LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND CO-PRODUCTION LABORATORY

Local governments, third-sector associations, but increasingly the private market enterprises as well, have tended in recent times to use principles and practices of co-programming and co-production of public goods, which involve policy makers, stakeholders and civil society representatives, with the aim of ensuring effective programs, actions and policies to respond to community needs.

Especially in the European context, new governance approaches of public-private networks have been experimented with, which are based on the logics of meta-governance, participatory processes, and the direct involvement of social actors

The Course-which adopts a strong experimental and participatory approach according to the principle of learning by doing-offers to the attending students the opportunity to simulate, acting as a research team, the design of age-friendly policies for a local authority, starting with survey data based on the Age-Friendly World principles promoted by the World Health Organization and subsequent interactions with local stakeholders using qualitative social research techniques.

Students will be able to:
- recognize the elements of complexity underlying local government governance
- design a local policy
- involve local actors in the design and the evaluation processes
- use mixed methods social research techniques capable of supporting participatory processes

Basic sociological theory
Basic experience on social research

- Introduction to the meta-governance approach
- Co-production and participatory processes
- Social research techniques and mixed methods approach
- Local planning and social research

- N.A. Andersen, (2016), Il welfare delle potenzialità, il management pubblico in transizione, Mimesis, Milano. Chap. 1-3-4-5-6-7-8-10
- Bertin G. (2011), Con-sensus method, FrancoAngeli, Milano

Oral exam: textbook and materials provided during the course. The study of the material indicated is sufficient for exam preparation

The Course will be 'laboratory-based', with the first two weeks devoted to the theoretical part, and the next three to the co-design and co-production of a local policy on the topic of the age-friendly city. The laboratory phase is based on the use of research techniques to support participatory processes. The possibility of scheduling group visits to the offices of local institutions and city associations will be evaluated with the attending students. Processing and analysis of the data collected during the external meetings will be part of the workshop activities

Italian

The course is carried out in collaboration with the extended partnership AGE-IT Age-It - Ageing well in an agening society” (PE0000015), CUP H73C22000900006, public notice no. 341/2022 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan ("NRRP"), Mission 4 - Component 2 - Investment 1.3, funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU. As part of the course, meetings with companies’ testimonials involved in the project may be offered, focusing on the development of practical knowledge in the subject matter, as well as the results of the project itself. This course covers topics related to Spoke 10 Mainstreaming ageing by building institutional mechanisms for better and future-oriented policy making – WP3.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development