International cooperation agreement between the National Academy of Agriculture and the Universidad National de Río Negro. A scientific and cultural bridge linking Bologna to the Province of Río Negro in Patagonia and, more generally, Italy and Argentina, is the purpose of the Cooperation Agreement signed between the National Academy of Agriculture and the Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. The Agreement, which provides for a joint commitment to increase the exchange of technical-scientific knowledge between the parties, intends to create a true "cultural bridge" through the organization of educational activities, mobility of teachers, PhD students, and students between Italy and Argentina, the exchange of bibliographical information, and joint participation in study and research. A complex and structured program of high-level scientific-cultural exchange that allows for the dissemination and knowledge, particularly to university students, in multidisciplinary fields. The themes will be developed through courses and seminars led by professors and researchers from Argentine and Italian universities, as well as with the presence of directors from Italian institutions and official representatives of the Italian Government in Argentina.
The first project "Villa Regina, Italy in Patagonia" proposes to re-evaluate and disseminate the unique history of the city of Villa Regina, located in the Province of Río Negro in Patagonia, promoting and highlighting the major works and the cultural, social, economic, and productive activities created by Italian immigrants between the late nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. The city of Villa Regina, which today has 30,000 inhabitants, was one of the first Argentine areas affected by Italian immigration, especially from the Friuli Venezia-Giulia regions, and through land reclamation, it was able to develop a thriving agri-food activity specialized in fruit production. The educational activities to be carried out aim to retrace the history of a city that is still very closely tied to Italian culture in its language, agricultural production, and food and wine. The "Villa Regina, Italy in Patagonia" project has been declared of interest by the City Council of Villa Regina and the Council of the Province of Río Negro, and also has the approval and support of the Associazione Circolo Italiano of Villa Regina, the Consular Agency of Italy in Villa Regina, the Italian Chamber of Commerce, the Delegation of Río Negro, and the Dante Alighieri School of Language and Culture of Villa Regina. Endorsements of the project have been signed by the Movimento Associativo degli Italiani all'Estero (MAIE) and the Comitato degli Italiani all'Estero-Circoscrizione Consolare of Bahia Blanca. In addition to focusing on the relationship between Bologna and the Province of Río Negro as the main point of its objectives, the project intends to connect with the highest possible number of Italian institutions. In 2018, other meetings were therefore organized in Cesena, Ravenna, Trento, and Palermo.
From November 20 to 24, 2019, the "World Week of Italian Cuisine" was held in the city of La Plata, Argentina, to which numerous institutions from Emilia-Romagna were invited. The event was organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in Argentina, and among the numerous activities carried out, on November 21, Prof. Bruno Marangoni, representing the Academy, presented the results of the "Open Chair" project and the developments taking place in collaboration with the University of Bologna. In 2024, for the centenary of the founding of Villa Regina, the volume "100x100 Villa Regina Italia in Patagonia" was printed, under the patronage of the National Academy of Agriculture, with contributions from the academics who over the years have helped develop relations between the National Academy of Agriculture and the Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (the book is available in the "publications" section of the website). The book was presented both in Villa Regina and, in May 2025, in the Hall of the Cubiculum Artistarum of Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, in the presence of the President of the National Academy of Agriculture and the Minister of Agriculture of the State of Río Negro.
