Missions to Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Canada to strengthen academic cooperation and promote the Italian language worldwide.
New agreements, institutional meetings, and training initiatives as part of the XXVI Week of the Italian Language.
The Italian language as a tool for cultural diplomacy and international cooperation. This is the direction pursued by the missions of the University for Foreigners of Perugia in Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Canada, as part of the XXVI Week of the Italian Language in the World, promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic. The 2026 edition focuses on the theme“Ingenious language: conceiving, designing, creating with Italian”, highlighting the relationship between linguistic heritage, creativity, and cultural and economic development.
The October programme began with a delegation of ITALYOU project students attending the inaugural day at the Farnesina, and continued through meetings with universities, diplomatic representatives, and language certification centres.
In Turkmenistan, a delegation led by Professor Giovanna Scocozza, Director of the Centre for Language Assessment and Certification, met with representatives from three universities in the capital, Ashgabat, and took part in the Health, Education and Sports Fair. The mission also extended to the Ish Nokady Centre, the first Italian language certification centre in the country.
In Armenia, the institutional visit of Professors Sabrina Stroppa and Roberto Vetrugno, accompanied by Corrado Losito, resulted in the signing of a cultural and scientific cooperation agreement with Brusov State University in Yerevan, in the presence of Rector Davit Gyurjinyan and Italian Ambassador Alessandro Ferranti. The delegation also engaged in training activities at Yerevan State University, further exploring the relationship between language, literature, cultural heritage, and historical memory.
Meanwhile in Canada, the University of Perugia has undertaken the first institutional mission by its rector. Rector Valerio De Cesaris, together with Professors Roberto Dolci and Letizia Cinganotto and the Head of International Relations, Valentina Seri, began a series of meetings in Toronto with local university institutions, including Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto. At the Italian Cultural Institute, initiatives focused on the role of Italian in cultural diplomacy and the prospects of artificial intelligence in language teaching. The mission will continue in Montréal, with further meetings at McGill University and Université de Montréal, faculty seminars, and a lecture by the rector on the value of the Italian language in the international context.