-Initiative with five top Italian universities-

OSAKA, May 14, 2025/ANSA=Kyodo JBN/--

The Italy Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka has hosted a number of events as part of the Make Italian Culture Alive (MICA) project coordinated by Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University, in partnership with the University of Florence, L’Orientale University of Naples, the University of Milan, and the Sapienza University of Rome, with the support of the Changes Foundation.

Initiatives included the NoLBrick system to learn languages more easily, a Renaissance ‘game’ promoted by the University of Florence and an inflatable Brunelleschi dome, as well as an event to rediscover the origins of Japanese language teaching with the University of Oriental Studies of Naples.

MICA has promoted dialogue and cooperation between Italy and Japan through an immersive experience that integrated artificial intelligence, innovative didactic methods, language education and various forms of artistic expression.

A key element was the promotion of Italian university research as a tool of intercultural dialogue and social innovation.

The project was part of the ‘third mission’ of the universities involved - sponsoring the promotion of academic knowledge and know-how in society.

Through workshops, installations and the presentation of research projects of excellence - including the NRRP projects Changes Spoke 2, 6, 9 and iNest Spoke 6 – MICA offered a concrete example of how access to knowledge in the sciences and humanities can generate participation and collective value.

Visitors were accompanied by, among others, professors Marcello Pelillo Monica Calcagno and Marcella Mariotti and by Dr. De Luca.

Ca' Foscari presented its research projects Repair, Changes and iNest.

The three projects explore the relationship between cultural heritage, innovation and community.

From the memory of Venetian craftsmanship (iNest), to sustainable tourism practices (Changes) and the reconstruction of fragmented archaeological artifacts through advanced technology (Repair), these initiatives have reviewed the approach to the preservation of material and immaterial heritage.

The experiences shared a common focus on the preservation of identity, the improvement of accessibility and the promotion of knowledge.

The Visiting Experience of MICA also welcomed the institutional visit of Veneto represented by Elisa De Berti and Annalisa Bisson, respectively Vice president and head of international relations of the northeastern region, to express interest in an initiative mixing higher education, scientific research and cultural diplomacy.

Source: General Commissioner’s Office of Italy for Expo 2025 Osaka