ItaCoSEE

Italian Communities in South-East Europe: Economics, Culture, Gender and Sustainability

Background

The current status of Italian Communities in South-East Europe – apart from some areas (e.g., Slovenia and Istria) – is rather unexplored. Some of these communities have originated either from La Serenissima Republic of Venice (e.g., Istria and Montenegro) or from the migrations of families from Trentino, Friuli, and Veneto in mid- or late 19^th century (e.g., Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania). Throughout the 20^th century, these communities have suffered from nationalist identity-making politics that aimed at minimizing their cultural diversity. However, they have been able to preserve the cultural features of their ancestors despite following diverse paths and in different ways.

Project goals

Against this background, the “Communities in South-East Europe: Economics, Culture, Gender and Sustainability (ItaCoSEE)” project aims at exploring the cultural and identity-making dynamics in the recent history, and the current economic and cultural status of Italian communities in some of the less-known areas of settlements in South-East Europe such as Slavonia and Moslavina (Croatia), Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Romania, with a focus on the role of women and the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Partners

This project is coordinated by the Institute for Minority Rights of Eurac Research and carried out in collaboration with

• Observatory Balkans Caucasus Transeuropa/International Cooperation training Center (OBCT-CCI),
• Associazione Bellunesi nel Mondo
• Associazione Trentini nel Mondo

Co-funding

The “Italian Communities in South-East Europe: Economics, Culture, Gender and Sustainability” project is realized with the support of the Unit for Analysis and Policy Planning of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in accordance with Article 23 ‒ bis of the Decree of the President of the Italian Republic 18/1967.