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 26th Week of the Italian Language in the World.
The Italian language as a tool for cultural diplomacy and international cooperation. It is along these lines that the missions of the Università per Stranieri di Perugia to Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Canada are being developed, within the framework of the 26th 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: Imagining, Designing, Creating with Italian”, highlighting the connection between linguistic heritage, creativity, and cultural and economic development.
The October program began with the participation of a delegation of ITALYOU project students at the inaugural day at the Farnesina, and continued through meetings with universities, diplomatic representatives, and language certification centers.
In Turkmenistan, a delegation led by Professor Giovanna Scocozza, Director of the Center for Assessment and Language Certifications, met with representatives from three universities in the capital Ashgabat, also taking part in the Health, Education, and Sports Fair. The mission also included a visit to the Ish Nokady Center, the country’s first Italian language certification center.
In Armenia, the institutional visit of Professors Sabrina Stroppa and Roberto Vetrugno, accompanied by Corrado Losito, led to 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 held training activities at Yerevan State University, further exploring the relationship between language, literature, cultural heritage, and historical memory.
Meanwhile in Canada, the first official mission of a rector from the Perugia university is taking place. Rector Valerio De Cesaris, together with Professors Roberto Dolci and Letizia Cinganotto and head of international relations Valentina Seri, began a series of meetings in Toronto with local academic institutions, including Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto. At the Italian Cultural Institute, events addressed the role of Italian in cultural diplomacy and the prospects of artificial intelligence in language teaching. The mission will continue in Montréal, with meetings at McGill University and Université de Montréal, seminars for teachers, and a lecture by the rector on the value of the Italian language in the international context.