The venue of the EIUC is the graceful Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò, situated on the lagoon side of the Lido of Venice. The Monastery was founded in the 11th century and transformed into a Renaissance cloister in the 16th century. After the suppression of the Benedictine order in 1770, the monastery was re-opened by Franciscan monks for educational purposes.
In 1998, the City of Venice generously conceded use of this architectural and historical monument, as the seat of EIUC.
Study facilities
The Monastery of San Nicolò has proven to be an ideal site for EIUC and today features a broad range of rooms and facilities which contribute to maximizing the many activities organised by EIUC.
The rooms include the bright and spacious Aula Magna where E.MA students follow most of their classes and present working group results in plenary sessions, as well as several Seminar and Meeting Rooms providing a conducive venue for workshops, group activities, and extra-curricular activities.
Not only are these venues appreciated by the E.MA students, but their welcoming atmosphere and ease of access are equally conducive to diplomatic and academic conferences as well as a variety of specialised training activities, as are increasingly being organised by EIUC.
The common areas of the Monastery include 3 other rooms on the ground floor: the Gandhi room; the music room; and the TV room. Such rooms must be kept quiet and tidy at all times. A recreational room, equipped with coffee, beverage and snack dispensers, is located on the ground floor.
The first floor common areas include the PC room, the wireless/study room, the seminar room (International Democracy room) located in the northern wing of the monastery, and the Human Development room (also called the 'chimney' room). The latter are equipped with desks and chairs and are at the students' disposal for silent study and meditation.
Located on the first floor, the Computer Room features around 25 personal computers available for use by E.MA students. All PCs run Windows XP as an operating system.
A study wireless area furthermore allows for wireless internet access for students and meeting participants working on their own notebook computers. Wireless access is also available from the reading room next to the Library and part of the cloister.
Internet accesses available to the students as well as the wireless connection are subject to the Italian anti-terrorism regulations, according to which EIUC - similarly to any manager of an internet point - is responsible for keeping track of the log files of all users of its IT network. Accordingly each Masterino/a will be provided with a username and password which is strictly personal and he/she will need it for connecting to internet.
An important reminder: no food nor drinks are allowed in the whole monastery and in particular in the computer room.
The Global Civil Society Room is a particularly attractive venue especially designed for meetings of the EIUC and E.MA Governing Bodies but increasingly being used for other meetings and seminars as well.
