(6 September 2016) Research, study and culture have brought universities in Florence and Shanghai closer. The University of Florence has participated in the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the Sino-Italian campus of Shanghai Tongji University, attended by the Chairman of the Board, Matteo Renzi. According to the vice-rector for international relations Giorgia Giovannetti who represented the Tuscan University in Shanghai, “The first agreement with Tongji University dates back to 2012 and sees an active participation also of the town of Florence and Shanghai, which rendered the agreement (four-way partnership) much broader than those with other universities. In the same year a hundred Tongji students began to attend courses at the faculty of Architecture. In 2013 the University of Florence and Tongji founded the Confucius Institute in Florence, which provides Chinese language courses, organises numerous initiatives (architecture Forum, Chinese New Year celebrations, exhibitions and other events) with a growing response from the public. The institute promotes the dissemination of Chinese culture. According to the University of Florence website, ” The event will include a debate the Prime Minister Renzi and Italian students studying in Shanghai and with Chinese students who have spent a year in Italy, as well as a photo exhibition that tells some of the most significant moments of the relations of cooperation between Italian Universities, in particular Florence, Bologna and the polytechnics of Milan and Turin. (Red)
