From 19th to 24th of March students and teachers of KIU took part in an educational tour along the Northern Italy.
“Organizing this educational program, we came to the conclusion, that the Northern Italy (namely Veneto and Emilia Romagna) was the perfect option according to many reasons”, said the Vice-rector for economic affairs and strategic development of KIU named after V.G. Timiryasov Liliya Vorontsova.
Firstly, the region is the enormous industrial center, economic leader of Italy and takes one of the leading positions on the car manufacture in Europe. Moreover, the Northern Italy is very beautiful. Picturesque landscapes, old city architecture, museums, galleries and a local excellent cuisine made our trip unforgettable. However, we went to Italy for ideas and a new experience, which, as known, can be taken fr om new impressions.
Ferrari and Lamborghini
On a territory of fabrics of famous car brands “Lamborghini” and “Ferrari” we saw the whole manufacturing process fr om inside and how the administration got on with employees. We were strongly impressed with a system of management of the fabric quality of Lamborghini, which was based on a principle “Just-in-time” and with incredible attention to details.
The excursion on the fabric of such cars is a unique educational experience for KIU students, which gave them an opportunity to estimate high world standards, to understand, what the modern world was requesting from them, what possibilities lied in front of them and wh ere they had to go further.
Communication in Bologna
Our second stop in our trip along Italy is the oldest European University of Bologna. Besides, we are owed the current university system of education to Bologna. The Bologna convention was elaborated here. It was a harmonization process of systems of higher education of European countries.
We were at once interested in amazing lectures on topics “What human is awaited in future? How not only to get adapted to a situation but also to react effectively and to handle it? Professors of Bologna University consider a key factor of success is communication. Only students with high communicative skills can entry the University of Bologna.
As e result of this meeting, KIU and University of Bologna came to the agreement about development of mutual educational programs, including different scientific programs.
The tastiest ice-cream and a little bit of romance
To combine pleasant things with useful we were able to do on an ice-cream fabric “Carpigiani”. We are delighted with a museum of the traditional Italian ice-cream “Gelato” and the fabric Caprigiani. This company is the world leader in the production of ice-cream machines and takes 30% of the market. Equipments of the brand Carpigiani are used by such famous branches of fast food as McDonald’s and KFC (now we know exactly why their ice-creams are so tasty).
Our students got a new experience, sensations and ideas walking through wonderful Florence, a hometown of the brilliant Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei. Unique paintings and exhibitions of the Uffizi Gallery impressed with elegance and versatility of talent. Venice was a dream of many participants of the group and this dream came true as well. A small note of romance was added by visiting Verona: girls left their messages on a wall at the balcony of Juliet.
We can even more
This trip lasted for 5 days only, but was very intensive. We came back with new power, ideas and energy to work further.
We were especially interested in the project of the Commercial and Industrial Chamber of the Veneto region in the field of youth entrepreneurship, which allows beginning businessmen to open his own business for 1 Euro! It opens new opportunities of development for the Center of Entrepreneurial Competencies, which we already have at KIU. We agreed to implement mutual programs, directed to strengthen up our business contacts between our Regions.
It should be also noted that the trip of KIU delegation made a significant contribution into strengthening business relations between Italy and Tatarstan. At the beginning of 2017, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tatarstan and the similar structure of the Veneto region concluded an agreement on cooperation. In September 2017, Italian industrialists came to Kazan, and in December 2017, President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov visited Lombardy, wh ere he held a forum "Italy - Tatarstan ".