Migration Matters
The meeting in Milazzo, Italy
11th-15th December 2017
The meeting in Milazzo was organized as a "short term exchange of groups of pupils". According to the agenda of our project, it focused on addressing internal migration and emigration in our countries.
Each national team researched past and present internal migration in our countries e.g. for seasonal working. Moreover, we researched incidents of emigration to other European countries and abroad during the last centuries and today. Our intention was to compare the migration movements of our countries and the conditions for job immigrants in Europe in the past and today, the occupations that migrants occupy as well as migrants' integration and contribution into the receiving society. Our approach was both bibliographical and interactive by contacting and interviewing contemporary witnesses who emigrated and came back. We also explored young students' perceptions of emigrating in the future.
The research carried out by the project partners is available at the "Internal migration and emigration" link of our twinspace.
During the meeting, partners contributed with posters depicting emigration incidents of their countries in an exhibition organized in the Italian school. Photos showing the posters and the exhibition are available here.
Monday, 11th December 2017
After the welcome by the headmistress, the program of the meeting was presented, with slides illustrating the planned activities.
The presentation was followed by the icebreaking activity: Pictionary. The pupils, divided into 3 teams, competed in the famous board game, adapted by the Italian team to be played in the auditorium by more than 40 pupils.
Then we visited the new town of Milazzo with Italian students as tourist guides.
At noon lunch was offered by the Italian hosts which included several specialties of Sicilian street food, a heritage of various dominations.
In the afternoon, the teams illustrated with presentations the phenomenon of emigration in their respective countries.
Tuesday, 12th December 2017
Early in the morning, we departed for a daily visit to Messina where we visited the most important monuments of the city.
After lunch, the group went to Taormina, a beautiful town on the Ionian coast of Sicily, founded about 700 years B.C. as a settlement of Naxos, one of the most important cities of Magna Grecia. A fast sightseeing tour made evident the stratifications of Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Muslim, Norman and following dominations. This was a clear example of the melting pot that Sicily was, since the most ancient times, mixing, assimilating and integrating the best of the peoples who migrated in.
Wednesday, 13th December 2017
The daily activities started at the Italian school. The pupils worked to prepare posters, print pictures and realize items for the exhibition.
Then, the group visited the ancient Milazzo's Castle, as a fast walk through the history, from the Arab Tower to the Aragonese Walls passing through Normans, Swabians, Angevins.
In the afternoon, the pupils' workshop at school continued, while the Partners' Coordinators met to talk about and organize the next meetings ' agendas and activities.
Thursday, 14th December 2017
After the meeting at the school, the international teams went to Castelbuono, a small town founded by Byzantines and then conquered by Arabs and Normans; The most important monument is the castle, built in the XIV century by Ventimiglia noble family who moved to Sicily from the same name town in Liguria.
After lunch the group went to Cefalù, a famous touristic town on the Tyrrhenian Sea, where Arab, Norman and Byzantine architectures and arts blended, giving us a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Friday, 15 December 2017
The pupils worked in the morning to complete the preparation of posters, print pictures and realize items for the exhibition. Then they put all the items in the place destined to host the exhibition. Then the pupils and the teachers received the certificates awarding the participation to the Milazzo meeting. In the afternoon, the Goodbye party with all the students, teachers and host families took place.