A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today in Rome, at the Viminale, to launch ‘Rigenera Sud – Il Sud come campus accogliente per studenti dal mondo’ (‘Rigenera Sud’: Southern Italy as a Welcoming Campus for Students from Around the World’). Launched by Fondazione con il Sud, the initiative facilitates international students’ enrolment in universities across Southern Italy for higher education and establishes pathways to welcome, guide, and support their studies at participating universities in the region. The initiative also aims to strengthen collaboration between public institutions and third-sector organizations, which will support students’ social integration into the local communities hosting the three participating universities.
The three-year Memorandum, which will launch on a pilot basis for 15 students from Bangladesh and Pakistan, involves, in addition to Fondazione con il Sud, the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), which will co-fund the initiative alongside the Foundation through Caritas Italiana, as well as the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAE), the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), and the Universities of Calabria, Messina, and Salerno.
Present at the signing were: the president of Fondazione con il Sud, Stefano Consiglio; the CEI undersecretary, Don Gianluca Marchetti; the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi; the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani; the rectors of the Universities of Calabria and Salerno, Professor Gianluigi Greco and Professor Virgilio D’Antonio respectively; and, representing the University of Messina, Professor Giovanni Moschella, on behalf of Rector Professor Giovanna Spatari.
Through the Memorandum, Fondazione con il Sud commits, in partnership with Caritas Italiana, to co-fund the ‘Rigenera Sud’ initiative by supporting a third-sector organization in each of the three regions, working in partnership with the universities and other local stakeholders. The funding will support students through scholarships lasting up to a maximum of 36 months. The third-sector organizations and the Universities of Calabria, Messina, and Salerno will provide services and activities focused on welcoming students and supporting their social and cultural inclusion, as well as career guidance and job placement, in coordination with the local business community, to encourage skilled graduates to remain in Southern Italy.
‘The Rigenera Sud initiative is part of a broader strategy by Fondazione con il Sud to promote demographic, social, cultural, and economic regeneration in Southern Italy, which is our top strategic priority for these three years,’ said Stefano Consiglio, president of Fondazione con il Sud. ‘By 2080, Southern Italy risks having 8 million fewer people. We are not just losing numbers; we are losing graduates, energy, creativity, and social bonds. Faced with this scenario, shaped by declining birth rates, emigration, and an aging population, we have two paths ahead: resign ourselves to a decline that seems already written, or join forces to change course. The agreement signed today with the ministries, universities, and CEI is a concrete step in this direction. Over the past 22 years, Southern Italy has lost 350,000 young graduates, 24,000 in 2024 alone. But the brain drain begins even before graduation. In the last academic year, nearly 70,000 students from Southern Italy, about 13 % of the South’s total student population, enrolled at universities in Central or Northern Italy. Student mobility itself is natural, but the real problem is the one-way flow, the serious lack of appeal in Southern regions. We are trying to reverse this trend by building alliances, placing this regeneration effort within a broader, more holistic vision for the development and future of Southern Italy and the country as a whole.’
In addition to co-funding the scholarships and related costs of the initiative, the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) will support a pre-selection process in the students’ countries of origin through its own structures in Bangladesh and Pakistan, identifying suitable candidates in collaboration with partner universities. It will also help ensure the social inclusion services provided under the programme through local diocesan Caritas offices and other third-sector organizations in the area.
The Ministry of the Interior is committed to facilitating, in compliance with current regulations, the process for issuing residence permits, and to providing institutional support for collaboration with the diplomatic missions of Bangladesh and Pakistan and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAE).
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commits to facilitating the issuance of study visas through its diplomatic representations in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The Ministry of University and Research (MUR) is committed to helping define the selection criteria for international students and to coordinating the initiatives of the Universities of Calabria, Messina, and Salerno, which will provide: free enrolment for students for a period of up to three academic years; the availability of housing, dining services, and personalized administrative support and tutoring; and student guidance and selection activities, in collaboration with Caritas Italiana and its structures in the students’ countries of origin.
Read the news on the Ministry of University and Research’s website >>
