The fifth edition of FIERA DIDACTA ITALIA ended at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, confirming itself as the annual reference event on the future and innovation of the world of education in Italy. The exhibition closed with an increase in the number of events (893 in total), exhibitors and accredited journalists compared to the 2019 edition (the last in person before the stop due to the pandemic), registering over 19.000 visitors.

In this context, the CROSS_MEDIA project organized by the Working Group of the Ministry of Education – Associations of Istrian, Rijeka, and Dalmatian Exiles met with great success and public interest. It included an unexpected but highly welcome introduction by Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Education, Rossano Sasso . He appreciated the exhibition " Tu lascerai ogni cosa diletta" (You Will Leave Every Beloved Thing) and the associations' ongoing work in disseminating values ​​of remembrance and active citizenship practices in schools. He then complimented the caliber of the work carried out by the Working Group, which he had also appreciated in other institutional settings.

Indeed, the event "Retracing History, Bringing Memories to Life" brought together collaborators, ideas, multimedia materials, and suggestions that have characterized recent years of teaching the history of the eastern border, a topic that has received growing attention from the Ministry of Education (regional and national training seminars, the national school competition on February 10 , summer training school, etc.) and that Adriatic diaspora associations have learned to disseminate and study in an increasingly professional manner. This seminar can be viewed on the CDM YouTube channel of the Multimedia Documentation Center of Julian, Istrian, Rijeka, and Dalmatian Culture.

Professor Roberto Spazzali introduced the proceedings by highlighting the concepts that make the history of Italianness on the frontier paradigmatic and important to study due to its parallels with current events: national identity, claims of cultural belonging, minority rights, and policies to be implemented in mixed-language regions. The situation in Ukraine, for example, demonstrates how these arguments, when pushed to the extreme, can lead to conflict.

Live from Trieste, Piero Delbello, director of the Regional Institute for Istrian-Fiuman-Dalmatian Culture in Trieste , illustrated, with images, the evolution of Warehouse 18, made famous by Simone Cristicchi, into Warehouse 26, a location still within the Old Port of Trieste, but fully equipped and prepared to welcome visitors, organize events, and preserve the household goods of Istrian, Fiuman, and Dalmatian exiles.

Professor Adriana Ivanov Danieli 's speech was moving and engaging . She recounted her childhood in refugee camps after leaving her hometown of Zadar at a very young age, following many bureaucratic hurdles. Her father had exercised the option provided by the Peace Treaty for Italian citizenship (which meant exodus), but the Yugoslav authorities refused to grant approval because Ivanov's surname was of Slavic, not Italian, origin.

An example of real life that shows how national belonging to Italy has been in the lands of the Eastern Adriatic a sentimental and ideal question, without any racist or genetic connotation. Recognizing oneself in a civilization, in a language and in a culture while respecting others: a lesson of the Italians of Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia that emerges from the tragedies of the twentieth century and that retains its importance even today.

Lorenzo Salimbeni