The "Centro Italia Europea" (EURIT) is carring out a project within the Culture 2000 commission program. The goal of this project is to present the facts of the XIXth century that already showed the thought of an european unification for solving the deadly conflicts that stained in blood that century; to students, teachers, associations and cultural centres.
Our studies are demonstrating that the idea of a united Europe has its roots in those years. Very important people of that of that time, like Victor Hugo and Giuseppe Garibaldi, have largely influencend our common share of rights and freedoms. The debate about the latest institutinal steps regarding our future as european citizens, from the Chart of fundamental rights to the European Convention reproposes ideas and values manly anticipated in the XIXth century and that can be an interesting reflecion and incentive for building tomorrow Europe.
The goal of the project is to create more interest in the public on the themes of peace and United States of Europe.
A good mean to acheive these goals will be the making of a documentary in DVD format. It will be made mainly of intervents of important historians and political experts and will present different steps: the presentation of the different historical personalities with a brief biography and comments from scholars and teachers; illustration of the different political thoughts that animated the Geneva Congress of 1867, organized by the Intrenational League for Peace and Freedom and presided by Garibaldi; and finally an illustration constituded texts, films and historcal reconstrucions.
The documentary will be distributed to the universities and schools and will be presented in the diferent european universities with the goal of awaking students to the universal values affirmed in the XIXth century.
Three different european universities are partecipating to this project: The "Louis Lumière" of Lyon, France, The "Martin Luther" of Halle-Wittemberg, Germany and "la Sapienza" of Rome, Italy. Those will orginize seminaries on the themes of the entire project: Europe, Peace and Human Rights.
The initiative will be organized with the "Altiero Spinelly" Library of Federalist Studies. and will use the archive material of the Istituto per la Storia del Risorgimento Italiano and will finish wthin the year.