Knowledge and Understanding

The primary objective of the course is to understand why and how welfare is characterised by a fundamental local dimension. Within this dimension, global, national, regional, and specifically territorial social, political, economic, and cultural dynamics intersect. The course will therefore focus on this complex interweaving and on the role played by its various components in shaping forms of knowledge, policy frameworks, systems of governance, the action of public and private organisations providing social interventions, the work of practitioners, and the role of citizens as welfare users.

The course will consider both phenomenological and institutional elements in the everyday life of the main components of local welfare: the ideas that shape social policy choices, together with the tensions, conflicts, and hegemonies that emerge over time; the most widely used policy instruments and their consequences in terms of actors’ capacity for action; the role played by private actors, such as philanthropy and businesses; the everyday functioning of services, both public and those provided by Third Sector organisations, as well as the work of their practitioners; forms of local adaptation and innovation emerging within local networks; social, cultural, and political mobilisations; and the lived experiences of citizens and families in relation to the welfare system.

Particular attention will therefore be paid to the cultural, cognitive, and political-normative components underlying the discourses, instruments, and practices implemented by the various actors within welfare systems.

Specific focus will be placed on: the new institutions of community-based healthcare, such as Community Houses; different initiatives in community welfare; instruments of shared administration in practice; and selected issues such as interventions in the fields of mental health and disability.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding

Students will be expected to understand the analytical elements addressed in the course through examples of actions, interventions, projects, programmes, and local welfare policies, considering their mutual relations and their interaction with other levels of government from a multilevel perspective.

The course will focus on social innovation in welfare, its forms of diffusion, and the obstacles and failures it may encounter.

Students will learn to understand how, and to what extent, different forces operate across territories; the power asymmetries among them; which ideas and instruments support public action; how actors and instruments influence one another within interdependent relationships; and how exogenous and endogenous variables, conflicts, compromises, forms of governance, and the impacts of different trajectories shape local welfare systems.

Making Judgements

The course aims to develop students’ ability to critically interpret ideas, policies, programmes, projects, and actions within local welfare systems. Particular attention will be devoted to: the hegemonic dynamics of discourses; the most commonly used policy instruments; approaches based on the concepts of community and local networks; the use of accountability and impact assessment frameworks for projects; the role of private and philanthropic actors; and prevailing forms of governance and participation.

Communication Skills

Students will be given the opportunity to practise, engage with, and learn different forms of knowledge communication. A variety of communicative formats will therefore be used, including digital presentations, oral presentations, argumentative debate, dialogical and deliberative discussion, with attention to adapting language to different audiences and professional contexts, including from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Learning Skills

The course aims to promote students’ learning skills through the study of scientific literature; the independent analysis of case studies and documents produced by relevant actors; the use of data available in public archives and repositories; and qualitative research techniques such as interviews and ethnographic observation.