What Makes This Event So Special?
Returning to Reggio! June 15 – 19, 2026
April 2025 realized a dream and fifteen years of effort culminating in the first institute assembling educators from across the globe for four glorious days of learning and collaboration in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The Language of Computation – Constructing Modern Knowledge in Reggio Emilia brought together the powerful ideas of Seymour Papert and learning-by-doing expertise of CMK with the genius and wisdom of our colleagues in Reggio Emilia. We learned a great deal thanks to the trust, energy, and ingenuity of our participants. The success of this rare dialogue with our colleagues at Reggio Children and Fondazione Reggio Children has led to our ability to return to Reggio once again, June 15 – 19, 2026.
One of the lessons we learned during our first institute is unsurprising – quality learning requires time. We desire more time with the brilliant atelieristas of Reggio Emilia and for our hands-on projects.
So, we are adding a day to The Language of Computation institute, making it a five-day professional learning event instead of four. The additional day will allow for greater contemplation and dialogue between all of our stakeholders. One should not be rushed in such a deliberate, thoughtful, and soulful setting. More doing, more dialogue, more contemplation and more collaboration are on the agenda.
You’re invited!
Join us in the birthplace of one of the world’s most influential educational approaches for a transformative experience that bridges timeless pedagogical wisdom with cutting-edge computational possibilities. The Language of Computation institute brings together educators from around the globe in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where for over sixty years visionary educators have demonstrated that children are capable, creative researchers deserving of our highest respect and most thoughtful attention. This unique five-day professional learning adventure combines the profound insights of the Reggio Emilia Approach® with the empowering potential of computation in the hands of learners. Working alongside atelieristas, pedagogistas, and the world-renowned Constructing Modern Knowledge faculty, participants will engage in hands-on project development that challenges false dichotomies between art and science, individual and community, screens and active engagement, while exploring how computational materials can serve children’s natural curiosity and desire to make sense of their world.
This is not another conference where you sit and endure a slideshow. This is an immersive experience in reciprocal learning where you’ll construct knowledge through meaningful projects while developing relationships that will inspire your practice for years to come. We are all learning together! From programming projects that blend art, culture, and geometry to prompt-setting with robotics materials, from linguistic play with probabilistic thinking to knowledge co-construction with artificial intelligence, every moment is designed to help you experience learning the way you aspire for your students.
Our setting in the medieval yet modern city of Reggio Emilia, where the slow food movement originated, reminds us that the best things require time and care. You’ll have opportunities to break bread with educators from diverse contexts, engage in deep conversations about childhood and learning, and return home with both practical tools and a renewed sense of what’s possible when we honor children as competent, creative beings capable of engaging constructively with even the most sophisticated aspects of our contemporary world.
A life-changing week for educators
Participating educators will:
- Learn lessons from the Reggio Emilia Approach®, building on a more than six-decade old legacy of creative, learner-centered, democratic, and aspirational educational practices born in what are frequently recognized as “the best schools in the world.”
- Contribute to the co-construction of “the language of computation,” an acknowledgement of an increasingly complex and technologically world of possibilities for learners of all ages.
- Develop your computational fluency through exciting projects on the frontiers of science, yet situated in a progressive tradition.
- Learn to supercharge project-based learning with computational materials and customize projects for diverse learners of all ages.
- Experience the “city of children” along with its values, culture, hospitality, and ingenuity.
- Appreciate the beauty, subtlety, and sophistication of the Reggio Emilia Approach®.
- Remember the remarkable capacity of children through their eyes, hands, minds, art and the remarkable artifacts displayed in the ateliers.
- Nourish your mind, body, and soul in the heart of the slow food movement.
How this learning adventure differs from other study tours:
- All welcome
This institute is not focused on preschool education, although there are great lessons to be learned from the infant/toddler centers and municipal preschools of Reggio Emilia. Educators of all disciplines and levels will profit from participation in this unique institute. - Project-based learning
Participants will enjoy hands-on experiences with traditional, reclaimed and high-tech materials modeling how modern learning may be supercharged by computation. - Powerful collaboration
Three organizations: Reggio Children, Fondazione Reggio Children, and Constructing Modern Knowledge share their expertise while inviting participants to engage in dialogue around the emerging language of computation.
Rooted in Papert, Piaget, Malaguzzi, and David Hawkins
The Language of Computation institute will include:
- programming experiences combining art, culture, geometry, and design
- linguistic play and probabilistic thinking
- project development and invention with the BBC micro:bit, Hummingbird Robotics Kits, recycled and traditional craft materials
- computational experiments
- “messing about” with artificial intelligence
- practice in effective prompt setting
- microworld development
Mangia!
While educators find nourishment and are revitalized by their time in Reggio Emilia, did we mention the food? Reggio Emilia is not only the epicenter of the culinary slow food movement, but the Emilia Romagna region is the home of lasagna, tortellini, erbazzone, prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, tigelle, tagliatelle, balsamic vinegar, zuppa inglese, and culatello, and so much more more.
Participants will share three meals (formally) as part of the institute, two dinners and a lunch. The opening night’s dinner begins with all of us making fresh pasta, including the local green tortelli, and enjoying a multi-course meal that mixes gastronomy and learning. Chefs who work with Reggio children in what they call the atelier of taste will lead us in a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Our second dinner will be at a spectacular traditional restaurant in the city of Reggio Emilia. Another multi-course feast including erbazzone, fresh pasta, mortadella, Parmigiano Reggiano, and all-you-can eat selections from the meat trolley, will be capped off with a selection of desserts and coffee.
One day’s lunch will be near the Malaguzzi Centre at a remarkable woodfire pizza restaurant where you will enjoy the pick of the menu that will forever change your standards for delicious food.
There are countless places to eat within walking distance of the hotels and educational centres. Participants make friends quickly in such a setting and share all sorts of culinary discoveries at their leisure. There is also a café for drinks, sandwiches, slices of pizza, focaccia, and pastries in the lobby of the Malaguzzi Centre and the the Pause cafeteria in the same facility – all within a 5-minute walk of Caffari, our home base.
Location and schedule information
The schedule is subject to change. Each day will begin at the Caffarri Centre at 9:00 AM.
Two educational venues will be used during the institute
The two locations are separated by a 5-minute walk.
- Caffarri Centre (Ex Mangimificio Caffarri) – Via Flavio Gioia 4 (website)
- Malaguzzi Centre (Centro Internazionale Loris Malaguzzi) – Viale B. Ramazzini, 72/a (website)
Informal Schedule
15 June – Monday – Where to go
The first day of our institute is a full-day with activities scheduled from 9 AM through 10 PM. It will be long, but fun and rewarding. We will be learning together straight through dinner.
8:30 AM If you prefer to walk with a group, there will be a meetup at Hotel Posta (Piazza del Monte 2) to walk to the Caffarri Centre. The walk is approximately 20 minutes.
You do not have to join the group, but please, do not arrive at the Caffarri Centre before 8:45AM.
8:45 AM Registration at Caffarri Centre (Ex Mangimificio Caffarri) – Via Flavio Gioia 4
9:00 AM – Institute begins. We will be moving between Caffarri and the Malaguzzi Centre as the day progresses. We will walk together and no one will get lost! We will end up at the Malaguzzi Centre for the “Atelier of Tastes” experience and dinner to wrap up our day.
5:30 PM – 10 PM Atelier of Taste Experience and Dinner (Pause – Atelier dei Sapori, first floor Malaguzzi Centre)
16 June – Tuesday
Learning program – 9 AM — 6 PM
9:00 AM Caffarri Centre
Institute dinner
8:00 PM Ristorante Canossa (Via Roma, 37) (website)
A walking group to dinner will leave Hotel Posta (Piazza del Monte 2) at 7:45PM. It’s an approximately 7-minute walk.
17 June – Wednesday
Learning program – 9 AM — 5 PM
9:00 AM Caffarri Centre
18 June – Thursday
Learning program – 9 AM — 4 PM
9:00 AM Caffarri Centre
12:00 PM Pizza lunch (five minute walk from learning environment)
4:00 PM We will embark on an excursion in Reggio Emilia (via foot) with dinner on your own afterwards
19 June – Friday
Learning program – 9 AM — 3:30 PM
9:00 AM Caffarri Centre
Details: Monday Evening Atelier of Taste Experience and Dinner
Program:
- 5:30 PM: Welcome on the terrace and brief introduction to Pause Atelier Dei Sapori
- 5:45 PM: Start of the “Atelier on the knowledge and flavors of our territory – Green Tortelli”: Participants, guided by the atelier chefs of Pause Atelier Dei Sapori, will learn how to prepare a traditional Reggio Emilia dish, green tortelli, according to the Pause Atelier Dei Sapori recipe.
- 7:45 PM: End of the atelier
- 8:00 PM: Dinner begins
- 10:00 PM: End of activities
Menu:
- Appetizer served at the center of the table: Parmigiano Reggiano shavings and homemade mustard from Pause, Reggio Emilian erbazzone
- Main course: Green tortelli prepared together
- Dessert: Spoon dessert
- Drinks: Still and sparkling water, Sparkling white wine Spergola l’Emiliana – Cantina Ariola