Posted on 20 January 2020
In the context of the HAEU School Programme 2019-2020, the former MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Former Member Association (FMA) Niccolò Rinaldi visited the HAEU and shared his experiences with the Florentine students participating to the HAEU school programme.
What is the role of young Europeans in the European Union and for its future? According to the FMA member Niccolò Rinaldi, ‘The European Union is either the future or it is nothing. This is why new generations must identify themselves with the process of European integration. The only way to keep a place in the sun in today’s world is to be part of the European Union and to be a European citizen before being a citizen of its own country. Global forces, emerging powers, create an ever-greater need to affirm in the future our common identity of European destiny […]. Young people must be the daily bread, the salt, of each and every policy, each path, because otherwise we are just constantly and redundantly repeating what we have done over the past centuries’.
After last year’s programme on the European Parliament’s election of May 2019, the HAEU educational programme for Florentine schools for the school year 2019-2020 focuses on topics related to the free movement of persons and to the dynamics and memories of mobility across the European Union. The programme addresses primary, lower and upper secondary schools. Every class is invited to participate to two meetings with the HAEU educators - the first taking place at school while the second at Villa Salviati, the seat of the Archives.
The HAEU education programme aims to bring students and teachers into contact with the rich archival heritage of the HAEU and to enhance students’ understanding and knowledge on the history of European integration. The programme is organised in collaboration with FMA, the Former Member Association of the European Parliament. This collaboration involves former Members of European Parliament meeting with Florentine students and sharing their experiences in European politics and views on the European Union.
Find more information on HAEU educational projects here.