Non-profit organization founded in February 2001, Centro Studi Villa Montesca develops innovative educational initiatives and offers a broad spectrum of multi-disciplinary research expertise and training activities, closely linked to the dynamics of a European space for professional training, education, cultural and local development. Centro Studi has its headquarters in Villa Montesca (Città di Castello) where in 1901 Baron Leopoldo Franchetti and his wife Alice opened the first country school and where, in 1905, Baroness Alice called Maria Montessori to organise with her a seminar which gave life to the first publication of the Method for Scientific Pedagogy, universally known as the Montessori Method.

The Centre has an international reputation for excellence for research and training in: environmental economy, management, training for trainers, ICT, civil protection and cultural heritage defence, co-operation in the field of education and culture on local, regional and European level.

It plays a key role in the field of education and culture both at national and European level, cooperating with national and foreign researchers and institutions to develop specific methods and tools in education.

Centro Studi Villa Montesca has a wide experience in the management of interdisciplinary, international research and training especially because it has established school and university networks and has advanced partnerships with many institutions to promote and implement European and international projects.

Centro Studi e Formazione Villa Montesca contributed to the start up of the RACCE project and to the first actions foreseen delivering questionnaires to adults and children and singling out their level of awareness about seismic events and volcanic eruptions and so gathering relevant results to contribute to the needs analysis with specific reference to the Italian situation.

The Centre has also defined a group of experts in the field of education, psychology and civil protection, able to contribute each one with a specialized point of view to the research and identification of the unexpected emotions and behaviours of children in front of seismic events and to the study of specific edutainment activities addressed to the project target groups.

The RACCE project has been introduced to the target groups receiving great adhesion, positive feedbacks and expression of interest to the project content, objectives and to the activities that will be developed in its framework.

Within RACCE, Centro Studi e Formazione Villa Montesca is actually and will continue contributing with its wide experience in the Civil Protection field with the rest of the partnership, and share with all the project partners their  specific and  fundamental know-how. The Centre expects to develop, together with the RACCE Partners, innovative methodologies for addressing the problems that occur in case of an earthquake and the devastating effects caused by earthquakes and support children especially.