Co-costruire il cambiamento dal basso. Una ricerca su spazi e progetti di innovazione diffusa

The paper focuses on program about micro-innovation processes activated in a range of spaces for youth throughout the Puglia region. Partially funded by regional or national policies, these spaces resulted mainly from renovation processes of public buildings. Their environments offer a range of resources for who try to develop and implement new projects in a work-related area, as well as in leisure time activities or social committed initiatives. Firstly, an exploratory mapping involved spaces perceived as innovative and particularly involved in change-making (Fab lab, Makerspace Do-It-Yourself Lab, etc.). A qualitative sample of spaces derived from secondary sources and an on-line survey. A subsequent research stage focused on the participation and learning experiences leading to the development of projects that were felt as agents of change. Narrative interviews involved manager and young people, and a quasi-experimental evaluation design had the purpose to test possible associations between different forms of cooperation and the variation of self-perceived innovation skill. Overall, the research offers insights, ideas and questions that can be discussed with those social actors involved in the research activities, so to make the research more useful for any possible improvement of their project efforts

Introduction to the Special Section: Youth Work, Non-Formal Education and Youth Participation

This special issue of the Italian Journal of Sociology of Education deals with “Youth Work, Non-Formal Education and Youth Participation”. These three dimensions have become, over recent years, among the main drivers in youth policies (Bendit & Hahn-Bleibtreu, 2008; Chisholm, Kovacheva & Merico, 2011; Belton, 2014). This is largely evident at a European level. Specifically, the development of youth work is nowadays a priority for the European Commission and the Council of Europe, within a broader framework directed towards the recognition and validation of non-formal education, the promotion of youth participation, and the wider rethinking of youth policies (Milmeister & Williamson, 2006; Williamson, 2007; 2008; Denstad, 2009; Devlin, 2010

Transformative Evaluation in Youth Work and its Emancipatory Role in Southern Italy

This article draws on the experiences of a group of Italian youth workers who used Transformative Evaluation (TE) to evaluate their practice as part of a wider European research project funded by Erasmus+. The youth workers generated 151 stories of change with young people in their projects. These stories were collectively analysed and through this process the youth workers developed a greater understanding of the impact of their work and of some of the causal mechanisms that enable change to happen. Transformative Evaluation, with its sensitivity to the complexity and the critical potential of ‘lived experience’, is able to illuminate outcomes and process. The empowering and emancipatory potential of transformative evaluation is seen in the way in which it fosters youth workers’ and young people’s self-reflection

How communities can react to crisis: social capital as a source of empowerment and well-being

Within the post-modern scenario, largely characterized by a sense of diffused social uncertainty and dominated by the ghost of a wide spreading economical and social crisis, social capital, solidarity and social responsibility might represent concrete and efficacious tools to cope with the implications of such cultural drift. The present paper aims at arguing such position by accounting for a repertoire of “good practices” experienced in the south of Italy, which have been read with theoretical and methodological lenses borrowed from social community psychology as well as sociology. The discussion will take into account two case studies (Diffused Guest House and Urban Laboratories) which are both representative in terms of social participation as well as in terms of social capital enhancement. Indeed, all the accounted experiences have shown how the construction of solid and open communities could concretely contribute to enhance social capital as well as to contrast with the diffusion of narrow and conflicting ghetto-communities based on marginality and social uncertainty, which are source for self-segregation, social fragmentation and increasing powerlessness

Multiscale simulation approach to heat and mass transfer properties of nanostructured materials for sorption heat storage

Thermal storage devices are becoming crucial for the exploitation of solar energy. From the point of view of seasonal energy storage, the most promising technology is represented by adsorption thermal batteries, which allow storing energy without heat loss with time. The improvement of thermal batteries design is related to a better understating of transport phenomena occurring in the adsorption/desorption phases. In this work, we discuss an efficient computational protocol to characterize adsorbent materials, in terms of both heat and mass transfer proprieties. To this purpose, a hybrid Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo method is developed. The proposed model is then tested on two types of 13X zeolite, with 76 and 88 Na cations. The results obtained, such as adsorbate diffusivity, adsorption curves, and heat of adsorption are validated with the literature. Finally, in the view of a multiscale analysis of sorption thermal storage devices, the possible use of the simulation outputs as inputs of thermal fluid dynamics models of adsorbent beds is discussed

Influenza vaccination coverage among medical residents: An Italian multicenter survey

Although influenza vaccination is recognized to be safe and effective, recent studies have confirmed that immunization coverage among health care workers remain generally low, especially among medical residents (MRs). Aim of the present multicenter study was to investigate attitudes and determinants associated with acceptance of influenza vaccination among Italian MRs. A survey was performed in 2012 on MRs attending post-graduate schools of 18 Italian Universities. Each participant was interviewed via an anonymous, self-administered, web-based questionnaire including questions on attitudes regarding influenza vaccination. A total of 2506 MRs were recruited in the survey and 299 (11.9%) of these stated they had accepted influenza vaccination in 2011-2012 season. Vaccinated MRs were older (P = 0.006), working in clinical settings (P = 0.048), and vaccinated in the 2 previous seasons (P < 0.001 in both seasons). Moreover, MRs who had recommended influenza vaccination to their patients were significantly more compliant with influenza vaccination uptake in 2011-2012 season (P < 0.001). "To avoid spreading influenza among patients" was recognized as the main reason for accepting vaccination by less than 15% of vaccinated MRs. Italian MRs seem to have a very low compliance with influenza vaccination and they seem to accept influenza vaccination as a habit that is unrelated to professional and ethical responsibility. Otherwise, residents who refuse vaccination in the previous seasons usually maintain their behaviors. Promoting correct attitudes and good practice in order to improve the influenza immunization rates of MRs could represent a decisive goal for increasing immunization coverage among health care workers of the future. © 2014 Landes Bioscience

Spazi per essere giovani. Una ricerca sulle politiche di youth work tra Italia e Inghilterra

Il libro presenta i risultati di una ricerca sui centri giovanili, luoghi educativi del tempo libero poco studiati in Italia nonostante la loro storica presenza nei grandi centri urbani come nei piccoli Comuni. La prima parte del volume offre una panoramica sulle esperienze e gli interventi di youth work nel contesto europeo, con una specifica attenzione al tema delle disuguaglianze sociali e alla loro incidenza sui benefici che i giovani possono trarre dall’educazione non formale. La seconda parte del volume ricostruisce più in dettaglio un quadro teorico, utile ad orientare la pratica professionale e la ricerca valutativa su cosa contraddistingua le pratiche e le esperienze di youth work nei centri giovanili. In particolare, basandosi sull’analisi della letteratura di ricerca internazionale, si prova a ricostruire a livello micro gli effetti attesi dai processi di youth work nei centri giovanili e i meccanismi virtuosi in grado di generar¬li, con un’attenzione specifica alla partecipazione giovanile, ai progetti di educazione non formale guidati dagli adulti e agli spazi di apprendimento informale prevalentemente autonomo e spontaneo. La terza parte del volume presenta i risultati di un percorso di ricerca empirica sulla partecipazione giovanile e sull’educazione non formale nei centri giovanili. Coerentemente al modello della valutazione basata sulla teoria, questa ricerca si focalizza sulla ricostruzione di teorie del programma, ossia di quelle ipotesi in forza delle quali un intervento (o un insieme di essi) conduce a determinati effetti sui bisogni dei suoi beneficiari (outcome)

OSSERVAZIONE, RIFLESSIVITÀ E APPRENDIMENTO NELLE PROFESSIONI D'AIUTO. Esperienze di Work Discussion psicoanalitica

La Work Discussion è un metodo di apprendimento dall'esperienza che coinvolge gruppi di operatori impegnati in servizi o interventi complessi nel campo delle relazioni d'aiuto. Il volume, tra le poche pubblicazioni in Italia su questo tema, raccoglie resoconti su gruppi di Work Discussion a orientamento psicoanalitico che hanno visto la partecipazione di insegnanti, educatori, infermieri, psicologi e assistenti sociali. L'opera inquadra le potenzialità della Work Discussion come metodo di ricerca qualitativa applicabile alla valutazione di programmi complessi, tracciando una possibile area interdisciplinare tra sociologia della formazione, teoria psicoanalitica applicata alle organizzazioni e valutazione basata su partecipazione e riflessività degli operatori. Nello specifico, la complessità con cui la Work Discussion psicoanalitica aiuta a confrontarsi riguarda i meccanismi psicologici e organizzativi attivati per difendersi dall'impatto emotivo del proprio lavoro, soprattutto quando arrivano a impedire un'efficace lettura dei bisogni, così come delle opportunità e dei confini del proprio operato. Finalità della Work Discussion è bonificare quei vissuti emotivi che si fa più fatica a tollerare, così da predisporsi ad affrontare la complessità di una relazione d'aiuto per la ricchezza di possibilità che racchiude. Tutti gli autori hanno avuto esperienze di formazione e collaborazione presso la Tavistock Clinic e il Tavistock Institute di Londra. Margaret Rustin, Emil Jackson e Jonathan Bradley sono psicoterapeuti dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza specializzati nell'osservazione psicoanalitica e l'apprendimento di gruppo. William Halton e Nick Papadopoulos applicano la teoria psicoanalitica alla consulenza organizzativa nel settore pubblico e privato. Il collegamento tra psicoanalisi e ricerca sociale è al centro dei lavori di Michael Rustin e Paul Hoggett, rispettivamente sociologo presso l'Università East London e docente di politica sociale presso l'Università West of England di Bristol. Alcuni saggi sono curati da operatori che hanno partecipato a gruppi di Work Discussion, in particolare Alison Hall, infermiera specializzata in oncoematologia pediatrica, e Stuart Hannah, assistente sociale. Maxim De Sauma e Sarah Fielding sono rispettivamente direttore e psicologa del Brent Center for Young People di Londra, tra i primi centri di psicoterapia psicoanalitica per l'adolescenza nel Regno Unit

Giovani e innovazione: youth work come spazio di sviluppo per le culture giovanili?

The purpose of the paper is to develop a youth work model conceived as a space of intergenerational mediation aimed at enhancing the innovation potential of the young generation. A concept of innovation is argued as a cultural process that is not necessarily activated by an individual genius, while being embedded in the socio-relational dynamics between the primary socialization sphere and the formal education. The paper develop hypothesis for research directed to investigate on how youth work creates learning environments where emerging youth cultures can meet and grow, by offering resources in order to transform their innovation potential in drivers of social change.Obiettivo dell'articolo è sviluppare un modello teorico di youth work concepito come spazio di mediazione intergenerazionale finalizzato a valorizzare il potenziale innovativo delle giovani generazioni. L'innovazione è in particolare concettualizzata come un processo culturale non necessariamente attivato dal genio individuale, bensì radicata nelle dinamiche socio-relazionali che operano tra la sfera di socializzazione primaria e quella dell’educazione formale. L’articolo sviluppa ipotesi di ricerca orientate a studiare in che modo le pratiche di youth work creano ambienti di apprendimento dove le culture giovanili emergenti possono trovare un punto di incontro e di sviluppo, ciò facendo attraverso la messa a disposizione di risorse volte a trasformare il potenziale innovativo giovanile in driver di cambiamento sociale