Atoll project offshore of Riccione should take into account 1968’s Esperanto experience.
«The so-called “Isle of Roses” (from the name of the Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa who realized it in 1968), which official language was Esperanto, is probably difficult to replicate in its autonomistic avantgarde, but the new atoll projected by the sheiks offshore of Riccione should take into account what an innovative piece of history it recalls». This is how Giorgio Pagano, leader of Esperanto Radical Association (ERA) commented on the news of building from zero a 1 km diameter atoll in the middle of the Adriatic See (3 air miles far from Viale Ceccarini), that will host a harbor, hotels, research centers, parks and shops for a population of approaximately 3,000 inhabitants».
«We ask that in February, once the project will be presented during a meeting at the University of Ferrara, the Esperanto roots recalled by it will be given importance» Pagano continued. «As Esperanto Radical Association we ask the project will not turn into one of the old economic and financial speculations but represents the re-discovery of a piece of Italian history fairly open to the world and unique.
The atoll should include, in addition to the infrastructures foreseen, the first European and feferal school of International Language but also streets and squares recalling the Esperanto tradition of the site. It would be of great help if, from the Arab world, always criticized for its extremisism, came the initiation of a process leading to linguistic and cultural democracy to protect the world’s linguistic ecosystem».
Rome, 30/11/2012
