Reflections on the earthquake in Emilia: schools, institutions and communities

The earthquake that hit the Emilia-Romagna region on 20th and 29th May 2012 was particularly severe, among other things, for the damages caused to school buil- dings. More than 500 schools - attended by 70 thousand students - were declared impracticable. The reaction of local communities and government was immediate: 60 new buildings were built in a very short time to ensure the regular course of the school year and hundreds were repaired adopting seismic protection. After the earthquake, the Emilia region became a laboratory for testing both school construction techniques - in a few months all available technologies for safe, innovative and sustainable buildings were used - and an innovative and more involving teaching method. All that was possible thanks to the loyalty between central and local institutions, the political will, shared with all the mayors of the earthquake area, to give priority to school and also thanks to an extraordinary collective participation. Like all the schools of the region, teachers and students of the earthquake area began their classes on September 17th. Some of them started lessons in gyms, pavillions or other spaces, while waiting to enter the new buildings. Now that emergency is over, it’s time to reflect on what we learned from that experience and to share our reflection with the whole country. If the word "education" means "to go beyond", today more than ever our country needs schools, vocational training, universities and research to overcome the crisis that has been blocking us for too long. Today more than ever, Europe needs an Italy able to generate models of social and economic innovation based on citizen rights.

Keywords: Earthquake, schools, federalism, inclusion, growth

Patrizio Bianchi, Federico Butera, Paolo Perulli, Riflessioni sul terremoto dell’Emilia: scuole, istituzioni e comunità in "STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI " 1/2013, pp 133-149, DOI: 10.3280/SO2013-001006