2015 WILL BE A EVENTFUL YEAR: FIRST THE EXPO IN MILAN, FOCUSING ON THE THEME "FEEDING THE PLANET". THEN,WORK IS BEGINNING IN JANUARY IN BOLOGNA FOR "FICO-EATALY WORLD" BY FARINETTI, TO OPEN IN OCTOBER, RIGHT AFTER EXPO2015

The ExpoMilan 2015 theme is "feeding the planet" and for six months the world's attention will be focused on Italy and food. But it will not be the only event of the year about food and Italy, because work is beginning on FICO, Fabbrica Italiana Contadina, aka "Eataly World", in Bologna.
Work is scheduled to start in January on what is already being labeled the "Disneyland of food", a theme park created by Oscar Farinetti, together with Professor Andrea Segrè of the University of Bologna.
The property investment group, Prelios will start work on the park thanks to the 50 million euros raised from public and private investors. There will be 4.500 jobs when the park is fully implemented, including on-site employees (1.000) and related jobs. Over 265 companies to date have made their bids on the site www.eatalyworld.it. When completed, the park will measure 80.000 square meters, 7.000 of which gardens and orchards, 4.000 model farms, 44 mini-factories, 20 restaurants and dozens of classrooms and spaces for events and conferences.
The project counts 22 investors among institutions and private firms: the City of Bologna, which has provided the Agribusiness Centre area and also houses the headquarters of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Bologna; the Bologna Chamber of Commerce; Unindustria; Coop Adriatica; Coop Reno and Confcommercio, in addition to banks and organizations. The park is scheduled to open in autumn 2015, on the heels of the Expo.