The University of the Republic of San Marino participated in the design and production of masks for the deaf. These masks, in addition to providing protection, also allow lip reading thanks to a transparent panel. The initiative, already developed in Venice, will involve the San Marino area through the selection of a series of small San Marino artisanal businesses, such as textile workshops, which will participate in a "widespread atelier." Through this initiative, the University aims to generate benefits such as generating economic activity and transferring skills, with a view to a system in which the masks will be produced in the Republic and distributed to the people of San Marino.
"Our activity," explains Riccardo Varini, from the University's Design degree program, "supported the urgent need to implement good civic awareness practices in real time." He specifies that this was a "concrete response to the fragility of those considered marginalized. People with hearing disabilities suddenly find themselves unable to communicate when wearing a standard face mask."
Hence, an initiative involving, in addition to the University of San Marino, the University of Bologna and the Filò Cooperative – Emporio Etico, owned by Massimo Renno, the project's creator. Joining Renno were members of the University of San Marino's Community Design Research Unit: Riccardo Varini, Massimo Brignoni, Karen Venturini, Naomi Galavotti, Andreas Sicklinger, Tommaso Lucinato, Matteo Giustozzi, Emanuele Lumini, and Alessio Abdolahian. "With this project," the latter emphasizes, "the mask becomes the vehicle for building a synergistic network between artisans and producers, bringing wealth to the local area, to a community that has faced an exceptional period with the COVID-19 emergency."
On the San Marino front, the operation involves the Sammarinese Deaf Sports and Cultural Association and the San Marino Pharmaceutical Center, along with the Ministry of Health.
Also listed as partners in the Fab-Lab project are Castelfranco Veneto, with professor Mirco Piccin, and Emergenza Sordi APS, of which Luca Rotondi is president.
The initiative will be presented to Their Excellencies the Captains Regent during an audience scheduled for today at the Palazzo Pubblico. Among those attending will be academics, institutional representatives, and representatives from the world of associations.
