Reggio Children Foundation
An Italian nonprofit foundation that promotes the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education internationally.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Reggio Children Foundation, formally Fondazione Reggio Children – Centro Loris Malaguzzi, is an international nonprofit foundation based in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Its purpose is to promote, develop, and extend the Reggio Emilia approach to education, a pedagogical tradition associated with the municipal infant-toddler centres and preschools of Reggio Emilia and with the work of educator and theorist Loris Malaguzzi. The foundation was established in September 2011 through the transformation of the Friends of Reggio Children International Association and is dedicated to Malaguzzi's memory. The foundation emerged from a wider civic and educational ecosystem rather than from a conventional commercial brand. Its founding partners included organizations connected with the Reggio Emilia approach in Europe, North America, and South America, together with Italian cooperatives, a philanthropic foundation, the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, and the Feltrinelli group's EFFE 2005. The North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, Reggio Emilia Institutet in Sweden, Red Solare Argentina, Cooperativa Italiana di Ristorazione, Cooperativa Sociale Coopselios, Fondazione Manodori, EFFE 2005 Gruppo Feltrinelli, and the Comune di Reggio Emilia were identified as founding partners. The foundation also holds a 46% stake in Reggio Children Srl, an affiliated company established in 1994 to support the dissemination of the Reggio Emilia experience. The Reggio Emilia approach views children as rights-bearing, capable participants and as active producers of knowledge and culture. Learning is understood as a social, collaborative, exploratory, and expressive process rather than as the passive receipt of predetermined information. The foundation's work therefore extends beyond teacher training or the distribution of educational materials. It supports research, international exchange, cultural initiatives, professional development, educational documentation, and projects that connect pedagogy with architecture, technology, environmental responsibility, food, wellbeing, play, and civic participation. Its activities are associated with the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre in Reggio Emilia, completed in 2012. The centre provides an international meeting place and a setting for exhibitions, conferences, research, professional activities, and educational exchange. The foundation's principal areas of attention include participation and the common good; learning contexts and technologies; the relationship between education and politics; play and learning; sustainability; and taste, food culture, and wellbeing. The foundation is also connected with several continuing initiatives. Remida promotes the creative reuse of industrial surplus and discarded materials by collecting, organizing, and redistributing them for educational and cultural work. Educa is described as a joint project with the European Union focused on the role of communities in improving education for children from three to fourteen years of age. The Loris Malaguzzi Award recognizes contributions to the Reggio Emilia approach, Malaguzzi's ideas, and children's education more broadly. In 2017, Pause – Atelier dei sapori Srl became an affiliate company wholly owned by the foundation, linking its activities with research into food, taste, and wellbeing. In 2020, the foundation adapted its bylaws to qualify as an Italian E.T.S., or Third Sector Entity, and renewed its visual identity. It remains an active nonprofit organization whose international role is based on sharing a locally developed educational experience through partnerships, research, cultural exchange, and practice. Its work is best understood as educational and civic infrastructure rather than as a consumer-facing product brand.
History
The Reggio Children Foundation was established in Reggio Emilia in 2011 to promote the Reggio Emilia approach internationally and to carry forward the educational legacy of Loris Malaguzzi. The foundation's institutional history is rooted in the municipal education system of Reggio Emilia, which developed after the Second World War and became internationally associated with a view of children as capable, rights-bearing participants in learning and community life. The local system reached an early institutional milestone in 1963 with the creation of the Robinson Municipal Preschool. In 1971, Reggio Emilia opened its first municipal infant-toddler centre, Centre Cervi. These institutions formed part of a broader educational experiment in which teachers, children, families, designers, and the municipality worked together to develop learning environments and practices based on observation, documentation, cooperation, and research. The approach became internationally prominent in 1991, when Newsweek highlighted Reggio Emilia's municipal preschools as an outstanding example of early childhood education. The international and organizational infrastructure surrounding the approach expanded during the 1990s. Reggio Children Srl was established in 1994 as an affiliated company of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, with a broad shareholder group. In the same year, the Friends of Reggio Children International Association was created with the participation of volunteers who supported the approach and its international relationships. In 1996, Reggio Emilia established Remida, the Creative Recycling Centre. Remida developed a model for collecting and redistributing industrial surplus materials for creative and educational use, later inspiring related centres in Italy and other countries. Further institutional development followed in 2003, when the Preschools and Infant-toddler Centres – Institution of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia was created as an instrumentality of the municipality. In September 2011, the Friends association was transformed into the Reggio Children Foundation. The foundation holds 46% of Reggio Children Srl and became a principal nonprofit institution for supporting research, educational exchange, cultural activities, and the international dissemination of the Reggio Emilia approach. Its founding partners included international Reggio organizations, Italian cooperatives, a philanthropic foundation, the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, and EFFE 2005 Gruppo Feltrinelli. The Loris Malaguzzi International Centre was completed in 2012. Named for the educator whose ideas are closely associated with the Reggio Emilia approach, the centre serves as a place for meetings, exhibitions, conferences, research, documentation, and professional learning. It helped give the foundation a physical base for its international work and for the exchange of educational practices. The foundation's research agenda addresses the relationship between education and civic life. Its stated areas include participation and the common good; learning contexts and technologies; education as a political and community space; play and learning; environmental, social, and economic sustainability; and food, taste, and wellbeing. These themes reflect the approach's broad interpretation of education, in which architecture, materials, relationships, culture, and the organization of community life all influence learning. The foundation's continuing projects include Remida, which promotes creative reuse and the educational value of discarded materials; Educa, a project described as involving the European Union and focused on community responsibility for the quality of education for children aged three to fourteen; and the Loris Malaguzzi Award, which recognizes contributions to the Reggio Emilia approach, Malaguzzi's thought, or children's education. In 2017, Pause – Atelier dei sapori Srl became an affiliate company and the foundation became its sole shareholder, extending the institutional portfolio into food culture and sensory wellbeing. In 2020, the foundation adapted its bylaws to qualify as an E.T.S., an Italian Third Sector Entity, and renewed its visual identity. The organization remains an active nonprofit foundation based in Reggio Emilia. Its role is not primarily the sale of consumer goods, but the development and circulation of educational knowledge through research, partnerships, professional exchange, cultural programming, and projects that connect children’s learning with participation, sustainability, creativity, and wellbeing.
- 2020
Third Sector Entity bylaws and visual identity renewal
[1]The foundation adapted its bylaws for E.T.S. status and renewed its visual identity.
- 2017
Pause – Atelier dei sapori becomes wholly owned affiliate
[1]Pause – Atelier dei sapori Srl became an affiliate company of the foundation, with the foundation as sole shareholder.
- 2012
Loris Malaguzzi International Centre completed
[1]The international centre was completed in Reggio Emilia as a venue for educational research, exchange, exhibitions, and professional activities.
- 2011
Reggio Children Foundation launched
[1]The Friends of Reggio Children International Association was transformed into the foundation, which took on an international nonprofit role dedicated to the Reggio Emilia approach and Loris Malaguzzi's legacy.
- 2003
Municipal preschools and infant-toddler centres institution created
[1]The Municipality of Reggio Emilia established a dedicated institution for its preschools and infant-toddler centres.
- 1996
Remida founded
[1]Reggio Emilia founded Remida, a creative-recycling centre whose model later inspired related centres in Italy and internationally.
- 1994
Reggio Children Srl and Friends of Reggio Children established
[1]Reggio Children Srl was formed as a municipal affiliate, while the Friends of Reggio Children International Association was created to support the approach through volunteer participation.
- 1991
International recognition of Reggio Emilia preschools
[1]Newsweek brought broad international attention to Reggio Emilia's municipal preschools and their educational practices.
- 1971
First municipal infant-toddler centre established
[1]Centre Cervi became Reggio Emilia's first municipal infant-toddler centre.
- 1963
First municipal preschool established
[1]Reggio Emilia established the Robinson Municipal Preschool, an early institutional milestone in the development of its municipal early-childhood education system.
Products and positioning
An international nonprofit educational foundation that combines civic participation, research, professional exchange, and cultural programming to advance the Reggio Emilia approach and child-centred learning.
Educational and cultural centre · 2012
Loris Malaguzzi International Centre
A Reggio Emilia-based international venue for conferences, exhibitions, research, documentation, professional learning, and exchange concerning early childhood education. The centre provides a physical setting in which educators, researchers, families, and other participants can encounter the Reggio Emilia approach and examine the relationship among pedagogy, architecture, materials, culture, and community life.
Creative-reuse educational initiative · 1996
Remida
Remida collects, organizes, and distributes surplus and discarded materials from manufacturing businesses for creative, educational, and cultural use. The initiative promotes a culture of reuse and treats industrial offcuts as resources for experimentation, expression, and learning. Its model originated in Reggio Emilia and has inspired a wider network of related Remida centres.
Education and community project
Educa
An education-focused project described as a collaboration with the European Union. Educa addresses the role of the wider community in improving the quality of education for children between three and fourteen years of age, reflecting the foundation's view that education is a shared civic responsibility rather than an activity confined to schools.
Educational recognition
Loris Malaguzzi Award
An award recognizing contributions to the promotion of the Reggio Emilia approach, the educational thought of Loris Malaguzzi, or children's education more generally. It extends the foundation's mission by giving public recognition to work that advances child-centred learning and the cultural and civic significance of education.
Educational research
Research on taste and wellbeing
A continuing area of research concerning food, food culture, taste, and wellbeing in children and adults. The work treats sensory experience and eating culture as part of education and community life, and is institutionally connected with the foundation's relationship with Pause – Atelier dei sapori.
Marketing campaigns
- 1996Remida creative-reuse initiative
Italy · International
The Remida initiative promotes the collection and educational reuse of materials discarded by manufacturing businesses. It links environmental awareness, creativity, and learning and has served as the basis for a network of related centres.
Outcome. The model inspired Remida centres in other parts of Italy and around the world.
- Educa
Europe
A project undertaken with the European Union to promote community involvement in improving education for children aged three to fourteen.
Brand decisions
2020
Adapt bylaws for Third Sector Entity statusStrategyBackground
Changes in Italy's third-sector framework provided a basis for qualifying eligible nonprofit organizations as E.T.S. entities.
Action taken
The foundation adapted its bylaws so that it could be considered an E.T.S., or Third Sector Entity, and renewed its visual identity.
Aftermath
The organization continued its nonprofit activities under an updated legal and visual framework.
2017
Pause – Atelier dei sapori added as a wholly owned affiliateM&ABackground
The foundation's research agenda includes food, taste, and wellbeing as educational and community concerns.
Action taken
Pause – Atelier dei sapori Srl became an affiliate company with the foundation as its sole shareholder.
Aftermath
The foundation's organizational portfolio expanded to include a dedicated company connected with food culture and taste.
2011
Create a dedicated international foundationStrategyBackground
The Friends of Reggio Children International Association had supported the international community around the Reggio Emilia approach. A dedicated foundation was created to give this work a more permanent institutional structure.
Action taken
The association was transformed into Fondazione Reggio Children, with a mission focused on promoting the Reggio Emilia approach and preserving the legacy of Loris Malaguzzi.
Aftermath
The foundation became an international nonprofit institution and took a 46% holding in Reggio Children Srl.
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