73332 - STRATEGIE E STRUMENTI DELL'EMPOWERMENT E DELLA CITTADINANZA ATTIVA

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students – they will know the meaning of empowerment and active citizenship – they will know the theorical basis and the referring models of empowerment and of the activa citizenship – they will know good practices of educational actions to promote empowerment and active citizenship – they are able to carry out the work of several local sinergies in order to promote an empowerment perspective for people and communities and the enhancement of encounters with the others, of solidarity. -they will be able to promote the partecipation to active citizenship and to start empowerment operative strategies- they will be able to analyse the debat about the empowerment and the active citizenship topics as main matters of the complex changes of the current society.

Course contents

The profound transformations shaping contemporary societies—including growing inequalities, ecological and digital transitions, migration, increasing cultural diversity, the crisis of democratic participation, and the fragmentation of social ties—require education professionals who are able to understand complexity, mobilise resources, build partnerships, and facilitate processes of change oriented towards social justice, sustainability, and the common good.

Within this context, the course explores transformative educational planning and design as a practice of democratic citizenship capable of fostering empowerment, social innovation, and community development. Transformative educational planning and design is understood as a democratic practice through which individuals, communities, and institutions collaboratively develop responses to emerging needs, generate social innovation, and imagine more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures.

The course examines the relationship between empowerment, active citizenship, educational planning and design, and social innovation. Empowerment is understood as the development of critical awareness, autonomy, agency, and the capacity for collective action, while active citizenship is conceived as a practice of democratic participation, shared responsibility, and care for the common good. This perspective integrates the complementary dimensions of civicness and citizenship, combining knowledge of rights and democratic institutions with a sense of belonging, participation, and the development of social relationships.

Particular attention is devoted to participatory planning, co-design, network-based collaboration, and collaborative governance, recognising educational planning and design as a democratic and collaborative practice that enables communities to identify emerging needs, mobilise local resources, build cross-sector partnerships, and promote social change.

The course focuses in particular on the following areas:

• Pedagogical foundations of democratic citizenship, exploring the relationships among rights, participation, inclusion, and exclusion, with particular attention to emerging forms of citizenship in increasingly global, pluralistic, and rapidly changing societies.
• Empowerment and active citizenship, examined as educational processes that foster autonomy, agency, democratic participation, and the stewardship of the commons.
• Educational planning and design in social and community contexts, with particular attention to interventions involving adolescents, young people, migrants, unaccompanied migrant minors, and other groups experiencing vulnerability and complexity. The course explores participatory planning and co-design methodologies aimed at promoting inclusion, community development, and social innovation.
• Urban regeneration, the commons, and community development, examining the contribution of educational planning and design to place-based regeneration, the development of learning communities, civic participation, and social cohesion.
• The arts, cultural accessibility, and citizenship practices, exploring the role of participatory arts, community theatre, and cultural practices as strategies for inclusion, empowerment, intercultural dialogue, and social transformation.

The course aims to develop the planning, reflective, relational, and ethical competencies required for future education professionals to work effectively in complex contexts, promoting individual and collective empowerment, democratic participation, and social innovation.

Readings/Bibliography

Compulsory textes for all students:

G. Moro, Cittadinanza attiva e qualità della democrazia, Milano, Carocci, 2013 (esclusa la PARTE TERZA)

L. Dallago, Che cos'è l'empowerment, Milano, Carocci, 2006

E. Manzini, Politiche del quotidiano, Città di Castello (PG), Edizioni di Comunità, 2018 or R. Camarlinghi e F. d'Angella, Il lavoro sociale in ottica di comunità. Idee, visioni, metodi di lavoro, Torino, Edizioni Gruppo Abele, 2023. (Purchasable on the site https://www.animazionesociale.it/it-schede-3401-10_lavorosociale_64950023)

One of the following texts at your choice:

F. Faloppa, #Odio. Manuale di resistenza alla violenza delle parole, Milano, Utet, 2020.

F. Faloppa, Disarmare il discorso. Sulla militarizzazione del linguaggio, Firenze, Effequ, 2026.

R. Quaglia, Quartiere educante, Bergamo, Zeroseiup, 2022.

A. Quarta e M. Spanò (a cura di), Beni comuni 2.0. Contro-egemonia e nuove istituzioni, Sesto San Giovanni (MI), Mimesis, 2016.

L. Gobbi, F. Zanetti (a cura di), Teatri re-esistenti. Confronti su teatro e cittadinanze, Pisa, Titivillus, 2011.

E. Ostanel, Spazi fuori dal comune. Rigenerare, includere, innovare, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2017.

H. Jenkins, Culture partecipative e competenze digitali. Media education per il XXI secolo, Milano, Guerini e Associati, 2010.

G. Priulla, C'è differenza. Identità di genere e linguaggi: storie, corpi, immagini e parole, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2013.

G. Priulla, La libertà difficile delle donne. Ragionando di corpi e di poteri, Genova, Settenove, 2016.

G. La Face, Mutilizioni genitali femminili. Oltre il rito e la ferita, Milano, Pubme, 2025.

(The list of optional readings is currently being finalized)

 

ERASMUS STUDENTS:

Erasmus students are kindly request to contact Prof. ssa Federica Zanetti to agree with her a specific programme.

Teaching methods

The course is based on a participatory and active teaching approach. The classroom becomes a place more and more focused on teaching methods and strategies able to encourage and facilitate the learning process in their link with the territory, with what's beyond the classroom. Lectures will be integrated by deepening classes and active role of the students in the analysis of the problems and innovative experiences. Students will be involved through discussions, case studies (also presented as privileged witnesses and experts), cooperative group-works.

In this academic year, the course is included in the University's didactic innovation project (according to the blended learning model), for this reason it will reserve 4 hours for distance learning activities.

The main objective of blended learning lies in encouraging the participation of students/workers in interactive/participatory "classroom" teaching, and allowing training experiences that are logistically difficult to achieve (e.g. comparison between classrooms/teachers/professionals from distant local institutions); guided tours of interesting realities in Italy and abroad, opening of the classroom to professionals from the world of work; group work with the aid of synchronous teaching and digital tools also with a view to expanding transversal skills (e.g. cooperative paper writing, project work, discussion groups).

The course will also be enriched by a series of thematic seminars featuring practitioners, researchers, representatives from third-sector organisations, and professionals leading innovative initiatives. These seminars will serve as a continuous thread throughout the course, providing opportunities for direct engagement with practices, projects, and processes related to social innovation, community development, active citizenship, cultural accessibility, and participatory planning and design. Conceived as spaces for dialogue and critical reflection, the seminars will foster meaningful connections between theory and practice, enabling students to analyse real-world experiences, engage with the challenges of the education profession, and strengthen their ability to understand the complexity of contemporary contexts and to design transformative educational interventions.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of an oral and individual examination (with a vote expressed in thirtieths).

Students are required to register for the examination through the online registration system by the published deadline. Failure to register within the prescribed timeframe may result in exclusion from the examination. Students experiencing technical difficulties that prevent registration must notify the Academic Office without delay, and no later than the official registration deadline. The lecturer reserves the right to decide whether such students may be admitted to the examination.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

During the lectures, technogical devices and material for teamwork will be used. The lectures will be integrated with documentaries and films and deepening classes.

Links to further information

https://youtu.be/FjItl8yJKyg

Office hours

See the website of Federica Zanetti