Conference Program

Demographic, technological, and social transformations are redefining the conditions for exercising democratic citizenship, posing new challenges for local education and welfare systems. In this scenario, population aging is not only a factor that puts pressure on services, but also a test of communities' ability to promote social cohesion (Cramm, van Dijk, & Nieboer, 2013; Cramm & Nieboer, 2015), active participation, and lifelong skills maintenance. The case of the Umbrian municipality of Corciano fits into this dynamic. Over the last twenty years, the resident population has grown from approximately 15,200 inhabitants in 2001 to approximately 21,400 in 2021; at the same time, the proportion of citizens over 65 has grown from 17.9% to 21.8%. This data indicates a structural trend that requires preventive policies focused on active aging and the enhancement of the experiential capital of older adults. This paper presents a pedagogical analysis of the “Longevo Project”, configured as a territorial research-intervention based on the “Community House” model, understood as a proximity device. The aim is to investigate how an integrated approach to lifelong learning, digital inclusion, and civic engagement can facilitate the transition from a predominantly welfare-based system to a participatory approach (Pellegrino & Rodeschini, 2024), capable of recognizing those over 65 as competent and co-responsible actors in local public life. The theoretical framework is rooted in community pedagogy and lifelong learning perspectives, viewing active aging as a multidimensional process (Urtamo, Jyväkorpi, & Strandberg, 2019) that includes continuous learning, maintaining cognitive and relational skills, informed access to technology, and the opportunity to contribute to collective decision-making processes. Methodologically, the project was structured around a neighborhood support desk that listens, provides guidance, and continuously monitors needs, including through a “permanent census” aimed at identifying situations of social isolation or digital exclusion. In this context, the implementation of “CorciALBO” - the municipal register of volunteers - has taken on a strategic role. It serves not only as an administrative registration tool, but also as a means of recognizing and reactivating skills developed throughout working and social life. Through registration and participation in the project, people over 65 were able to transform their experiential capital into a collective resource, contributing to cultural and local support initiatives. This process has helped to maintain skills, strengthened perceived self-efficacy, and consolidated a sense of belonging to the local community, underscoring the role of social relationships in promoting older adults’ well-being (Luppi, Ricci & Bruni, 2025). The analysis of the experience shows how the “Community House” operates as an infrastructure capable of integrating social support, continuing education, and civic engagement, creating conditions conducive to democratic co-responsibility. The establishment of stable networks between local government, the third sector, and citizens emerges as a decisive element for the sustainability of the intervention. The case study suggests that proximity-based models rooted in lifelong learning and active participation can help transform longevity into a lever for social cohesion and democratic renewal at the local level.

This paper examines the professional development work carried out with the Family Centres (Centri per le Famiglie) of Sardinia, treating active ageing as a field for piloting place-based practices of adult education and lifelong learning. From an ecological and community-oriented perspective, Family Centres are construed not only as parenting-support services, but also as proximity-based social systems with the potential to activate intergenerational mechanisms, prevent loneliness, and tackle inequalities (including digital inequalities), in line with a conception of lifelong learning distributed across the life course.

The theoretical framework integrates: (a) the lifelong learning tradition as a paradigm of citizenship, capability enhancement, and participation; (b) active ageing studies, interpreted here not in a narrowly productivist sense but as a multidimensional construct (health, participation, security, social relations, and agency); (c) scholarship on the digital divide and digital inclusion in later life, with attention to access, competence, meaningful use, and social mediation; and (d) the educational approach of problem-posing education, which makes it possible to valorise practitioners’ existing competences while integrating them with trainers’ academic knowledge, with trainers acting as facilitators in fostering critical consciousness regarding problems and potential solutions.

The action research adopted a sequential multi-method design (documentary–comparative and translational) and comprised two phases. In Phase 1, a comparative analysis was conducted of good-practice cases collected within the PNRR Age-It project by the LEAA cross-cutting Board, using a standardised template that combines structured variables (target groups, settings, scale, recruitment, methodologies, timelines, co-design, monitoring, evaluation) with reflexive notes, with the aim of constructing an inter-case matrix. In the subsequent phase, findings were translated into a training pathway for practitioners working in Sardinia’s Family Centres, structured around thematic sessions, supported project work, and follow-up activities, in accordance with a logic of capacity building, contextual adaptation, and territorial transferability.

The guiding research question is as follows: how, and under what conditions, can a comparative analysis of good practices in active ageing be translated into a transferable training dispositif for proximity-based local services, capable of supporting integrated planning, inclusion, and participation? Accordingly, the paper pursues a twofold objective: (1) to identify recurring patterns and conditions for adaptability/replicability across the practices analysed; and (2) to formalise an analytical–operational model for practitioner training oriented towards place-based co-design and collaborative governance.

The paper is situated within the framework of Italy’s recent reform of policies for older persons (Law 33/2023; Legislative Decree 29/2024), which explicitly foregrounds dignity, autonomy, social inclusion, active ageing, and the prevention of frailty, while strengthening the integration of social, health, and socio-health interventions, including through territorial and community-based approaches. In particular, the Decree introduces provisions that are salient for this study (CIPA and the National Plan, frailty prevention, digital facilitation, transversal digital competences, community services, and service integration). In the Sardinian context, the recent establishment of the Regional Working Group on Active Ageing and the involvement of institutional actors, socio-health districts, and PLUS territorial areas further underscore the relevance of a training dispositif oriented towards collaborative governance and the networking of practices.

The concept of lifelong learning is recognized at various levels as one of the key strategic levers for economic, social, and cultural development. For it to transform from an abstract construct into a real right, it must be supported by political will, organizational structures, and adequate operational tools. In this framework, territorial service networks represent the organizational form through which public administration is called upon to ensure equal opportunities for access to learning at every stage of life.

This study examines the organizational and relational dynamics of territorial service networks through the analysis of the relationships of a Provincial Centre for Adult Education (CPIA) and the Regional Network for Lifelong Learning (ReTAP) in Campania, investigating their capacity to promote lifelong learning and social inclusion through external connections.

Grounded in an interpretive and constructivist approach, the work adopts a meso-level perspective to analyze the shift from hierarchical "government" models toward networked forms of "governance" (Mayntz, 1999), characterized by multilevel coordination among public institutions, schools, labor market actors, and civil society organizations. Through network systems theory (Castells, 2000; Barabási, 2004) and studies on organizational cooperation between public bodies (Hjern & Porter, 1988), the research applies Social Network Analysis to identify the structure, density, and relational dynamics of the network, assessing the strength and significance of ties between institutional nodes.

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews guided by a questionnaire and analyzed using mixed methods, including Unfolding and Classification and Clustering of Preference Rankings techniques (Borg, Groenen & Mair, 2018).

The findings highlight both the potential and the critical limitations of networked governance in implementing lifelong learning policies at the regional and local level. The results contribute to the broader reflection on how public administration can build effective welfare networks capable of ensuring equal opportunities for access to learning throughout life, with particular attention to the most vulnerable adult populations and the strengthening of a culture of social inclusion.

Media literacy is increasingly recognized as a key element in European Union (EU) media regulation policies (Lacourt 2024; ERGA 2024) as well in the promotion of digital citizenship (CoE 2019) and in the protection of information integrity (OECD 2024). While UNESCO has launched relevant initiatives in media and information literacy field since the previous decade (UNESCO 2013), in the last few years the EU Audiovisual Media Service Directive has invited for the first time Member States to promote the development of media literacy skills and to report to the European Commission on the implementation of such measures (ERGA 2023), and the European Media Freedom Act has finally given a definition of media literacy in an EU legislative measure. Following this recent attention to media literacy, different studies and initiatives have sought to provide guidelines in this field, with a particular emphasis on younger and older populations as target groups (Melstveit Roseme et al. 2024; EDMO 2024).

In this context, AGCOM, the Italian convergent communications regulatory authority (AGCOM 2025a), entrusted with monitoring tasks concerning the media and digital literacy skills promotion at national level (AGCOM 2025b), has launched a research activity aimed at identifying the main media and digital literacy needs in the Italian population. This research activity has been implemented through a survey addressed to a sample of 7.053 individuals, representative of the population aged 6 and above residing in Italy. The sampling plan has involved the use of the area of residence and gender variables, and a specific emphasis on age, identifying 8 specific groups, including younger (61-13 yo) and older minors (14-17 yo) as wells as seniors (65 yo and above). The main findings of this research activity concern (i) the availability of devices, access to media, access to news media, and ways to regulate minors’ media access adopted by parents, (ii) the analysis of the level of concern about and the frequency of exposure to the main activities and content that may constitute risk factors in the legacy and digital media environment, and the ways in which citizens prevent and tackle such phenomena, and (iii) the knowledge of algorithmic recommendation systems and of the use of specific algorithmic curation tools provided by online platforms in the Italian population (AGCOM 2025c).

The goal of this proposal is presenting the main results of this research activity, with particular reference to the seniors, highlighting the main differences between this category and other age groups, and giving policy recommendations aimed at increasing specific media and digital literacy skills among the seniors themselves.

In particular, the high level of concern regarding potentially risky activities and content, with specific regard to disinformation, and the low algorithmic literacy (Frau-Meigs 2024) level among seniors will be further analysed and contextualised, with the aim of highlighting the need for tailored media and digital literacy interventions including specific activities to enable this population segment to navigate the high-choice media environment (van Aelst et al. 2017; Castro et al. 2022) and diversify their news media diet.

Contemporary European societies are confronted with profound demographic transformations that challenge educational systems to rethink the role of lifelong learning in fostering inclusion and intergenerational cohesion (WHO, 2021). Social isolation among older adults is an increasingly widespread condition, characterised by the progressive weakening of social networks and a reduced sense of community belonging (Cornwell & Waite, 2009), with significant consequences for physical, psychological, and relational well-being (Badcock et al., 2023; Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015). The Covid-19 pandemic further intensified these dynamics, highlighting the centrality of meaningful relationships for individual and collective health (Deluigi & Ricci, 2023). Within this scenario, lifelong learning plays a crucial role in supporting active ageing, recognising informal competences, and fostering intergenerational citizenship (WHO, 2021).

This contribution presents the educational design and implementation of Ginkgo – La Fabrique du Lien Social, a European Erasmus+ project aimed at preventing social isolation among older adults through structured non-formal learning pathways. Rather than adopting a standardised curriculum, the pathway was flexibly configured according to the specific characteristics and training needs of different participant groups, including university students, care professionals, caregivers, volunteers, and older adults at risk of isolation.

Grounded in biographical learning and reflective methodologies, the training programme combined theoretical inputs with experiential and participatory activities (Knowles, 1978; Kolb, 1984). Particular attention was devoted to narrative practices as educational tools capable of fostering reflexivity, relational competences, and critical awareness of age-related stereotypes (Levy, 2009; Staudinger & Bowen 2010; WHO, 2021). Within this framework, the development of photobooks emerged as a workshop-based learning process integrated into the training structure. The photobooks—combining interviews, images, and narrative reconstruction—functioned both as formative experiences and as outputs of the educational pathway.

The contribution adopts a qualitative and pedagogical perspective to analyse how the modular structure and narrative workshops supported: (1) the recognition of informal and experiential knowledge; (2) the development of relational and reflective competences across heterogeneous groups; (3) the strengthening of connections between higher education, care services, and local communities.

By examining the adaptive design of the training pathway and the role of narrative artefacts within it, the contribution explores how biographical and participatory methodologies can contribute to building inclusive lifelong learning cultures in ageing societies. The experience highlights the importance of flexible educational design capable of responding to differentiated needs while maintaining a coherent pedagogical framework oriented toward active ageing and social inclusion (WHO, 2021).