Conference Program

The transformations brought about by the digitalization of social and communicative environments require a reconsideration of the conditions that make democratic citizenship possible from early childhood. Within an ecosystem characterized by platform-mediated interactions, early public exposure, and dynamics of polarization, civic education cannot be confined to the acquisition of technical-digital skills; rather, it demands the development of critical, reflective, and relational dispositions capable of orienting action in both online and offline contexts (Biesta, 2020). In continuity with the pragmatist tradition, democracy may be understood as a situated practice of communication and cooperation (Dewey, 1916); accordingly, the school represents a crucial context for the experiential learning of such practices and for the construction of a peace-oriented society.

Within the field of peace studies, conflict assumes a formative rather than pathological value. Galtung’s (2014) reflection allows it to be interpreted not as an event to be eliminated, but as a relational process to be transformed through dialogical and creative modalities capable of overcoming oppositional rigidities and opening pathways toward shared solutions. This perspective is particularly relevant in contemporary contexts, where interactions, also digitally mediated, expose children at an early age to dynamics of confrontation, disagreement, and symbolic negotiation. Within this framework, peace education, conceived in transformative terms, does not merely address the management of problematic behaviors; rather, it promotes the capacity to interpret conflict as an opportunity for relational learning, fostering processes of mutual recognition and co-construction of meaning.

In this discourse, the construct of moral agency assumes a central role, as it clarifies how learning processes may shape self-regulation within social relationships. When such processes are supported in educational settings structured around dialogue and cooperation (Lipman, 2003; 2005), they contribute to consolidating a situated sense of responsibility that extends to digital interactions. Interpreted through an ecological perspective on agency (Biesta & Tedder, 2007), the school can become a context in which experiences of confrontation discussed, argued, and critically re-elaborated prepare children to inhabit public spaces, including online environments, as arenas of conscious participation. Building on these theoretical premises, the article presents a systematic literature review conducted according to the PICOS framework and supported by the Rayyan software, with the aim of identifying and analyzing the key variables, influencing factors, effectiveness indicators, and best practices associated with peace education pathways. This methodological choice is grounded in the need to ensure rigor, transparency, and traceability in the process of study selection and analysis, in line with methodological guidelines for systematic reviews in the field of education (Ghirotto, 2020). The analysis of empirical studies retrieved from international databases (ERIC, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO) highlights convergence around interconnected dimensions that configure peace education as a pedagogical infrastructure of citizenship. By fostering reflective and relational competences from an early age, these practices help orient digital experience toward participatory and responsible modalities, promoting subjectivities capable of inhabiting the public sphere as a space of dialogue, responsibility, and co-construction of the common good.