Conference Program

The integration of the Guidelines for Teaching Civic Education (MIM, 2024) with the paradigms of intercultural pedagogy establishes an educational horizon in which citizenship is no longer perceived as the mere acquisition of legal notions. Instead, it is understood as a relational praxis grounded in the recognition of otherness. The convergence of these two fields is primarily expressed through the transcendence of a monocultural vision of law and coexistence, proposing a model of “inclusive citizenship”. The first pillar of the Guidelines, centred on the knowledge of the Constitutional Charter, aligns with intercultural pedagogy through the valorisation of Articles 2 and 3; by enshrining the inviolability of human rights and both formal and substantive equality, these articles mandate the overcoming of all ethnic, religious, or social barriers. In this sense, civic education becomes the elective ground for exercising “cognitive decentring” (Abdallah-Pretceille, 1996) — a pivotal capacity in intercultural reflection that enables individuals to move beyond cultural self-referentiality to embrace a plurality of perspectives as a constituent element of democracy.

Parallel to this, the second thematic core regarding sustainable development and global citizenship projects individual responsibility onto a supranational scale, requiring a critical reading of global interdependencies inherent to the intercultural approach. According to Milena Santerini (2017), intercultural education for global citizenship represents the necessary evolution of the traditional concept of civic belonging, transcending the boundaries of the nation-state to embrace a planetary dimension consistent with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. The author posits that the second pillar of the Guidelines for Civic Education should not be understood as a simple repertoire of ecological best practices, but as a pedagogical device aimed at forming a citizen capable of inhabiting complexity and interdependence, thereby promoting an “ecology of relationship” that protects both the environment and anthropological diversities. Within this framework, empathy assumes a fundamental gnoseological role: it is interpreted not as a vague sentiment of proximity, but as an “intercultural competence” that allows for the recognition of the other in their full dignity, surpassing mechanisms of exclusion and identity barriers (Portera, 2020; 2022). Santerini emphasises how empathy acts as the engine of decentring — the ability to view the world through different cultural lenses — which is an essential condition for understanding global challenges, from the climate crisis to migration, not as isolated phenomena but as nodes in a network involving the whole of humanity. Ethical responsibility is indissolubly linked to this empathic dynamism, transforming awareness into civil action.

Building upon these premises, a research-training programme was developed for prospective primary school teachers. Based on film analysis as a pedagogical device (Malavasi et al., 2005), this programme constitutes an elective strategy for translating the theoretical tenets of cognitive decentring and the ecology of relationship into concrete didactic practices. The activity, structured according to the paradigm of reflexivity, intended to utilise the filmic medium not as a mere illustrative aid, but as a “laboratory of gazes” capable of fostering the empathic posture and ethical responsibility that should characterise the teaching profession (Sozio, 2025).