The “Renaissance for Children”—Joint Education Project by China-Italy Philanthropy Families was officially launched at the rural remote Motai Center School of Ledu District, Haidong City, Qinghai Province of China on November 26th, 2020.
Student participants from local schools
The project is co-funded by Laoniu Brother & Sister Foundation in China and Fondazione Zegna in Italy, internationally coordinated by East-West Philanthropy Forum and TOChina Hub, primarily implemented by China Development Research Foundation with Sun Future Foundation as the co-executive partner in China. Huizhi Social Work Service Center provides professional service.
It aims at combining art education and gender equality for children in the poverty-stricken areas in China and providing an innovative and effective response to the latest call for rural revitalization, art education and gender equality by the Chinese government. Art education is proven to be the key for improving the creative thinking and critical thinking of children and gender equality is crucial to empower the kids and maximize their potentials.
It is backed up by the mature curriculum of “Enlightenment of Love” developed by Laoniu Brother & Sister Foundation, integrating with the content of “What Makes a Man” campaign from Ermenegildo Zegna based on the meaning of modern masculinity. It will deliver the one-year themed curricula of art, emotion and gender equality to more than 700 local students, offering them access to discover a broader world and express their emotions through art, assisting them to cultivate gender equality awareness from childhood, and enabling them to gain more comprehensive and fairer opportunities for education.
Anna Zegna, Chair of Fondazione Zegna delivered remarks through video
Anna Zegna, Chair of Zegna Foundation in her video remarks addressed that Zegna believes that giving back plays an essential role in providing opportunities for young people to develop and grow. At this crucial time, it is very important that the young generations are encouraged to believe in themselves and their potentials to enhance their unique talents. This is why we are beyond excited to be supporting this joint project in Qinghai together with Laoniu Brother & Sister Foundation.
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Niu Qiong, Vice Chair of Laoniu Brother & Sister Foundation delivered remarks
Niu Qiong, Vice Chair of Lao Niu Brother & Sister Foundation in her remarks addressed that this is a project all about “Truth, Goodness and Beauty” supported by the joint efforts of Chinese and Italian philanthropic organizations along with Chinese government. She emphasized that the main goal of this pilot project in Western China is to broaden the horizons of the local students through art education and empower them with the capabilities to discover and express their common but previous feelings in daily lives.
The project is an international and innovative collaboration of philanthropic families between the East and the West. In July 2019, Niu Gensheng, Founder of Lao Niu Foundation and Co-Chair of East-West Philanthropy Forum met with Ermenegildo Zegna, CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna and Anna Zegna, Chair of Fondazione Zegna, and reached a consensus that they were willing to cooperate in China and implement innovative philanthropic action together under the assistance and support of East-West Philanthropy Forum, China Development Research Foundation, and TOChina Hub.
On November 6th 2020, the 50th anniversary day of China-Italy diplomatic relations, Niu Ben, Chairman of Laoniu Brother & Sister Foundation, formally signed a Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation with Anna Zegna, to jointly initiate this project as a new practice of cross-cultural philanthropic cooperation.