2022 Europe Day in Italy – Videoconference regarding good practices in education offered by young people from diverse Movements.

This year, Europe Day chose to underline a topic which could seem out of order seeing that there is a war raging in Europe.Together for Europe in Italy highlighted the centrality of an education that offers young generations an integral formation, one that is meant as the only possibility to reconstruct fraternal relationships, to provide a formation for peace and to seek truths that give meaning to life.

This was expounded by Prof Carina Rossa, lecturer at Lumsa and at the University Institute Sophia; she is also a member of the Committee that promotes the Global Compact on Education, the global educative Pact launched by Pope Francis in 2019. It is a Pact that aims to do away with barriers and build bridges.

The EU has declared this year to be the “Year of Young People”, and indeed it was young people belonging to various groups, Associations and Movements that presented good practices in education that were carried out in diverse fields (the downloadable text is at the bottom of the page).

Many shared their impressions in the chat during the link-up via zoom which was being followed live by more than 1,000 persons. Another 700, from Eastern and Western Europe, saw the recorded conference during the following week. Here are some of these impressions:

“I really appreciated the witnessing and the input by young and not so young persons. I was very struck by Beatriz’s lived-out experience and her message of welcoming and love (regarding the Ukrainian refugees).  It was an initiative full of enriching contributions”. (An MEP from Milan)

“The first thing that comes to mind is the choir of voices that, albeit with different tones, witnessed to the power of hope. The next thing is the beauty of young people, something quite illuminating. Indeed, young people are our hope, especially with that initiative that sees them close to older persons, where it becomes hard to distinguish between who is donating and who is receiving. I was really struck by the fact that young and old persons need each other. The last lived-out experience that was shared was the one that filled my heart, saddened with the war, with some peace”. (From Sanremo)

“The sharing was edifying. There was a lot of creativity! We were not given only hope, but also the certainty that a supportive Europe, made up of united hearts, already exists”. (From Munich)

2022 05 08 Education our only possibility, Europe Day Italy

Carla Cotignoli and Beatriz Lauenroth

Photo: Trento Archive