With the tents taken down and the Ciarulla area handed back, the Union of Civil Protection Volunteers (Unione Volontari di Protezione Civile) can now take stock of “Scuole in campo” (“Schools in the field”), held for the first time in San Marino in the grounds in front of the Tiro a Volo shooting range.
The results have exceeded expectations: nearly eight hundred pupils visited the camp, with enthusiastic feedback from teachers, families and children alike, impressed by the quality of the workshops and by what was described as flawless organisation.
Behind the two weeks the site was open lies a far longer commitment — almost a month between planning, setup, dismantling and sanitisation. It was made possible by dozens of volunteers working across every department, from logistics to catering, from canine units to scouts, from radio amateurs to firefighting teams, right down to those handling communications, drone footage and technical equipment.
Working alongside them were the Civil Protection Service, the Fire Brigade Section of the Civil Police, the Uniformed Militia (Milizie Uniformate) and the Red Cross. It was a deployment that demonstrated, beyond the exercise itself, the country’s ability to mobilise in a coordinated way.
The project also had a regional dimension. San Marino volunteers worked side by side with colleagues from the Montefeltro area, the Marche and Romagna regions, and the occasion was also used to renew the cooperation agreement with the Marche Region.
Crucial support came from the Secretariats of State for Internal Affairs, Education, Industry and Health, as well as from numerous private sponsors.
The closing ceremony on Sunday 25 October was also attended by the Captains Regent, Gerardo Giovagnoli and William Casali.
It is no coincidence that this assessment comes exactly sixty years after the Florence flood of 4 November 1966, when the young volunteers who went down in history as the “mud angels” laid, through their spontaneous dedication, the foundations of civil protection volunteering.
In San Marino, that tradition is younger, but it has already proven its worth, from the recent floods in Romagna, Tuscany and Emilia to this latest project.
Investing in a culture of prevention starting from schools means shaping more aware citizens. Many are already calling for a new edition — a request the institutions would do well to embrace.
