Four weeks after arson destroyed Città della Scienza in Naples, Italy, an event was held 9 April 2013 at European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, to raise awareness among institutions and opinion leaders and declare a desire to reconstruct Città. The proceedings were packed with people – many of whom traveled from Italy to show support for Città.

Vice-President of Ecsite, Brigitte Coutant, Universcience, Paris, spoke briefly at the event to show support for Città on behalf of Ecsite. The event highlighting the role of science centres in Europe as places for citizen engagement with science and technology as well as being agents of development in cities and regions.

The resolve to rebuild Città exactly where it used to stand, in the Bagnoli district of Naples, was shared by all speakers at the event.

A suggestion was made by MEP Erminia Mazzoni to use the European structural funds not spent by the Italian southern regions to rebuild Città. Vicenzo Lipardi, President of the IDIS Foundation – the parent organization of Città read from a letter written by Ciro, a young Neapolitan student. An excerpt from the letter, translated from Italian to English, reads:

“I was almost crying when I heard that Città was burning. It was decided to build Città in Bagnoli to scare the criminals who are afraid of culture. Culture is able to take away people from criminality. They burned the materials but not our ideas. I will never become a criminal because I will study and work. To become good persons you should always remember these words: you need to respect the law and say NO to organized crime”

A sense of initiative came from Members of European Parliament (MEPs) who spoke at the event: They pledged to send one MEP to Naples every three months until spring 2014 (the term of this legislation) to check the Città site and see how rebuilding is proceeding.

MEPs said that something good came from the Città tragedy: a unified Italy against criminality. The sentiment that Italian MEPs think Città belongs to both Naples and Italy was reflected during the proceedings.