Conference Program

European education policies in recent decades have assigned universities a central role in the development of cognitive, relational and emotional skills, promoting innovative teaching and the digitalisation of learning environments as strategic levers for the training of active and responsible citizens.

In the context of transformations in higher education, life skills are fundamental tools for promoting student participation, critical thinking and democratic agency. However, innovative practices are also subject to organisational constraints, structural inequalities and relational tensions that can limit their inclusive potential. In this scenario, universities emerge as systems of social innovation and privileged contexts for observing the processes of change that affect the biographical trajectories of the younger generations.

This study forms part of a broader multi-method research project on innovative teaching in master’s and single-cycle courses at Sapienza University of Rome. An initial quantitative phase identified 11 degree courses that, as perceived by students themselves, stand out for their effectiveness in implementing innovative teaching practices. Drawing on this selection, a qualitative phase was launched and is currently underway, involving semi-structured interviews with students enrolled in the final years of master’s and single-cycle degree programmes. The narratives explore expectations and experiences relating to collaborative and laboratory teaching practices, the use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence tools, relational climate and group dynamics, and students’ perceived preparedness for the transition to the world of work.

Taking the students’ point of view, the analysis interprets the experience of innovative teaching as a practice situated in physical and digital learning spaces. The ability to actively participate in educational processes, exercise critical judgement and influence educational dynamics is seen as a concrete expression of democratic agency. The aim is to discuss, in light of the narratives collected, the opportunities offered by educational innovation in the development of transversal skills and collaborative environments, as well as the institutional and contextual factors that can hinder its effectiveness – in terms of organisational overload, heterogeneity of profiles or lack of support – thus contributing to ongoing debates on the university as an ecosystem of democracy in action.