Conference Program

In a complex, fragmented society, rapid cultural transformation and the pluralisation of educational contexts require approaches that can connect different perspectives, methodologies and resources. It is crucial to encourage reflection on the role of adults in relation to the younger generation, and to develop collective skills and transformative approaches through inclusion and participation.

This paper presents an initiative from the Adolescence Working Group (AWG) of the Municipality of Varese. This group comprises institutional representatives, social workers, healthcare professionals, teachers, representatives of voluntary associations and secondary school students. The group aims to redesign programmes for adolescents and their families (Ferri & Bonometti, 2025).

The AWG was initially intended as a territorial coordination mechanism to engage and activate various local stakeholders, encouraging reflection on current community development issues related to youth well-being in the Varese area. This would be achieved through shared awareness and collaborative design with shared goals.

Subsequently, the AWG recognised the need to create an authentic adult education programme on adolescent issues to help adults adapt to changes. This approach was developed through participatory action research, drawing on Engeström's Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987; Engeström et al., 1999; Engeström & Sannino, 2017) and the Change Laboratory methodology (Virkkunen & Newnham, 2020; Botha, 2017). These theoretical and methodological references enabled us to interpret social intervention practices as activity systems situated in history and characterised by contradictions and generative tensions that facilitate expansive learning. Tools such as historical analysis, the activity system model, and the zone of proximal development concept have enabled us to identify organisational fragmentation, overlaps, discontinuities, and criticalities. This has favoured the shared construction of new operational hypotheses (Virkkunen & Newnham, 2020).

This process enabled the AWG to evolve into a Community of Practice (Wenger, 1999), providing a reflective, transformative and ongoing educational space. Adults were encouraged to critically examine their role in relation to adolescence, adopting a systemic and relational approach. These moments of interaction fostered the construction of shared knowledge, enabling community members to reflect on their practices and recognise the value of learning from concrete experience. Open discussion has enabled recurring difficulties, which often remain implicit or are addressed individually, to be brought to light through collective reflection and the analysis of different perspectives. Participants were able to strengthen their sense of belonging to the community and promote collaborative learning processes.

From this perspective, the AWG can be interpreted as a space for the co-construction of meanings, as well as a laboratory in which adult learning is intertwined with processes of transformation and community empowerment (Sannino, 2022).

The experience highlights the Change Laboratory's potential as a training opportunity and a catalyst for paradigmatic change towards collective learning, resulting in the formation of the Community of Practice. This has led to reflection on the social responsibility of adults as a conscious and shared commitment to the community. It has also strengthened intergenerational solidarity based on mutual recognition and the promotion of active and participatory citizenship (Milana et al., 2024).