The first day of the fifth edition of the international congress "Italian Diasporas - Representations and Issues of Identity" concluded yesterday at the Galata Museo del Mare. The event, running until December 7, is held at the MEI (National Museum of Italian Emigration) and the Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa. More than 80 experts from various countries, including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United States, Italy, Kenya, Germany, Uruguay, France, and Canada, will discuss the state of the art in the field of Italian emigration and migration museums. The ongoing project was initiated in 2018 in response to the appeals of numerous organizations that specialize in Italian emigration worldwide, including the Muntref - Museo de la Inmigración in Buenos Aires, the John D. Calandra Italoamericano Institute - Queens College in New York, and the Co.Aa in Melbourne that, in collaboration with the MEI in Genoa, has decided to do in-depth research on the global status of the Italian diaspora, a diaspora that still exists today. “Italian Diasporas is a key event that can foster valuable synergies, particularly in connection with the Roots Tourism project, which we, as Italea, are promoting globally with significant success", noted Luigi Maria Vignali, Director-General for Italians Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. He added, “Italea engages communities abroad in rediscovering their places of origin, small villages, and Italian communities from which emigrants departed. This initiative was strongly supported by Minister Tajani. The website italea.com, launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to develop roots tourism, has already been visited by over one million and one hundred thousand people, with many requests; 5% of the descendants of Italians abroad who visit it want to be able to obtain a personalized tourist itinerary to rediscover their roots or a genealogical reconstruction", Vignali concluded.