[toyg]

Italian design is a result of a 2000-year-old legacy of excellence in art and, sadly, has nothing to do with cooperation. The famous names (Bertone, Pininfarina, Ferrari etc) have always been regular companies, and Emilia is not really a traditional center of design activity - for that you would look at Milan, Rome, and Turin. You do have the DAMS in Bologna, aka "Umberto Eco's faculty", but it's always been more about media than design.

The somewhat-distributed coop model traditionally helped and incentivised STEM-oriented schools. Emilia has some of the best engineering schools in the country, both at university level and below, and a huge network of engineering-based companies working in industrial automation and precision instruments - including the Motor Valley of Ferrari-Lamborghini-Ducati fame. Even there, you really remember the cars designed by Bertone and Pininfarina, studios based further North.