The University of Bologna during the Covid-19 pandemic: protect, provide and innovate – Responses from a resilient community

The health emergency caused by the spread of Covid-19 had a profound effect on higher education institutions, forcing them to promptly move all academic activity online. The University of Bologna (Unibo) promptly switched to distance mode to ensure continuation of its services, projects and activities. This situation required, and still requires strong academic commitment and co-ordination among the different actors involved and an increasing investment in innovation of teaching and learning processes, mobilising the university system at several levels and increasing the importance of research-based activities.