The 18th NAREA Summer Conference

The board and staff of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance welcome you to our 18th NAREA Summer Conference, “Designing Spaces of Creative Freedom: Furthering Relationships, Knowledge, and Innovation,” with open arms. After three years of physical separation, we are delighted to be sitting next to colleagues, talking in person, and thinking together once again.

This year, we celebrate 20 years since the formation of NAREA, a network of educators, parents, and advocates seeking to elevate the quality of life and the quality of schools and centers for children. Together with Reggio Children, we collaborate to offer innovative professional development experiences, bringing together dedicated educators across North America to promote and defend the rights of children, families, and teachers of all cultures.

So, with great pleasure and gratitude, we welcome Alessandra Braglia, Marco Spaggiari, Simona Spaggiari, and interpreter Jane McCall from Reggio Emilia, Italy. Through their sharing and exchange, we continue to build strong interpretations of the values, philosophies, and experiences of Reggio Emilia’s municipal infant-toddler centers and schools of childhood.

Like many networks within North America, Atlanta benefits from the volunteerism and dedication of those who work to bring about a future filled

with hope. Project Infinity is a collaborative, longitudinal, action research project involving schools for young children in Atlanta, Georgia, and Greenville, South Carolina, which endeavors to connect with Reggio-inspired schools in the broader community. They hope that all educators and families share a bond and belief that the capability to think in collaboration with one another will create possibilities for evolving education and life. We thank Project Infinity for their strong organizational support of the 2022 NAREA summer conference, which includes two exhibitions and corresponding ateliers.

Through our professional development projects, we encounter a host of schools at varying points of their journey willing to open their doors, expose their work, and welcome the participation of visitors. This development style has been introduced to us by the only “Reggio schools” of Reggio Emilia, Italy. To be continually encouraged to find our own unique identities as schools in different communities, worthy of our own identity, is to see how much the attitudes of research and innovation, rather than prescriptive dogma, form the message of Reggio Emilia.

Please enjoy this time of being together in relationship and connection, walking bravely towards a better future for our children, our communities, and ourselves.