From “Bollenti Spiriti” to the leadership of one of the strategic departments of the Puglia Region, with a path that spans public innovation, youth policies, and urban development on a national scale.
The Puglia Region has entrusted Annibale D’Elia with the direction of the Department of Culture, Education, Tourism and Civil Rights, one of the key structures for social and cultural development policies. The appointment, decided by the regional council at the proposal of President Antonio Decaro, will last three years from the signing of the individual contract.
This is a prominent position that fits into a professional path developed among public administrations, national institutions, universities, and research bodies, with a profile strongly oriented towards the innovation of public policies.
A figure already known in the Italian landscape of social innovation, D’Elia has been one of the protagonists of some of the most significant experiences developed in Italy over the last twenty years in the field of youth policies and territorial development.
His name is particularly linked to “Bollenti Spiriti”, a regional program that has represented a nationally recognized model for engaging new generations and promoting paths of active participation. An experience that has contributed to redefining approaches and tools of youth policies in Italy.
His professional journey began even earlier in the world of innovative enterprise: co-founder of a cooperative awarded as the best under-32 enterprise in 2000, he then consolidated a profile oriented towards social innovation and local development.
Subsequently, he was part of the task force of the Ministry of Economy that contributed to defining the regulations on innovative startups, one of the most relevant regulatory junctions for the birth of the innovative entrepreneurship ecosystem in Italy.
In recent years, he has held managerial positions at the Municipality of Milan, one of the main European laboratories for urban policies. From 2017 to 2025, he was first Director of Economic Innovation and Business Support and then Director of Urban Economy, Fashion, and Design.
In the Milanese context, he coordinated policies related to proximity economy, urban manufacturing 4.0, circular economy, and the regeneration of urban spaces with cultural and social vocation, in addition to overseeing strategic projects related to major international events in the fashion and design sectors.
At the helm of the Department of Culture, Education, Tourism and Civil Rights, D’Elia will now be called to confront some of the main levers of development of the regional and national system: cultural policies, training, tourist attractiveness, and social inclusion. His profile fits into an increasingly evident trend in Italian public administration: the construction of hybrid skills between innovation, urban policies, and economic development, capable of reading and governing complex transformations.
The appointment reflects the desire to strengthen an integrated approach to public policies, in which culture, education, tourism, and civil rights become interconnected tools for growth and social cohesion, with a perspective that goes beyond the territorial dimension to position itself in a national and European context.
