Pedagogical reflections on the city as a place of relationships: From Spaces of crisis to spaces of welcome

Journal title EDUCATIONAL REFLECTIVE PRACTICES
Author/s Maria Grazia Proli
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2024/2
Language Italian Pages 18 P. 96-113 File size 0 KB
DOI 10.3280/erpoa2-2024oa18719
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

View article Download Open Access article

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The increasing complexity of living in urban contexts, often characterised by fragmented fabrics and sprawling suburbs, highlights the urgency of promoting lifelong educational and formative processes that can stimulate the evolution of sustainable cities and communities, as suggested by the “learning city” model (Longworth, 2006) adopted by UNESCO in addressing the goals set by the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (cf. Boffo, Biagioli & Togni, 2023). In this perspective, the proposed contribution presents a research path that investigates the city as a place of relationships and democratic participation. The assumption is that educational and formative processes, through participation, relationships, and bottom-up regeneration, can encourage the reappropriation of public spaces by the involved subjects, towards a transformation of urban areas from spaces of crisis to places of relationship (cf. Amadini, 2017; Lazzarini, 2016; Lombardi, 2020). The aim of the conducted empirical research is to answer the question of whether such educational and formative processes, oriented by/towards/for bottom-up urban regeneration, can strengthen the sense of community belonging, empowerment, and the culture of quality continuous learning among the individuals, groups, and communities involved. The research involved the territory of Florence, particularly schools and social cooperatives in city Districts 4 and 5, focusing on neighbourhood contexts as places for the valorisation of the margins.

Keywords: ; Pedagogy of the city; Learning cities; Continuing educational and training processes; Democratic participation; Bottom-up urban regeneration

  1. Amadini, M. (2017). Spazi urbani, partecipazione, comunità: uno sguardo pedagogico. In Molinari P. & Riva E. (Eds.), Spazi e tempi della cittadinanza. Idee e percorsi interdisciplinari per la didattica. Milano: Mimesis.
  2. Balzano, V., Castaldi, M.C., Guerrini, V., Proli, M.G., Tiozzo Brasiola, O. & Valenzano, N. (2022). Per una pedagogia rigenerativa del territorio nell’accezione di comunità partecipativa e sostenibile. Formazione & Insegnamento, XX(1), pp. 985-994.
  3. Bateson, G. (1984). Mente e Natura. Un’unità necessaria. Milano: Adelphi.
  4. Biagioli R., González Monteagudo J., Romero-Pérez C. & Proli M.G. (2022). Spazi per apprendere, luoghi della relazione e della cittadinanza democratica nella città contemporanea. Formazione & Insegnamento, XX(2), pp. 2-13. DOI: 10.7346/-fei-XX-02-22_01
  5. Boffo, V. (2016). Relazioni educative: tra comunicazione e cura. Autori e testi. Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna: Maggioli Editore.
  6. Boffo, V., Biagioli, R. & Togni, F. (2023). Chi salverà il mondo e le sue città? Un secondo appuntamento del “laboratorio pedagogico” sulle Learning Cities. Nuova Secondaria, XLI(1), pp.130-133.
  7. Boshier, R. (2018). Learning cities: fake news or the real deal? International Journal of Lifelong Education, 37(4), pp. 419-434. DOI: 10.1080/02601370.2018.1491900
  8. Bonfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecologia dello sviluppo umano. Bologna: il Mulino.
  9. Cambi, F. (2017). La pedagogia come sapere oggi: statuto epistemico e paradigma educativo. Studi sulla Formazione, 2(20), pp. 409-413. DOI: 10.13128/Studi_Formaz-22196
  10. Castán Broto, V. & Bulkeley, H. (2013). A survey of urban climate change experiments in 100 cities. Global Environmental Change, 23(1), pp. 92-102.
  11. Creswell, J.W. (2015). A Concise Introduction to Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks, (CA): SAGE Publication.
  12. Cugurullo, F. (2018). Exposing smart cities and eco-cities: Frankenstein urbanism and the sustainability challenges of the experimental city. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 50(1), pp. 73-92. DOI: 10.1177/0308518X17738535
  13. Delors, J. (1996). Learning: the treasure within. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000109590.
  14. Dewey, J. (1938) 2014. Esperienza e educazione. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.
  15. Durand, G. (1972). Le strutture antropologiche dell’immaginario: introduzione all’archetipologia generale. Bari: Dedalo (ed. orig. 1960).
  16. Fabbri, L., & Melacarne, C. (2020). Apprendere e disapprendere nei contesti di vita quotidiana. Il caso di un quartiere multietnico. Educational Reflective Practices, 1, pp. 18-54. DOI: 10.3280/ERP2020-001002
  17. Faure, E., Herrera, F., Kaddoura, A.R., Lopes, H., Petrovsky, A.V., Rahnema, M. & F. Champion Ward (1972). Learning to be: the world of education today and tomorrow Paris: UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000001801?posInSet=23&queryId=5d1ecf6b-9a6e-4c99-800e-68bcc856c2a4.
  18. Giovannini, E. (2018). L’Utopia sostenibile. Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  19. Gramigna, A. (2012). Epistemologia della conoscenza ed etica del mondo con-temporaneo. In Gramigna, A., Pancera, C. e Pinter, A. (a cura di), Etica, formazione e mondializzazione (pp. 43-66). Padova: Edizioni Libreria Universitaria.
  20. Gustavsen, B. Nyhan, B. & Ennals, R. (Eds.) (2007). Learning together for local innovation: promoting learning regions. CEDEFOP Reference series 68, Luxembourg Eur-OP.
  21. Hillman, J. (2004). L’anima dei luoghi. Conversazione con Carlo Truppi. Milano: Rizzoli.
  22. Karvonen, A. & van Heur, B. (2014). Urban laboratories: Experiments in reworking cities. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38, pp. 379-392.
  23. Lazzarini A. (2016). L’educazione alla cittadinanza come diritto alla città. Nuova Secondaria, XXXIII(7), 13, pp. 12-19.
  24. Lombardi M.G. (2020). Pedagogia del territorio. Le città come luoghi dell’umano. In Ceruti, M. e Mannese, E. (a cura di). Racconti dallo spazio. Per una pedagogia dei luoghi (pp. 105-114). Lecce: Pensa Multimedia.
  25. Longworth, N. (2006). Learning Cities, Learning Regions, Learning Communities. Lifelong learning and local government. London-New York: Routledge.
  26. Mortari, L. (2007). Cultura della ricerca e pedagogia. Prospettive epistemologiche. Roma: Carocci.
  27. Németh, B. (Ed.) (2019). Learning and Living in Diverse Communities. Pécs: University of Pécs.
  28. Nussbaum, M., & Sen, A. (1993). The Quality of Life, Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/0198287976.001.0001
  29. Nuvolati, G. (2019). Interstizi della città. Rifugi del vivere quotidiano. Bergamo: Moretti & Vitali.
  30. Osborne, M. & Piazza, R. (2023). Building sustainable learning cities. Nuova Sec-ondaria, XLI, supplemento 1, pp. 134-142.
  31. Osborne, M., Sankey, K. & Wilson, B. (Eds.) (2007). Social capital, lifelong learning, and the management of place. London-New York: Routledge.
  32. Sità, C. (2012). Indagare l’esperienza. L’intervista fenomenologica nella ricerca educativa. Roma: Carocci.
  33. Striano, M. (2020). Educare a prendersi cura degli spazi pubblici. In Maiano, P., & Barbieri, A. (Eds.), #curacittà Napoli. Salubrità e natura nella città collinare (pp. 73-83). Macerata: Quodlibet.
  34. Tramma S. (2022). Pedagogia della comunità. Criticità e prospettive educative. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  35. UNESCO (1990). World Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000127583.
  36. UNESCO (2013). Beijing Declaration on Building Learning Cities & Key Features of Learning Cities. https://rur.pascalobservatory.org/sites/default/files/beijing_conference_report.pdf.
  37. UNESCO (2015). Mexico City Statement on Sustainable Learning Cities. https://uil.unesco.org/fileadmin/keydocuments/LifelongLearning/learning-cities/en-mexico-city-statement-on-sustainable-learning-cities.pdf (07/2024). https://rur.pascalobservatory.org/sites/default/files/beijing_conference_report.pdf.
  38. UNESCO (2017). Learning Cities and the SDGs: A Guide to Action. https://uil.unesco.org/lifelong-learning/learning-cities/learning-cities-and-sdgs-guide-action.
  39. Wang, C., & Burris, M.A., Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for partici-patory needs assessment. Health Education & Behavior 24, 1997, pp. 369-387.
  40. Yin, R. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Beverly Hills (CA): Sage.

Maria Grazia Proli, Riflessioni pedagogiche sulla città come luogo di relazioni: da spazi di crisi a spazi di accoglienza in "EDUCATIONAL REFLECTIVE PRACTICES" 2/2024, pp 96-113, DOI: 10.3280/erpoa2-2024oa18719