Headed by the governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Massimiliano Fedriga, and by the regional councilor for University and Research, Alessia Rosolen, a delegation of the FVG knowledge system was received today in Rome at the Quirinale by the president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the creation of academic and scientific institutions of international standing in our region. The visit provided an opportunity to highlight before the head of state the significance of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) scheduled in Trieste in 2020.
Fedriga and Rosolen visited President Mattarella alongside the president of Area Science Park, Sergio Paoletti, the director of the International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA), Stefano Ruffo, the deans of the University of Trieste and Udine, Maurizio Fermeglia and Alberto Felice De Toni, and the president of the UWC Adriatic, Cristina Ravaglia. During the meeting, the governor remarked the great percentage of researchers in Friuli Venezia Giulia, particularly in Trieste, the high level of professionalism of the region’s research facilities that are appreciated the world over and the recent confirmation of the Universities of Trieste and Udine among the first 5-600 universities in the world in the Times Higher Education ranking.
Along with an overall recognition by all for the support provided by the State, stressed by Paoletti (Area Science Park), who also reiterated how the birth of the 5 institutions was a strong and positive signal that has brought concrete effects to the area, Ruffo (SISSA) focused on the collective response of Friuli Venezia Giulia after the 1976 earthquake which, over the years, in addition to solving practical problems of great complexity has achieved a dream of redemption grounded in knowledge, training and scientific research.
Fermeglia (UniTs), spoke of a region special not merely for its status, but above all for its great ability to generate scientific results of international relevance, citing in this regard the identification of a University of Trieste scientist among the 10 top young emerging researchers in the world. De Toni (UniUd) emphasised the birth of a university in Friuli from the boulders of an earthquake thanks to a law of popular initiative. Now, after decades, the University of Udine is consolidating its role as an institutional partner in the processes of economic and social growth.
Finally, Ravaglia (UWC Adriatic), in inviting Mattarella to return to Duino after his private visit in 2015, presented the College as the first United World College opened in a non English speaking country. An institution which, every year, delivers to 200 students selected on merit alone around the world a qualified, ethical and multicultural education that transforms them into ambassadors of this area and into agents for positive change, as for example the current Canadian Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland.
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