Yesterday, Impresa Pizzarotti and RFI opened the doors of the Florence High-Speed Rail Link construction site to a group of special guests: a delegation of young Ukrainians who arrived in Italy after fleeing the war and are now living in Milan.

Together with their mothers, they were able to visit the construction site of the new station and discover first-hand how a major infrastructure project is created.

The children took part in a creative workshop, observed the construction site and listened with curiosity and attention to the story of the project told by our colleague Alessandro Zurlo. Through his words, the construction site became a story of people, skills, ingenuity and the future.

The visit was made possible thanks to the collaboration with the Forum Donne association, which has long been involved in solidarity and reception activities for Ukrainian families who have arrived in Italy due to the conflict. It was this association that accompanied the children and their mothers on this day of discovery.

Thanks to this initiative, one of RFI’s “talking construction sites” was transformed for a few hours into something more: a place of encounter, discovery and hope, where these children had the opportunity to learn more about the country that is welcoming them.

For us, it was a powerful reminder of the social value that infrastructure projects can have when they open up to the community, because building also means creating connections between people, as well as between places.