(7 June 2016) The world of academia is what unites Siena and Palestine. This is confirmed by the activities put in place by the universities of the two countries. Two conferences by Palestinian professors along with professors from the University of Siena conclude a series of public meetings held under the Erasmus Plus programme “Palestine Project”. This year’s new project was introduced by the range of international exchanges with the University of Siena. It will remain active for the 2016-2018 biennium and involves four Palestinian universities: Bethlehem University (Bethlehem), Birzeit University (Ramallah), An- Najah National University (Nablus) and Al Quds University (Jerusalem). The programme offers international mobility grants, both for Palestinian students and for those from the University of Siena who is the forerunner for exchange programmes in the Italian context. Additionally, eight Palestinian professors are teaching and carrying out research at the Tuscan university, with multiple academic commitments and distributed between different undergraduate departments and postgraduate schools. Palestine’s academic and cultural world present in Siena has awakened an interest in spreading outside the university, including different initiatives towards citizenship. Gabriele Usberti is the exchange project coordinator with the Palestinian universities. (Red)
