52 Reggio Emilia From the San Pietro Cloisters to an open hub ITALY Reggio Emilia has been confronted with industrial structural changes and the challenging transition from a manufacturing to a knowledge and innovation economy. This has led to changes also in the urban infrastructure and in the historic city centre. Located in the historic city centre, the former Benedictine monastery of Saints Peter and Prospero, called the Cloisters of San Pietro, is an example of Benedictine monastic architecture and one of the most valuable monuments of Reggio Emilia. Abandoned until 2007, it was acquired by the municipality, renovated and converted into a venue to host cultural events and build a strong local community. The area of the historic city centre was considered strategic for the development of a territorial project connecting urban regeneration and social and cultural innovation. The Cloisters were a strategic asset in revitalising the historical city centre, affected by parallel challenges of abandonment both from residents and services. The Cloisters are now a cultural and social innovation hub, part of a network of interconnected places within the city centre focused on cultural promotion, arts, social and digital innovation and strongly relying on digital technologies for implementing processes and empowering the community. The renovation and regeneration of the Cloisters were used as an opportunity to trigger processes of co-creation, participation and dialogue with the overall community of local stakeholders. What?