The Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation is a non-profit Florentine institution endorsing an array of cultural events in order to encourage mutual exchanges of knowledge among young students, academicians and professionals from different countries with an extensive network of universities, libraries, museums, embassies, consulates, as well as public and private cultural institutions and organizations worldwide (www.fondazione-delbianco.org).

Being fully conscious that the cultural and artistic heritage possesses itself a high capacity for transmitting the values of interpersonal and intercultural exchange, reciprocal awareness and understanding, the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation has long been committed to a program of cultural initiatives at its safeguarding and appreciation.

Thus the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation intend by means of their program to attract the enthusiasm and consensus and, if possible, the impassioned involvement of all those who see in art and architecture non only universal expression of beauty and cultural identity, but also a powerful instrument with which to stimulate interpersonal and intercultural meetings, reciprocal awareness and understanding, and thus friendship between peoples; not solely an effort aimed at the protection of a patrimony which belongs to all humanity, but an investment for world peace; as the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation’s motto : “discovering the past together - working to build a shared future”.

A special attention is given to students coming from Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Asia and Far East, because due to different reasons (historical, political or geographical) these countries have recently shown a great interest towards a stronger integration with western countries and their young generations just embody this growing interest.

Here enclosed you can find some of the main features of the activity of Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation, as well as the most important results of its partnership with Vivahotels “Art in our HeArt”.

A brief chart explaining the activity of the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation

A summary of the Human Patrimony of Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation

each year, on average more than 700 persons (but the current 2005-2006 the amount was 942) take part in the programs of International Integration of the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation, and more than a half of them are young students of Central & Eastern European, Asian and AmericanUniversities

till now, about 7.000 persons (mainly young students from universities and their teachers) have taken part in Florence to the initiatives promoted by the Foundation in 8 years-old-activity; in total, over 50.000 days devoted in Florence to promote the international integration without competition in the respect of each cultural identity

as from the beginning, university teaching staff and students, coming from 291 faculties, by 164 towns of 46 different Central East European, Asian and American Countries have taken part to one of the initiatives of international integration carried out by the Foundation

46 Countries: Albania (Skhodra, Tirana), Armenia (Yerevan), Austria (Vienna, Graz), Azerbaijan (Baku), Byelorussia (Minsk), Belgium (Gent, Antwerp, Gembloux), Bulgaria (Sofia), Canada (Quebec), China (Beijing, Shengyang), Colombia (Bogotà), Croatia (Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split), Czech Republic (Ceske Budejovice, Prague, Liberec, Brno, Tabor), Denmark (Copenhagen), Emirates (Sharjah), Estonia (Tallin), Finland (Turku, Rovaniemi, Helsinki, Tampere), France (Montpellier) Georgia (Tbilisi), Germany (Frankfurt, Konstanz, Aachen, Berlin, Munich, Karlsruhe), Great Britain (Bangor, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glasgow, Herts, Huddersfield, Hull Humberside, Kingston upon Thames, Leeds, Leicester, London, Luton, Manchester, Newtownabbey, Nottingham, Staffordshire), Greece (Athen, Thessaloniki), Japan (Chiba, Tokyo, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka), Iran (Kerman), Ireland (Cork, Limerick), Kazakhstan (Almaty, Chimkent), Kosovo (Prishtina), Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek), Latvia (Riga), Lithuania (Vilnius), Moldova (Kishinev), Netherland (Delft, Rotterdam), Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Torun, Bygdoszcz, Szczecin, Lublin, Lodz, Gliwice, Poznan, Wroclaw), Romania (Bucharest, Cluji Napoca, Sibiu, Timisoara), Russia (Altay, Astrakhan, Barnaul, Ekateringburg, Ivanovo, Kazan, Khabarovsk, Kostroma, Moscow, Niznij Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Penza, Rostov, Samara, Saratov, St. Petersburg, Tambov, Tjumen, Tomsk, Uljanovsk, Ukhta, Ufa, Vladikavkaz, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Voronezh), Serbia & Montenegro (Belgrade, Novi Sad), Slovak Republic (Banska Bystrica, Banska Stiavnica, Bratislava, Kosice, Trnava, Nitra, Presov, Zvolen, Ruzomberok), Slovenia (Ljubljana), Spain (Valladolid), Sweden (Goteborg, Dalarna), Syira (Homs), Taiwan (Taipei, Yunlin, Hsinchu), Turkmenistan (Ashgabat), Ukraine (Kiev, Odessa, Lviv, Kharkov), United States of America (Ann Arbor, Columbus, Drexel Hill, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Greencastle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Francisco, Washington), Hungary(Budapest, Esztergom), Uzbekistan (Tashkent).

291 universities:97 in Architecture, 84 in Fine Art, and Humanism, 70 in Engineering, 15 in Economics, 15 in Medicin, 10other fields

about 838 docents, academicians, university professors involved in the activity of international integration among cultures of the Foundation

144 American, European and Asian academicians/experts grouped in different national committees, who follow constantly the evolution of the activity of the Foundation, giving suggestions, thinking and proposing new initiatives, creating new occasions for mutual visibility and spreading the knowledge of the activity of the Foundation (see attached list)

138 formal agreements of mutual co-operation signed by the representatives of European and AsianUniversities, for the joint development of mutual co-operation and realisation of social and cultural initiatives (see attached list)

A summary of the activity of international integration of Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation

(up to September 2006)

104 international weekly workshops of International Integration organised in Florence by the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation with the participation of young students of Central Eastern Europe and AsianUniversities

302 young students awarded with a free stay in Florence, for the works presented during the workshops

28 international concerts with the participation of young musicians from Italian and Central Eastern Europe and Asian Countries, organised or supported by the Foundation

23 Florentine masterpieces (paintings, sculptures and manuscripts) nowadays showed at Uffizi Gallery, Palatina Gallery, S. Miniato al Monte Church and in Florence State Archive whose restoration has been promoted by the Foundation

1 archaeological excavation of an ancient Roman villa at Somma Vesuviana (near Pompei) with the co-operation of TokyoUniversity

17 international announcements of competition drawn up

42 exhibitions organised or supported by the Foundation, with the co-operation of local and foreign academies and cultural institution, aimed to promote in Florence the knowledge of different foreign cultures

74 meetings, conferences, panels and round tables promoted or organised or supported by the Foundation, in order to encourage the mutual acquaintance and the exchange among people and cultures of different countries.

a programme of six-monthly scholarship for training and stage for young foreign students, which have involved until now 50 students from 9 different countries

a collection of researches in progress, dedicated to the influences of the Central Eastern European Cultures in Florence