17/11/2019
Italy
participants
The main aim of ICE is to allow Erasmus students to discover the Italian cultural heritage, in fact all the students can join free city tours with official Rome guides and visit national museums by using discounts and partnerships provided by ESN Italy.
For ESN Italy, ICE is also the occasion to promote the Erasmus+ programme by highlighting the beauty of multiculturalism, by spreading European values and boosting the European identity during the event with both formal events, such as the opening conference, and informal events like the flag parade, taking place in the city center.
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Pre-Event Culturals Week: Throughout these two weeks the Italian Sections organized ad hoc events dedicated to our culture, our history and also the theme of the main event.
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Opening Conference (14 November 2019): the day before the event a conference was held as the official opening. All the major stakeholders of the organization (such as the municipality of Rome, an ambassador of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Erasmus national agencies, etc) and the most important press agencies were invited. The conference was the occasion to reflect on themes such as the importance of Erasmus+ in spreading a globalized idea of the world, but it was also a good occasion to promote the role of ESN and its volunteers in the process of promoting the Erasmus+ programme.
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Guided tours of Rome (14-17 November 2019): during the weekend all the participants had the occasion to participate in a guided tour of the center of Rome. The tour covered the main attractions of the city such as: the ruins of the ancient Rome, the most important monuments and buildings from the middle ages and the renaissance, the buildings that host the institutions such as the Italian Parliament and the Italian Government. ESN Italy provided some alternative city tours and affiliated museums that the international students could visit freely during the days of the event.
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Flag parade (16 November 2019): during the event, all the participants wore their national colors and gathered in the center of Rome. During this activity thousands of Erasmus students walked through the streets of Rome showing the beauty of the ESN motto “Unity in diversity”. It was a great opportunity to promote Erasmus+, European values and the European Identity to the inhabitants of Rome and the thousands of tourists that were visiting the city. This activities also contributed to make the Erasmus experience unforgettable for the participants and the volunteers.
The cultural outcome of the event is the impact we impress on the International Students through the guided city tour, the visit at the Vatican Museums and also the Flag Parade.
Moreover, we also have an impact on the city of Rome itself not only during the opening conference where we brought the topic of Erasmus+ and is post Erasmus personal experience, but also by boosting visibility about the concept of “multiculturalism” in a time of closure towards foreigners with enthusiasm, collaboration and bonding among different countries during the Flag Parade.