Conference Program

In recent years, Learning Communities have emerged as promising socio-educational ecosystems capable of fostering democratic participation, collective knowledge production, and local responses to complex social challenges. Within this perspective, Community Educational Pacts represent an innovative governance model that connects schools, local institutions, civil society organizations, and citizens in a shared educational vision for the territory.

This contribution presents the experience of the R.E.T.I. Project – Ricerca Educativa per un Territorio Inclusivo (Educational Research for an Inclusive Territory), a participatory action-research initiative launched in 2021 in the city of Porto Torres (Sardinia, Italy). The project supported the co-construction of a Community Educational Pact involving a wide network of actors: schools from early childhood to upper secondary education, the municipality’s social services, third-sector organizations, the pedagogical coordination for the 0–6 early childhood education system, and local citizens. After five years of development, the project has reached a mature phase characterized by the implementation and expansion of the Pact as a local learning ecosystem.

At this stage, the initiative has progressively strengthened the involvement of the local community and expanded its scope, particularly through the integration of the 0–6 early childhood education system, thereby reinforcing continuity across educational levels. At the same time, participatory initiatives such as two editions of the Community Educational Pact Festival – “Turris Umpari Edufest” – have fostered broader civic engagement and dialogue among educational, institutional, and community actors.

A central component of the process has been the continuous professional and community learning pathway accompanying the Pact. This work was carried out by experts in community psychology and pedagogy from LUMSA University in Rome. Through experiential training sessions and co-reflection meetings, teachers, educators, social and educational professionals, representatives of third-sector organizations and institutions, and citizens developed a shared vision and methodological tools for the co-design of educational and community practices. The methodological framework draws on co-constructive learning approaches.

The contribution will present the evaluation phase currently underway, aimed at assessing the impact and perceived value of the Community Educational Pact among participating actors. The evaluation adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative tools. A questionnaire was administered to members of the Pact to explore perceived changes in individual and collective dimensions such as sense of community, participation, and empowerment. In parallel, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of schools, public institutions, and third-sector organizations in order to deepen participants’ experiences of the process.

In particular, the qualitative investigation focuses on how actors experienced the formation and development of the Pact, how the training and collaborative reflection influenced their professional and civic practices, and how relationships between schools, institutions, and community organizations have evolved over time.

By presenting the preliminary results of this evaluation, this contribution aims to advance the debate on learning communities as democratic educational ecosystems, highlighting both enabling factors and challenges in building sustainable school–community partnerships. The case of Porto Torres offers insights into how participatory educational governance and community learning processes can support the development of inclusive territorial networks capable of responding to local educational needs.