European Parliament

Florence, February 27, 2026

With the March 4 event in Brussels, NIMI positions itself as a platform for dialogue among education, research, the creative industry, and European institutions, placing Made in Italy at the center of an international reflection on the role of artificial intelligence and applied arts in contemporary society. The project aims to build a permanent collaboration network and an observatory on new technologies applied to design, so that its outcomes can become a global reference for creative education and sustainable sector development.

Hosted in a highly institutional context, the event will also provide the opportunity to present the “MAKIN’ ITALY” Manifesto and foster a discussion between higher education institutions and members of the European Parliament on topics such as creative education, digital transition, and the role of artificial intelligence. At the heart of the meeting is the roundtable “Consensus and European Trajectory”, which will include representatives from the European Parliament and the Italian Embassy in Brussels. Participants will include, among others, MEP Stefano Cavedagna, Tindaro Paganini, Director of the Italian Trade Agency in Brussels, Amilcare Renzi and Silvia Squarzoni of Confartigianato, Livia Di Nardo, NIMI project coordinator, and Filippo Pernisco, Academic Director of Accademia Italiana.

The NIMI project was conceived to enhance the international capacity and digital skills of the AFAM sector and to promote the excellence of Made in Italy in applied arts, creative media, and digital arts in relation to new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. The project is founded on three pillars: manual intelligence, expressing artisanal culture and the ability to transform materials; artificial intelligence, as the new grammar of contemporary design; and social intelligence, understood as ethical responsibility, sustainability, and inclusion. Through three initiatives—the Travel Exhibition, the School Roadshow, and the “MAKIN’ ITALY” Manifesto—NIMI aims to transform Made in Italy from a label of origin into an open and shared process, integrating Italian craftsmanship with cutting-edge technologies and supporting the digital and green transition of the creative system.

The Brussels stage is part of the dense schedule of the Travel Exhibition, a collective project showcasing the best works developed by students from the participating academies, curated by Lucrezia Nardi. Each exhibition combines a display dimension with educational moments dedicated to the research content and the Manifesto, creating a dialogue among prototypes, installations, and process materials that interpret NIMI’s three intelligences: manual, social, and artificial.

Following the Italian stops (Florence, Bologna) and international locations (Cologne, Warsaw, Belgrade, and Brussels), the journey will conclude from April 20 to 26 at the Fondazione Riccardo Catella in the heart of Isola, with a final event during Milano Design Week, consolidating an exchange network among territories, schools, and enterprises that transcends national borders to embrace a broad international dimension.

Livia Di Nardo, project coordinator, states: “The theoretical heart of our project is the MAKIN’ ITALY Manifesto, which will be officially presented at the European Parliament. The document proposes a paradigm shift: from Made as a static label to Make as a living verb, an ongoing process, a collective laboratory. The six open rules identified by the Manifesto—from integrating education and business to adopting ethical and transparent AI, from valuing territories to prioritizing sustainability—outline a model of humanistic innovation where aesthetics and ethics reconnect. With the Brussels event, NIMI brings this vision to the center of the European debate, presenting Made in Italy as a cultural platform capable of generating the future.”

Finanziato dall’Unione europea Next Generation EU (NGEU) – per l’internazionalizzazione degli istituti di istruzione superiore artistica e musicale (AFAM) secondo il Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza (PNRR) MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 1 – INVESTIMENTO 3.4 SOTTO- INVESTIMENTO T5. CUP: H37G24000080001