The third edition of the “Geographies of the Heart” Award is underway
The Istituto Comprensivo Rende Centro–San Fili, in collaboration with the Il Sileno Association and publishing house, announces the third edition of the “Geografie del Cuore” Literary Prize, a competition dedicated to the young generations with the aim of promoting writing, artistic expression and conscious reflection on the values of peace, relationship and harmony between human beings and the environment.
The theme 2025/2026: “Spins of Peace”
For the 2025/2026 school year, the Award proposes the theme “Spins of Peace”, a poetic and symbolic invitation to question the profound energies that fuel individual and collective growth. Inspired by Nature as the Great Teacher, the competition recalls the image of the tree and its lifeblood: a silent force that unites roots and branches, making growth, regeneration and coexistence in balance possible.
From this perspective, peace is not just the absence of conflict, but becomes balance, reciprocity and respect, the ability to flourish without taking away space from others, intertwining one’s roots with those of the community and the territory.
The word as a tool of awareness
«The “Geographies of the Heart” Award represents a cultural experience of great value, because it restores centrality to the word as an instrument of care, awareness and responsibility towards the world», states Francesco De Pascale, director of Il Sileno Edizioni. «Supporting this project means believing in an education that combines geography, imagination and civil commitment, helping younger people to interpret places, internal and external, as spaces of relationship and peace».
Talk about your own internal geographies
Through words, images and creativity, students are called to explore and talk about their own internal geographies: memories, places, affections and energies that nourish their human and artistic journey.
«With the theme “Lins of Peace” we invite girls and boys to listen to what deeply nourishes them», explains Maria Todaro, artistic director of the Award. «As the sap passes through the tree, so an invisible energy passes through each of us: recognizing it means learning to grow without breaking, to create without destroying, to live in harmonious relationships with others and with the Earth».
Who can participate and deadlines
Participation in the Award is open:
– to students of the lower secondary school in the province of Cosenza;
– to the fifth classes of the Primary School of the IC Rende Centro, limited to the Illustration section.
The entries must be received by midnight on 8 February 2026, according to the methods indicated in the official announcement.
A project that looks to the future
Also in this third edition, the “Geographies of the Heart” Literary Prize is confirmed as an educational and cultural space of expressive freedom and listening, capable of enhancing the gaze of the new generations and of cultivating, through school, authentic sources of peace.