Rondine in the South Caucasus to Select the New Students of the World House

Between 11 and 16 May, two delegations from the organisation met candidates, institutions, local partners and Rondini d’Oro in Armenia and Azerbaijan

Rondine travelled to Armenia and Azerbaijan from 11 to 16 May for two missions dedicated to selecting the young people who will join the next generation of the World House, the international programme that each year welcomes students from contexts marked by conflict, tension or social fracture to the Cittadella della Pace.

The missions, held in Yerevan and Baku, marked an important step in Rondine’s work in the South Caucasus. On the one hand, they focused on meeting candidates and launching the selection process; on the other, they strengthened relations with institutions, civil society organisations, youth groups and Rondini d’Oro who have returned to their countries after their experience at the Cittadella della Pace.

In Armenia, from 11 to 15 May, the delegation composed of Luca Roti, Laura Coser, Mariam Babayan and Benedetta Merlino worked in Yerevan, meeting young Armenian candidates for the World House. After arriving in the capital, the mission entered its core phase on Tuesday 12 May with a meeting with Maria Karapetyan, a Rondine d’Oro and now a member of the Armenian Parliament, a significant example of the link between the educational experience at Rondine and civic and institutional engagement in one’s own country. On the same day, the delegation presented Rondine to the candidates and held the first selection interviews, which continued on Wednesday 13 May.

Listening to the candidates was the heart of the mission: not a mere procedure, but the first step in a possible educational journey founded on responsibility, trust and the creative transformation of conflict. In Armenia, the delegation met young people carrying profound questions about their own future and that of their country, confirming the value of Rondine’s work in accompanying new generations capable of refusing to remain trapped within inherited divisions.

On Thursday 14 May, the mission also took on an institutional and territorial dimension, with a meeting with the Italian Ambassador to Armenia, Alessandro Ferrante, focused on the bilateral relationship between Italy and Armenia and on the role of civil society. The day continued with meetings with Armenian Progressive Youth and the Youth Opportunities Club NGO, two organisations committed to working with younger generations, followed by a session dedicated to the Leaders for Peace campaign together with the Rondini d’Oro present in the country. The mission concluded on Friday 15 May with a meeting with the Democracy Development Foundation.

At the same time, from 12 to 16 May, Rondine was in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a delegation composed of Mauro D’Andrea, Valentina Pierucci and Zohra Maharramova. Also in this case, the work had two main goals: to meet and select candidates for the World House and to consolidate the network of relationships built over the years in the South Caucasus, also thanks to the presence of the Rondini d’Oro active in the region.

After travelling from Rome to Baku, on Wednesday 13 May the delegation presented Rondine’s World House programme and held interviews with the young candidates. In Azerbaijan as well, the selection process was first and foremost a time for personal encounter, storytelling and dialogue: an opportunity to recognise in young people the willingness to engage in a demanding educational path, one that asks them to go through conflict without reproducing it.

In the following days, the delegation met several institutional and civil society interlocutors. On Thursday 14 May, meetings were held with the Delegation of the European Union, the Topchubashov Center and the Italy-Azerbaijan University at ADA University in Baku. On Friday 15 May, the delegation met the Embassy of Italy, with the participation of Riccardo Cursi, and in the evening gathered with the Rondini d’Oro present in Azerbaijan for an update on the Leaders for Peace campaign.

The two missions confirmed the strategic value of Rondine’s work in the South Caucasus, a region where building educational, civic and institutional relationships remains essential to forming young people capable of transforming conflict into responsibility, dialogue and the possibility of change.

The missions also made it possible to observe first-hand the historical phase Armenia and Azerbaijan are experiencing following the Joint Declaration signed in Washington on 8 August 2025. This development opened a new stage in the process of normalisation between the two countries and may, it is hoped, lead to the signing and full implementation of a peace treaty.

This is a complex and still fragile process, yet one deeply felt by both sides. It involves not only the institutional level, but also the capacity of civil societies to accompany and sustain the building of trust over time. In this scenario, Rondine intends to continue offering its contribution by strengthening bonds between people and communities and by creating spaces for dialogue, responsibility and encounter, starting from its educational work with young people and from the network of Rondini d’Oro present in the region.

The exchange with the Rondini d’Oro gave the missions a concrete sense of continuity. Those who have lived the World House experience return to their own contexts bringing with them new skills, relationships and responsibilities. For Rondine, this remains a decisive passage: education does not end with the time spent at the Cittadella della Pace, but continues in the territories, where each former student can play an active role in processes of dialogue and social reconstruction.