The University of Perugia and the University for Foreigners of Perugia were the only Italian universities to represent Italy at the VI University Presidents for Peace Conference, held on August 6th in Hiroshima (Japan) and promoted by Hiroshima University. The event saw the participation of Rectors and representatives from universities around the world.
The joint presence of the two universities carries a special significance for Umbria, a region where the theme of peace has deep roots—from St. Francis of Assisi to Aldo Capitini and Franco Rasetti, from the PerugiAssisi March to the many initiatives that today are promoted by the universities, often in cooperation with local institutions, at both national and international levels.
According to the Rector of the University of Perugia, Prof. Massimiliano Marianelli, “being here together adds a value that goes beyond the presence of each individual university, enriching it with a shared purpose that is deeply connected to our historical and cultural traditions, broadening and strengthening its impact. Perugia brings to Hiroshima and Nagasaki a unique story and responsibility. It is the land of Francis of Assisi and Aldo Capitini, but also of Franco Rasetti, the scientist who refused to participate in the Manhattan Project for the development of the first atomic bomb. Ours is a history that today calls upon us to transform memory into responsibility and knowledge into a tool of dialogue and peace.”
The University of Perugia is a proactive promoter of the project “Universities, Bridges of Peace,” which culminated on February 25, 2026, with its signing in Assisi. Among the first signatories was also the University for Foreigners of Perugia, together with sixteen other Italian and international universities, of the “Charter of Assisi,” which calls on universities to embrace the responsibility of knowledge, dialogue, and the building of relationships among peoples and cultures. “We therefore extend our sincere thanks to the University for Foreigners of Perugia and to Rector Prof. De Cesaris for their commitment and willingness to bring to the world the ideals of peace that we share.”
For the Rector of the University for Foreigners of Perugia, Prof. Valerio De Cesaris, “the joint presence of the two universities from Perugia in Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstrates a responsibility that universities are called upon to assume with even greater determination in today’s global context. In the face of the resurgence of war and the logic of rearmament, universities can and must offer different tools: education, culture, research, and that form of cultural diplomacy which allows us to recognize, in others, not a threat but a counterpart. Peace is not only a principle to assert, but a process that is built through knowledge and encounter. This is why international academic cooperation and student mobility acquire a value that goes beyond education: helping young people to travel for study purposes and allowing them to discover other languages, cultures, and perspectives means making a concrete contribution to bridging divides and creating the conditions for dialogue. This is the responsibility we feel particularly as the University for Foreigners, and one we intend to continue sharing with the University of Perugia and our international partners.”
The mission of the two universities then continued in Nagasaki, where representatives from both Perugia institutions participated in meetings and commemorations related to the atomic bombing, continuing their dialogue and strengthening their ties with the Japanese university system.
The presence of the two universities thus testifies to the special international vocation of Perugia and Umbria: an academic community which, through institutions with different histories and missions, finds in peace, intercultural dialogue, and the responsibility of knowledge a shared foundation on which to build new international relationships.