IUL is a long-distance learning University established in 2005 by public authorities (INDIRE, National Institute for Documentation, Innovation, Educational Research), and the University of Foggia. INDIRE has been supporting the evolution of the Italian educational system and has been the reference institution for educational research in Italy for more than 90 years; main fields of education programs by INDIRE cover both young learners education curricula in schools and long life learning programs for adults. IUL figures out as a “lifelong learning university” and provides online university courses (three year degrees, specialization degrees, master’s degrees, post-graduate degrees), mainly focused on Humanities. It also offers refreshing courses addressed to technicians and professionals who wish to acquire knowledge and develop competences relevant to their working field. Several IUL learning pathways are addressed to teachers, head teachers, school staff and are aimed at supporting their continuous professional development. In the framework of the Millennium Sustainable Development Goals, IUL fosters education for all and offers several opportunities for vulnerable groups to attend education programs. A Master degree course is specifically devoted to long life learning programs for adults; some subject within the curriculum are focused on migrants and asylum seekers education needs, offering both research and education seminars on adult literacy and gender studies. Thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2017 with the Ministry for Social Policies, the Department for Equal Opportunities by the Office of prime Minister, IUL has been researching on discrimination, cyberbullying, gender racism, offering education programs in schools; in the last five years, diploma courses have been offered for social and intercultural mediators, in a joint venture with UNAR (National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office). More education programs offered to non-EU citizens provide diploma courses on intercultural mediation funded by FAMI grants (PROG- 1366 “MICSE Mediation for intercultural processes toward social cohesion in Europe).
Involvement and participation within ODLEP research project
Universita Telematica Degli Studi (IUL) is involved in all activities related to the ODLEP project. It should be mentioned that ODLEP project includes four work packages. Universita Telematica Degli Studi has been fully committed to the project. Regarding the first work package which is the “Project Management”, IUL has a significant role.
As far as the second work package is concerned, and specifically, Task 1, Critical educational success parameters, IUL and University of Macedonia will lead the task of the literature review in collaboration with the other partners who will search the situation in their countries.
Work package four requires from IUL to assign at least one course to be conducted through the ODLEP platform/approach and gather feedback from students and instructors. Along with the other partners IUL will be identifying and recording best practices.
Members
Immacolata Messuri (Capua, Italy – 1981) is Associate professor of General and Social Pedagogy at the Telematic University of Studies IUL. She is PhD in “Theory and History of Educational Processes”, a PhD course of the Doctoral School in “Philosophical and Social Sciences” of the Faculty of Arts at Cassino University. She was a Research Fellow at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences; the title research works were “Documents about guidance activities in Lazio, in Sicily, in Veneto” and “Multimedia Platforms and New Models of Entrepreneurship in the Field of Cultural Tourism”. In academic years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 has taught Education at the Bachelor in Communication Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Cassino. Starting from the academic year 2017/2018 she teaches Education in the Media and Symbolic Forms and Training workshop for childhood educational contexts at the Università Telematica degli Studi IUL.
She is the Coordinator of the Degree Course in Sciences and techniques of education and services for children, and she is
Rector delegate for guidance, mentoring and placement. In the months of October/November 2009, at the University of Cassino, she held a teaching position, in the presence mode and in the FaD mode, in the context of the intervention Adaptation of internal competences in the matter of gender budgeting, POR ob. 3, FSE 2000-2006, Measure D2.
She was a member of the research group of European projects, funded under the Erasmus + program, entitled “Guinevere” and “Strategies and Tools to Promote Caregivers’ Mental and Emotional Health”.
She coordinated three research projects: “DopOff – Sport and physical disability: doping research and training project”; “Escape room as an educational strategy to promote health even in Covid-19 times”; “The role of body and motor activities in promoting wellbeing”. She collaborated on the project “NEET Italy-Poland”, she created a study and held seminars about NEETs.
She is supervisor trainer counsellor at S.I.Co. (http://www.sicoitalia.it/online/iscritti-al-registro/cerca-un-supervisor/).
Her main research interests are related to vocational guidance and training, communicative-relational counselling, new pedagogical models of communication in a globalized society, pedagogical themes of the history of utopia and sports pedagogy, educational relationship, adult learning. On these topics she has already produced three scientific books and
some papers, other issues are being printed.
Lara Balleri (Sarzana, Italy – 1980), from 2009 to 2021, she has been involved in adult and adolescent education, especially on the topics of communication, guidance and skills. She trained at the Scuola Holden in Turin in “Storytelling Techniques” and she graduated cum laude first as a professional socio-pedagogical Educator and then as a Pedagogist in “Educational Innovation and Lifelong Learning in Adult Education in national and international contexts”.
At Università telematica degli Studi IUL is an expert on general and social Pedagogy, consultant for research projects and teaching tutor. She has a strong interest in orientation and transformative learning, gamification, educational storytelling and the phenomena that are generated in the relationship between young people and the media.
Thomas De Angelis (Manerbio, Italy – 1999) obtained his bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at LUISS in 2020 with a grade of 110 cum laude, and his master’s degree in International Relations with a grade of 109 at the same University in 2022. His specialties are behavioral economics, system dynamics, international relations and international security, in particular radicalization and terrorism studies. He is currently working as a researcher at the Università Telematica degli Studi IUL and he is an associate member of SYDIC – System Dynamics Italian Chapter.
Stefano Armenia (Roma, Italy – 1971) is a Tenure-track Lecturer (Ricercatore TDB) in Business Organizations and in the Analysis of Dynamical Systems at the Università Telematica degli Studi in Florence. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering, Industrial Automation & Control Systems, a Ph.D. in Business Engineering and a Master in Management and Business Administration. He is member of the System Dynamics International Society (SDS) since 2002, President of the System Dynamics Italian Chapter (SYDIC – the Italian Network of the SDS) since 2011 and member of the SDS Policy Council from 2014 to 2022, where he also acted as VP Chapters & SIGs. From 2014 to 2017 he has also been the IT & Communication Officer of the European Academy of Management. In 2021 he has obtained the national scientific status as associate professor in Business Organizations (ASN 2021, SSD: SECS-P/10, 3 out of 3 median indicators)
His professional background includes extensive knowledge of main funding programs at national (Italian) and International level with a specific experience on research programs. Among his previous roles, he has acted as Bid Manager, Project Manager and Professional Consultant in several fields, both in the Public Administration and Industrial environments.
In his professional work, he has been working both in the public (FORMEZ, CNIPA, officer in the ITALIAN NAVY) and private sector (ENGINEERING, ALTRAN) and has been the coordinator of several EU Projects, most of them dealing with defense & security as well as with sustainable development and digital transformation issues.
Among the latest projects: CRISADMIN Project (HOME/2011/CIPS/AG/4000002116), the ATTACS project (HOME/2013/CIPS/AG/4000005083), Project Manager for the CERS/SVD project (UK MCA) and a FRONTEX Study on Law Enforcement Agencies, coordinator of several activities in the PERSEUS project (FP7-SEC) and principal designer of the project proposal SIMONA (ESA ARTES 20). More recently, he has been the scientific lead of the SUSTAIN Project (2017-1-EL01-KA203-036303), Project Manager of the BRISWA Project (GA 2016-3060 – 579960-EPP-1-2016-2-IT-SPO-SCP), and currently he’s the Lead Coordinator of the SYSTEMA Project (2020-1-IT02-KA204-080082) and partner in the PMBoG Project (2020-1-IT02-KA204-079724) and the SUMHEIS Project (2019-1-IT02-KA203-062984)
In his research work, he deals with the analysis of complex systems dynamics in many fields: cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, logistics and sustainable transportation, finance, technological innovation, policy modelling and assessment of impacts of innovation and new technologies (Digital Transformation) on organizational processes and on society. From 2014 to 2020 he has been co-editor in chief of the Kybernetes Journal (Emerald-Insights) and currently is Associate or Guest editor in several other scientific journals in the field of system dynamics (IJASS, IJMABS). He has been teaching “Organizational Behaviour” and “Business Organizations” at Link Campus University (Rome) and Business Information Systems at the “Tor Vergata” University (Rome).
He is an author of several papers in top-ranked journals and has been involved in various initiatives dealing with sustainable development and Climate Change (he has led the Climate Action Exercise in several previous occasions, both at public and private level). He has participated several times to various editions of the Festival della Sostenibilità (organized by ASVIS) and has been involved in different researches dealing with sustainable development and other environmental issues (i.e. Carbon Capture & Sequestration, Urban Sustainable Development, etc.) as well as with the translation of sustainability best sellers (i.e.: “Thinking in Systems” by Donella Meadows)
More about Stefano Armenia can be found here: http://stefanoarmenia.eurocv.eu
· .Editorial Board of the International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior (Emerald-Insight)
· .Editorial Board of SYSTEMS (MDPI)
· .Editorial Board of SYSTEM DYNAMICS REVIEW (Wiley-Blackwell)
· .Guest Editor of IJASS, JOS, AGSY
· .former (2016-2020) Co-Editor in Chief of Kybernetes (Emerald-Insight)
· .former Policy Council Member and VP Chapters & SIGs of the System Dynamics Society (2019-2022)
· .Scientific Lead of the System Dynamics Group and the Modeling & Simulation Lab at Link Campus University, Rome
· .President (2020-2023) of SYDIC, the System Dynamics Italian Chapter (http://www.systemdynamics.it/)