Molassana Lab: Where Peace Meets Participation
On a lively January day in Genoa’s Molassana district, educators, citizens, and community leaders came together to turn local challenges into collaborative solutions through the De.Ci.Tel (Democratic Citizenship Teaching and Learning) Policy Lab.
The EIP Lab facilitated the Policy Lab, a participatory workshop format in which participants are actively involved in the process. The methodology is structured into four alternating phases of divergence and convergence: an exploration phase (in which ideas and needs are expressed), a selection phase (where ideas are collected and mapped), a design phase (participants are divided into working groups), and finally a testing phase (where small pilot projects are implemented). The Policy Lab in fact draws on the Design Thinking approach and applies a confidentiality rule during proposal and discussion sessions, in line with the Chatham House Rule (the content and outcomes of the discussion are public, while individual positions are not attributed).
This activity is part of the actions envisaged under Work Package 5 of the project, entitled “Local Learning Ecosystems”, which focuses on extending Citizenship Education beyond schools by engaging civil society, local administrations, and local communities in participatory activities that foster citizenship competences among teachers, students, and citizens.
In Genoa, the first two phases were carried out: participants from heterogeneous backgrounds, all committed to the needs and challenges of the local area, were brought together, a wide range of ideas was collected and working groups were formed. The groundwork was therefore laid for moving forward with the design and experimentation phases. You can also watch part of the workshop clicking here.
EIP Laboratory Team administrator
The Education Inspiring Peace Laboratory team is composed of contributors seconded by the different institutional members of the association and its individual members. If you are interested in joining the Lab and contributing to its activities as an institution, an expert or an educational practitioner, contact us at sanremo@eiplab.eu.
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