C9083 - POLITICHE DI INTEGRAZIONE E CITTADINANZA LOCALE (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course explores integration policies by adopting the analytical perspective of local citizenship. By the end of the course, students will be able to apply the tools, concepts, and theories learned to issues of inclusion and exclusion at the local level, to interpret the policies implemented by municipalities, to analyse and understand the problems arising from the decisions made by local administrations, and to critically reflect on different styles of municipal governance as well as on the compatibility between local choices and national and international regulations.

Course contents

The course is intended for students who wish to deepen their understanding of the theoretical and conceptual foundations, as well as the empirical tools, used by contemporary welfare professionals in the design, planning, and implementation of person-centred services at the local level.

Through a combination of lectures followed by thematic seminars, the course will explore the following concepts and related social intervention tools:

• The characteristics of care services within the current welfare landscape;

• The development and governance of multi-actor local care networks;

• The processes and practices of social innovation that have emerged within the welfare sector.

During the seminar sessions, which will feature guest practitioners from local organizations and visits to community-based services, participants will examine a selection of the following topics. The final list of seminar topics may be defined together with the students based on their interests:

• Care and services for older adults with long-term care needs, with particular reference to initiatives developed under Italian Law No. 33/2023;

• Care and services for older adults living alone but remaining independent, from the perspective of preventive and community-based welfare;

• Care and support services for caregivers of older adults;

• Food system governance and care services addressing food-related needs;

• Care and services for adolescents, including initiatives related to the use of urban public spaces;

• Care services designed and delivered through digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

Readings/Bibliography

• Ciarini A., a cura di (2020). Politiche di welfare e investimenti sociali. Il Mulino, Bologna. [Introduzione, cap. 1, 4, 5]
• Ciarini e Neri. 2019. Innovazione sociale, auto-organizzazione e azione pubblica. Integrazione o sostituzione? Nota introduttiva. Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, vol. 1, pp. 9-22.
• Kazepov Y., Cefalo R. (2020). The territorial dimension of social policies, Parolechiave, 2, 85-99.
• Kazepov Y. 2014. From Citizenship to Cit(y)zenship. Cities within multi‐level governance arrangements in Europe, https://shorturl.at/vm9xL .
• Arcidiacono D., Pais I., Zandonai F.. 2021. Plat-firming welfare: trasformazione digitale nei servizi di cura locali, Autonomie locali e servizi sociali, vol. 3, pp. 493-511.
• Aimo N., Cuttica G., Nava L, Pomatto G. 2021. Innovazione sociale e welfare locale: il caso di We.Ca.Re. della Regione Piemonte. Autonomie locali e servizi sociali, vol. 3, pp. 513- 530.
• Busacca M., Da Roit B. 2021. Investire e innovare in un welfare state debole: l’esperienza dei vecchi e dei nuovi operatori sociali. Autonomie locali e servizi sociali, vol 3., pp. 531- 551.
• Podda A., Zurru M. 2021. Progettualità e reti in aree marginali. Processi innovativi nell’organizzazione delle politiche sociali e di sviluppo locale. Autonomie locali e servizi sociali, vol. 3, pp. 553-578.
• Saruis T., Kazepov Y., Boczy T. 2021. Consolidare l’innovazione sociale in contesti diversi di welfare: tra dinamiche trasformative e adattamento. Autonomie locali e servizi sociali, vol. 3, pp. 579-592.

In addition to the readings listed above, students who do not attend the course are also required to prepare the following texts:

• Alteri L., Cirulli A., Raffini L. 2019. L’innovazione sociale urbana tra sperimentazione di nuove forme di governance e disimpegno del welfare. Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, vol. 1, pp. 39-54.
• Dalla Rocca G. 2019. L’amministrazione partecipata, dall’adempimento alla norma all’organizzazione per risultato. Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, vol. 1, pp. 75-90.

Teaching methods

The course is structured around lectures and seminars featuring practitioners from the welfare sector representing a range of organizations.

The first part of the course consists primarily of lectures, with the possibility of incorporating workshop-based sessions, to be discussed with students as the course progresses. This component is expected to account for approximately 30 hours of teaching. Active participation is strongly encouraged: attending students are invited to ask questions, share comments, and contribute their own experiences and prior knowledge throughout the lectures. The aim is to promote collaborative learning, enabling students to develop both a solid understanding of the course material and the confidence to discuss its key concepts critically.

The second part of the course, accounting for approximately the remaining 10 hours, is organized as a series of seminars involving professionals working in the welfare sector. These sessions are intended to deepen students' understanding of the concepts introduced during the lectures by illustrating their practical application. Depending on the progress of the course and the interests of the attending students, there may also be opportunities to visit one or more local welfare services. These field visits will allow students to observe firsthand, beyond the classroom, the physical and relational spaces through which local stakeholders design and deliver person-centred services.

Assessment methods

Attending Students

To be considered an attending student, participation in at least 80% of the classes is required, including seminar sessions and any scheduled field visits.

The final grade is based on two assessment components, as detailed below.

1. Oral examination on the course readings (70% of the final grade)

• An early examination session (pre-appello) will be offered at the end of the course. Attending students may choose either to take this early examination or to sit the oral examination during one of the regular exam sessions.

2. Take-home written assignment (30% of the final grade)

At the end of the course, students will submit a take-home written assignment on one of the topics addressed during the seminar sessions, chosen according to their interests.

The assignment must:

• be submitted to the professor by the deadline communicated during the course;

• not exceed 10,000 characters (including spaces);

• include a title, a 5–8 line abstract, four keywords, and a bibliography. These elements are not included in the 10,000-character limit;

• comply with the policy on the use of Artificial Intelligence outlined below.

Non-attending Students

Students who do not attend the course will be assessed through a single oral examination covering the readings listed in the bibliography (100% of the final grade).

Assessment Criteria

For both attending and non-attending students, the purpose of the assessment is to evaluate the ability to apply the knowledge acquired during the course and to develop appropriate analytical and logical connections.

Final grades are awarded according to the following criteria:

• Fail: inadequate or incorrect knowledge of the subject matter, insufficient ability to communicate ideas clearly, and inappropriate use of disciplinary terminology.

• 18–21: basic and/or not always accurate knowledge of the subject; limited ability to analyse and discuss course content, requiring substantial guidance from the instructor; generally appropriate language.

• 22–25: satisfactory knowledge of a limited range of topics covered in the course; reasonably independent analytical and interpretative skills, primarily in relation to straightforward issues; correct use of language.

• 26–29: good to very good knowledge across a broad range of topics covered in the course; good to very good analytical and interpretative abilities, including the capacity for critical reflection; appropriate command of specialist terminology.

• 30–30 with honours (30L): precise and comprehensive knowledge of the subject; excellent analytical and interpretative abilities; well-developed critical thinking and independent reflection; full command of specialist terminology.

Students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or Temporary/Permanent Disabilities

Students with specific learning disorders (SLD) or temporary or permanent disabilities are encouraged to contact the University's dedicated support office well in advance (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it ). The office will propose any appropriate accommodations, which must be submitted to the course instructor for approval at least 15 days before the examination. The instructor will assess the suitability of the requested accommodations in relation to the intended learning outcomes of the course.

Permitted Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be used as a support tool for individual learning, for example to facilitate further reading, summarization, and self-assessment.

With regard to assessment, a limited, transparent, and non-substantive use of AI is permitted for support activities such as summarizing, rephrasing, brainstorming, and obtaining suggestions on writing style or syntax. The substantive use of AI to complete assessed work is not permitted.

In particular, AI may not be used to write all or a substantial part of the final take-home assignment prepared by attending students. However, it may be used to evaluate ideas, discuss the structure of the paper, identify possible directions for further research, or help shorten excessively long sections. The instructor will devote class time to discussing these appropriate uses of AI with attending students.

Together with the take-home assignment, attending students must submit a record of the prompts used during the writing process and the corresponding AI-generated responses, specifying the AI tools employed (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, NotebookLM, Consensus, etc.).

Teaching tools

During the course, students will be provided with supplementary teaching materials (including articles, book chapters, Italian and international scholarly publications, research reports, and other resources) to support the in-depth exploration of specific topics covered in the syllabus.

The Virtuale platform will be used to support course organization, provide the course schedule, and share the supplementary materials referred to during classes.

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Ganugi