Max Weber Fellow Aitana Guia wins Sangalli Institute scholarship

Max Weber Fellow Aitana Guia has secured a prestigious Cities and Religion scholarship from Florence’s Sangalli Institute.

Her winning project was entitled Cities and the peaceful coexistence of the faiths: best practices, past and present.

Speaking to EUI Life, Guia explains ‘’my project explores the policy strategies for dealing with religious pluralism and cultural diversity of four Italian (Rome, Milano, Bologna, and Firenze) and four Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Granada). It aims to highlight best practices at the local level in defending the rights of religious minorities and promoting cultural diversity for the benefit of all residents.’’

Guia was formally presented with the scholarship by the Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella and the President of the Sangalli Institute during the Global Mayors Conference ‘Unity in Diversity’, which took place in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence early this November.

Guia is a Max Weber Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre, working on European migration and nationalism.  She tells EUI Life “This scholarship will provide me with an opportunity to engage in policy evaluation and cultural diversity management that I hope will lead to further consulting and policy research down the road.“

The Sangalli Institute, based in Florence, was founded in 2014 to foster scholarship on religious history and cultures, regardless of religious denomination. It aims to encourage inter-faith dialogue and support research in socio-religious studies.