Kate Middleton to visit pioneering Italian schools funded by WW2 scrap metal: report

Kate Middleton will see how in the years ‌after World War II communities transformed abandoned military equipment into a globally influential model of early‑years education on ​her trip to northern Italy next week, Britain’s.

According to Reuters news agency, the visit will take Princess Kate to Reggio Emilia, where local residents, many of them women, helped finance some of Italy’s first nursery schools after the war ​by selling the scrap metal from equipment left behind by retreating German forces.

Those early efforts laid the ​foundations of the educational "Reggio Emilia approach," now influential worldwide and aligned with Kate’s focus on ⁠children’s social and emotional wellbeing.

The wife of heir to the throne Prince William and mother of three launched ​the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in 2021 to bring together experts and research in the field.

The trip, running ​from May 13 to May 14, will be Kate’s first official overseas visit since completing cancer treatment.

"Some time ago, British representatives visited our city and our early childhood education services, and shortly afterwards we heard of the Princess’s interest in coming to see ​us," Marwa Mahmoud, Reggio Emilia’s councillor for education, told Reuters.

Italian officials said Kate's interest was focused on the historical roots of Reggio’s schools, ​their public character, the role of women, the link between nature and education, and strong community involvement.