An intensive Q&A between students and twenty or so Ambassadors on duty across the globe, was the concept of the social media campaign dubbed #ChiediallAmbasciatore [#AsktheAmbassador] that reached out to students to bring them close to the realm of diplomacy using unconventional channels, on the occasion of the Conference of Italian Ambassadors, scheduled to take place at the Farnesina.
The result is approximately 20 one-minute videos using a contemporary and informal language to describe on social media, day after day, the upcoming Rome Conference scheduled for 24, 25 and 26 July. This communication campaign was accomplished in cooperation with Facebook Italia and Global Action, the non-profit organisation which takes to schools the ‘Diplomacy in Education’ programme promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the morning of July 24, at the ‘Diplomacy for Italy’ event preceding the opening of the Conference of Italian Ambassadors at the Auditorium di Rome, a video will be screened showing some frames of the campaign to an audience of youngsters who participated in the initiative.
The questions asked by students range from the most personal issues to those regarding international theatres of crisis. Italy’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Maria Angela Zappia, was addressed by Giulia with a question on whether it was easy or not to reconcile family and professional life, while Vittoria engaged in a conversation with the Ambassador to Afghanistan, Roberto Cantone, on the presence of Italian soldiers in the country. The Italian Ambassador in Washington D.C., Armando Varricchio, shared with Daniele the pride of being present on the premises of NASA when the space probe Juno – carrying a considerable amount of Italian technology – entered into Jupiter’s orbit, while Pasquale Terracciano, Ambassador in Moscow, recalled the extensive work accomplished in Italian missions abroad to promote the internationalisation of Italian enterprises.
Watch the videos at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9zh4eHRSCDky2GPXeb23B3nmohDfrrbW
