The course has the following learning objectives:

1. Present the theoretical and practical foundations that underlie the non-profit enterprise, with particular attention to the design and management of welfare services;

2. Offer training tools for the management, organization and planning of non-profit companies that operate in the context of welfare policies;

3. Provide students with an overview of welfare design methods;

4. Involving students in a design experience, through the development of a project and the presentation of some cases of non-profit company projects.

The course includes theoretical lessons dedicated to the presentation of concepts, theories and experiences in the classroom, with discussion in small groups on the material offered by the teacher. Furthermore, an exercise is foreseen, consisting in the elaboration of a project which will allow experimenting with a planning experience in the welfare state. The whole class will take part in the exercise, divided into design work groups, each of which will work collectively, under the guidance of the teacher, on the elaboration of the different phases of a design of an idea in the field of welfare.

The lessons and discussions in the classroom will focus on the following topics:

Who designs: The third sector between the State and the Market. Classifications and economic dimensions of the third sector. Role of the third sector in welfare reform. Third sector legislation, in particular social cooperation. Specificity of the non-profit enterprise form. Analysis of the social and economic transformations carried out by non-profit companies. The economic and organizational management of work in the non-profit enterprise. The non-profit public/private relationship. Non-profit business development strategies.

What is planned: inside the welfare project, the specificity of welfare planning with respect to the planning of market initiatives. Journey into the images of the world to develop critical and creative skills useful for design.

How to design: an approach to design through the analysis of the project cycle. Analysis of the project phases through the identification of the general and specific objectives, their linkage, the identification of the evaluation criteria, the tools for ongoing and ex post evaluation, the procedure for any reprogramming of the intervention.

Experiences: presentation of real cases of non-profit enterprise planning and collective development of a project.

No propaedeutics

Knowledge and understanding.

• Students will have to show the mastery of the main theoretical perspectives concerning the discipline and to have acquired critical analysis skills in relation to the main objects of study, such as the history and evolution of the third sector in relation to the organization of welfare systems;
• Students will have to become familiar with the fundamental concepts of the discipline (numerical and economic relevance of the third sector, legal figures, laws), demonstrating that they know how to define them precisely.
• Knowledge of the history, evolution of the third sector and the organization of welfare systems, such as to allow to manage organizations, activities and services, as well as to implement innovative strategies in the organization of social services.
• The student must be able to interact with other professionals on the specific issues of management and design of non-profit enterprises.
• The student will have to apply his skills to the definition of project lines of welfare services and policies.

Applying knowledge and understanding.

Particular attention will be devoted to the relationship between the theoretical and practical-applicative components of the course. In this perspective, starting from the theories and concepts illustrated and discussed in the lessons, a class exercise will take place in the form of writing a project with application in the social field. The classroom will become a design team engaged in all phases of the classroom. Through the exercise, students are expected to:

• Test and consolidate their level of learning and understanding of theoretical notions;
• Learn to move from abstract theories and concepts to the formulation of a complete design work;
• Sharpen their ability to translate complex concepts into manageable variables in real everyday processes;
• By engaging in a design laboratory, they are expected to refine their methodological skills (definition of objectives, strategies and actions; research, analysis and re-elaboration of real data available from various sources; interpretation of results in relation to the literature, presentation and discussion of the results in the classroom).
• Through teamwork, the student is expected to improve their ability to coordinate with others and to work in groups.

Making judgements.

The course aims to provide students with a series of tools for the analysis and interpretation of the "Third sector" phenomenon and its relationship with the different welfare systems, with particular reference to the local and national context. For this reason, students are expected to derive useful tools for a rigorous and autonomous critical analysis of the complex phenomena that characterize current social trends and contemporary welfare systems.

Communication skills.

• Students are expected to be able to analyze and critically discuss the proposed topics also through the use of appropriate and "technical" language.
• In addition, the elaboration of the research results (through the analysis of the project documents) will be conducted by groups of 3-4 students, who will work independently. At the end of the work, each group will be invited to present with an oral report accompanied by visual support (slides on PowerPoint) the results and their interpretations to the rest of the class, and to take part in the resulting debate: through this phase we expect an improvement in the exhibition and discussion skills in public.

Learning skills.

Students must have developed appropriate learning skills, on the basis of which they can then expand the knowledge acquired during the course, applying the knowledge acquired on general and / or specific issues to new questions of analysis and research. The teaching methods through which the course intends to achieve this objective are the following: lectures on basic issues, use of visual materials (PowerPoint slides), classroom debate, participation in the class exercise.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Each lesson will be accompanied by power-point presentations which will remain available to students.

Teaching

Frontal lessons will be alternated with group activities and classroom discussions.

Attendance

Study of the indicated material

Participation in the classroom exercise and participation in at least 3/4 of the lessons

Course books

Lecture notes available on the website, on the Blended platform - blended.uniurb.it 

Gesualdi F., The other way - from growth to well-being, program for an economy of satiety, Altreconomia, Milan 2009. Downloadable for free online at the address: http://www.cnms.it/attachments/article/24 /otherway_0.pdf 

Assessment

The skills acquired by the students will be evaluated through an oral interview in order to verify the ability to support a reasoning and a discussion on the topics under study. Particular attention will be paid to the following dimensions during the oral interview:

ability to clearly and punctually define the main theories and fundamental concepts of the discipline;

level of articulation of answers and arguments;

ability to critically revise concepts and analyze them using the theoretical tools proposed in the course.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Attendance

Study of the indicated material.

Course books

Lecture notes available on the website, on the Blended platform - blended.uniurb.it

Gesualdi F., The other way - from growth to well-being, program for an economy of satiety, Altreconomia, Milan 2009. Downloadable for free online at the address: http://www.cnms.it/attachments/article/24 /otherway_0.pdf

Fazzi L. “Innovative social entrepreneurs. Case studies in the third sector” Franco Angeli 2014.

Assessment

The skills acquired by the students will be evaluated through an oral interview in order to verify the ability to support a reasoning and a discussion on the topics under study. Particular attention will be paid to the following dimensions during the oral interview:

- ability to clearly and punctually define the main theories and fundamental concepts of the discipline;

- level of articulation of answers and arguments;

- capacity for critical reworking of concepts and analysis using the theoretical tools proposed in the course.

Non-attending students are invited to consult the teaching material uploaded to Moodle (slides discussed in class, material developed, etc.) through which it will be possible to further study the volumes indicated in the "Study texts" section.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.