Petition No. 1667: “100×100: Bridges of Education” goes institutional

The National Congress of Ukrainian Associations in Italy (CNAUI) announces an important milestone in educational cooperation between Ukraine and Italy.

Building on the long-running initiative “100×100: Bridges of Education”, carried out successfully since 2025 by the Congress’s Department of International Cooperation (headed by O. Rohova) and Department of Education (headed by T. Hryhorska), Petition No. 1667 on the creation of a National Programme of School Partnerships between Italy and Ukraine has been submitted and registered.

On 3 March 2026 the petition, submitted on behalf of CNAUI and signed by its President Lara Levchun, was formally announced at sitting No. 394 of the Senate of the Italian Republic.

The document has been referred to the 3rd and 7th Committees sitting jointly:
— 3rd Committee (Foreign Affairs and Defence)
— 7th Committee (Culture, Cultural Heritage and Public Education).

This was made possible by the tangible results achieved by the “100×100: Bridges of Education” initiative.

In eight months, around 100 partnerships have been formed between Ukrainian and Italian schools, along with dozens of meetings, cultural exchanges, joint lessons and educational programmes.

The project has shown that cooperation between schools in the two countries has enormous potential and brings concrete benefits to children, teachers and communities.

It was the very success of this civic initiative that gave rise to the petition, which proposes a national institutional framework for school partnerships. Such a programme would:

– make cooperation stable and lasting;
– support the integration of Ukrainian children attending school in Italy;
– broaden pupils’ intercultural, language and civic skills;
– strengthen Italy’s role in humanitarian and educational support for Ukraine;
– give schools access to teaching materials, training and coordination;
– turn a successful civic experience into a national cooperation policy.

Petition No. 1667 asks the Senate to consider creating a National Programme of School Partnerships between Italy and Ukraine, and to call on Italy’s Ministry of Education and Merit to draw up guidelines, support schools’ participation, provide methodological support and promote cultural and educational exchanges.

This is an important step: an initiative started by the Ukrainian community in Italy has grown to attract national attention and open a dialogue with the institutions.

“100×100: Bridges of Education” is no longer just a project but a model that has proved its effectiveness and could now become the basis of a state programme.

The most important role belongs to the volunteers who coordinate the partnerships: they are the heart and driving force of the “100×100: Bridges of Education” initiative. Every day they build links between schools, keep communication going, help teachers and children understand each other and create an atmosphere of trust between the two countries. Their work often goes unseen, but without them there would not be a single partnership, a single meeting or a single joint project.

They are the people who turn an idea into reality and prove that volunteering can change education and children’s lives.