| čItalia Number 59, September-October 2009 |
| The Other Side of Veneto, a Resource to Enhance
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| di Gaetano Lo Russo |
| INTERVIEW WITH OSCAR DE BONA, REGIONAL COUNCILOR FOR THE MIGRATION POLICY - From Columbus Day celebrations to cooperation projects in the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina. Different activities with a common aim: keeping alive the ties with Venetian communities abroad who still feel very close to their roots and history |
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 Veneto has four and a half million inhabitants in Italy and another four and a half million abroad. Ties and collaboration between these communities are still very strong. The region, together with its President Giancarlo Galan, plays an essential role in this relation between communities by supporting programs in several foreign countries and planning activities and visits to Veneto. All projects are followed by Regional Councilor for Migration Policy Oscar De Bona, from Belluno: thanks to the fact that his native area was largely subjected to mass migration in the past and because he has been working in organizations related to migration for a long time. His contribution is particularly significant.
“Veneto - Minister De Bona points out - is one of the Italian regions with the highest migration rate: the migration flow started in the final decades of the 19th Century and lasted for over a hundred years. The meaning of migration - for this reason - is very clear to the inhabitants of Veneto, who can well understand the current difficulties of people who immigrate to Veneto to find work and improve their living conditions and that of their families. They should not be confused with those who come here and have no respect for our laws and rules.”
Mr. De Bona, for how long have you been working in the field of migration?
I was born and grew up in a land of migrants. However, my first institutional relations with our communities abroad started twenty years ago, when I was President of the Province of Belluno and I assembled the association of Bellunesi in the world: I began a collaboration with them to promote twinning partnerships and activities with my fellow citizens who had emigrated. When I was elected President of the Council of Veneti in the World in 1993, I had the chance to consolidate some friendships and to strike up others. This allowed me to meet many people, visit their homes and listen to their personal and family history. I could better understand what leaving your homeland, relatives and friends to start a new life in foreign places meant: places with a different history, language, traditions and habits. I could intensify my contribution when I entered the ruling board of Regione Veneto in May 2005. As Regional Councilor for Migration Policy I have launched programs to further consolidate these relations.
 It would be hard to make a complete list of the projects that Regione Veneto has been developing for the Venetian communities abroad but, could you summarize them?
To offer an overview of the regional activity, we have built an information and communication network supported by online electronic means, direct relations with the regional departments and the Veneti’s associations in the world. With significant financial support we started, on a regional basis, specialization courses for young people of Venetian origin. We have signed partnership agreements with the most prestigious universities in Veneto, such as those of Venice and Padua, to give scholarships to students of Venetian origin. We have organized stays for elderly people and children and fostered degree dissertations on migration. Every week in Palazzo Balbi in Venice, home of the Regional Council, we receive visits from delegations of third or fourth generation Veneti who live on the “other side of Veneto. ”
What is the role of Region Veneto abroad?
We have signed agreements with the leading companies in Veneto and abroad to promote high quality products through the exploitation of our common origin with the “brand” Veneto. Recently, our region has contributed to the Columbus Day celebrations in New York, where together with companies, cultural and tourism associations, we presented the excellent products of Veneto.
Another example is represented by the cooperation programs with the local Government of the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina to develop a civil defense system with the help of hydro geological prevention experts. Also in Brazil, in Rio Grande do Sul, we have just started a large initiative to promote our common culture. We support activities in different fields, and they are all related to keeping ties to our communities alive, communities who did not forget their roots and their history, and still keep up their traditions, dialect and values. They are the men and the women who bear witness to the talents and values of our folk, and they make us proud of being their fellow citizens. Personally, I always try to visit countries where there are communities of Veneti to represent the Region among the population and the institutions. Also, the local associations of Veneti in the world organize economic, artistic, cultural and sports events in the different continents.
Are there any official occasions of meeting for Veneti on an international level?
Yes, of course. The Council of Veneti in the world takes place every year. The last meeting took place in November in Montevideo, Uruguay, while last year it was in Marostica, in the province of Vicenza. Like the other event, this meeting was also prepared through training courses for one of the Council members and one of the directors of the Committees and Federations of the foreign Veneti’s Associations which are registered in the regional lists. Since 2006, we have been organizing a yearly meeting of Young Veneti in the World, and every year we choose a different location: in 2009 it was in San Servolo, Venice, and last year in Montevideo. Finally, beginning last year we planned the Day of Veneti in the World: the first event took place in Pedavena, in the province of Belluno, and the second in Asiago, province of Vicenza.
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