School Topics

Our educational offer covers the following topics:

Peace education is not merely intended as content, but also as a maieutic and inclusive pedagogical orientation consisting of problem management, listening and relational skills, communication skills, creativity and constructive elaboration of diversity. The courses in this thematic area will present the basic concepts of peace education and non-violent communication, the role and functions of the trainer, approaches and models for the construction of training paths, methods and techniques to work in an interactive way.

The basis of our approach is a conception of conflict as a resource, as long as it is dealt with creatively, in a non-destructive way, through the method of active non-violence. The courses in this thematic area present the main approaches in the field of Conflict Studies, methods and tools for transformative conflict management as a relational competence in various professional contexts (educational, health, social, etc.).

Organizational development is aimed at generating dynamic processes to change the culture and practices of organizations, with an approach that combines operational effectiveness, teamwork skills, personal growth as well as individual and collective well-being. The courses in this thematic area provide skills in the analysis, design and implementation of change processes; the development of emotional intelligence and creative thinking; the growth of the ability to work cooperatively in a group; horizontal leadership, human resources management, and facilitation of effective meetings.

Migrations challenge the representation of national and local societies as culturally, religiously, linguistically and ethnically homogeneous communities. Not only is it inappropriate to identify migrants univocally with a specific “culture of origin”, which is itself imagined as unitary and stable over time. Local people are also characterized by a strong internal pluralism, accompanied by constant conflicts and changes. Hence the need to recognize the cultural identities of everyone, migrants and natives alike, as something fluid and socially constructed, and to adopt interculturalism as a strategy for managing and resolving conflicts between people and groups rather than between “cultures”. The courses in this thematic area will present the basic concepts developed by cultural anthropology, sociology and political theory regarding “identity”, “culture”, “belonging”, “ethnicity”, “race” and will comparatively illustrate the main strategies available to manage “cultural conflicts”, in order to prevent or counteract the emergence of xenophobic and racist attitudes.

As part of the discussion on the transition of our societies towards environmental and social sustainability, our approach involves an integrated treatment of the concepts of inequality and sustainable development. The close relationship between these two concepts was established in the very definition of sustainable development in the late 1980s. The courses in this thematic area aim to develop tools and knowledge capable of promoting action by participants.