Education and Training
07 February 2000
Attività (EN) -
Education and Training
With the European Community’s sponsorship, in association with the Psychology Department of the University of Turin and of the Second University of Naples, the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo has started the European Master’s course “Models of Complexity and Human Ecology: tools for community development".
It is aimed at training graduates in psychological disciplines from several Euro-Mediterranean Countries, who would be able to work for the development of empowerment, that is promoting individual and group resources at a community level; able to enhance culture and research resources from Southern Italy areas, increasing the competences for the government of the territory through the active participation of the citizens.
In fact, we think that it is essential to contribute all over the Mediterranean area in the current social transformation processes, and the Master’s course is meant to be a qualified response in terms of employment for young graduates to be trained at studying and surveying social and interpersonal relationships in order to define planning and working actions within the community development respecting its complexity, putting in operation skills and traditions of the Southern culture together with participation and social development.
Novelty and specificity consist in providing young graduates in psychology with surveying and working tools related to local communities in order to promote participation and democracy processes, forms of active citizenship, improve the basic training by practicing interdisciplinary work and promoting team activities, intervene in groups at risk and contexts of social emergency.
The aim and the organization system of the course define a predominant interest in territorial interventions and accordingly the required intrinsic and substantial links with offers supplied by employment policy. The described skills are meant to be de facto elements of rationalization of civil society’s organisations, its organizational empowerment, and occasions for brand new working opportunities for several services.
The Master’s course is biennial and has already trained operators enabled to use methodological and relational tools, such as those ones provided by community psychology, in order to work within the social transformation processes of groups, communities and local authorities. Its aim consists in training psychologists who can define planning and working actions within community development respecting its complexity.
The training modules have studied in depth education methods, psychological skills aimed at team working, the participation promotion, planning and assessment of actions, qualitative and quantitative research. Specific training purposes are described below:
· Knowing the several aspects of interaction between individuals and society
· Referring theories and models belonging to community psychology to philosophy, psychology and sociology.
· Promoting the community development in terms of employment and social policies.
· Team working and coordination.
· Undertaking action-research projects and using targeted survey tools, such as community diagnosis and multidimensional organizational analysis.
· Starting empowerment processes and promoting self-aid groups and problem-solving procedures.
· Providing methodological directions for actions in problematic areas, in emergency and for intercultural integration.
Both Italian and foreign teachers and trainers were community psychologists and specialists in social policies in their anthropological, economic and philosophical implications, together with experts from the third sector.
This initiative has prefigured a brand new professional figure enabled to work in local administrations in order to favour and promote participation and active connection processes among citizens, civil society’s bodies and local administrations themselves.
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