Greetings from the heart of Europe
#221
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
Greetings from the city…
with the oldest university in continuous operation (established in 1088),
where the first female was appointed to a university chair in Europe (the scientist Laura Bassi, who lived from 1711 to 1788),
with the first municipality in the world to elect a transgender city councillor, the activist and actress Marcello Di Folco, in 1990,
a city that intends to become carbon neutral by 2040, raise female employment rates, focus on sustainable and equitable urban development,
a city that is number two (only Udine is better) in Italy for overall quality of life,
and a city that has been ruled by left and centre-left governments for decades and is in an aging country ruled by a far-right government in Rome, a student city that has become a “model of resistance”.
Greetings from the Italian city of Bologna! It feels like being in the heart of Europe here.
See you in Europe,
Johannes
And return greetings from Milan, where I hope to have carried on Bassi’s legacy by being one of three women to present at a stimulating (if overwhelmingly male) conference on song lyrics! Soon to be back in Germany ✈️