On February 20th, the conference titled Open Minds, Open Doors … The Vital Role of Education in Removing Barriers Related to Disability took place at the Gabinetto Vieusseux’s main lecture hall (Sala Ferri) on the ground floor of Palazzo Strozzi. Held under the auspices of the local UNESCO Office, the Comune di Firenze, and Destination Florence, this international conference involved some of our institute’s members. Professor Stefano U. Baldassarri (Director, ISI Florence) introduced the speakers, serving as the main moderator throughout the day. ISI Florence colleagues Serena Giorgi (Coordinator for Volunteer Activities and Internships) and Nina Peci (DEIA Officer) participated in the closing panel. The event provided an important opportunity to discuss the crucial role of education, at various levels, to fully integrate disabled people into society, or rather, how society should adapt to fully welcome people with disabilities.

During the presentations (most of which were translated from English into Italian by ISI Florence staff member Isabella Micol De Pinto), many different viewpoints were considered. The first to speak was Athena Kritikou, founder and president of SKEP, a Greek organization that since 2007 has been “… implementing Disability Awareness Education Programs to down stereotypes, reshape attitudes, and cultivate an inclusive mindset—starting from early school years and extending to society as a whole” (SKEP, 2019). Kritikou’s presentation was accompanied by videos featuring disabled people who work closely with SKEP, bringing to life their constant efforts to integrate disability awareness into childhood education.

It was then the turn of such an internationally renowned specialist in this field as Prof. Frosso Motti-Stefanidi (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), who gave a talk titled Building an Inclusive Mindset Through Education. She was followed by Prof. Spyridon Kogkas (CEO and co-founder of Imagine Heritage, an Athens-based non-profit entity), whose paper (Learning Together: Inclusive Education as the Soul of Europe’s Cultural Democracy) underscored the fundamental ties between the humanities on the one hand and the survival of democratic systems on the other.

Especially moving were the talks by public school kindergarten teachers Annalisa Baroni, Marilena Pinco, and Eleonora Sirsi. Their PPT slides were both inspiring and touching, as they detailed the numerous activities and initiatives that public school teachers, in collaboration with the Municipality of Florence, implement in local schools to support the integration of disabled children. Among other crucial topics, their talk touched on the importance of integrating disability awareness into early childhood education.

The final speakers, ISI Florence colleagues Serena Giorgi and Nina Peci, presented some of the many initiatives that our institute has launched in this sector from 2001 onwards. Serena Giorgi told the audience about ISI Florence’s Disabilities Studies: Discovering Abilities, Narratives, and Identities practicum, which offers students many opportunities to collaborate with physically and intellectually disabled adults through local organizations. The impact of this experience was presented in a video by a Fall 2022 ISI Florence student, Katie Ciulla (Tulane University). Speaking in her capacity as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Officer, Nina Peci complemented Serena’s talk by explaining how our study abroad program is strongly committed to welcoming disabled students and creating an accessible environment for them.

Open Doors, Open Minds – ISI Florence Alumna Katie Ciulla

Professor Baldassarri ended the conference stressing that international events such as Open Minds, Open Doors should never be one-off initiatives. They are meant, instead, to serve as stepping stones to further forms of collaboration, so as to highlight the vital role of education in removing all kinds of barriers, be they either physical or cultural.