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The 2030 Agenda has among its sustainability goals the promotion of health and well-being. These goals seem to depend on disparate interdependent factors, including psychological well-being, the ability to self-determine, and the social cohesion of the context in which an individual grows and develops. Cultural participation seems to be an effective response to this challenge, as it can promote the development of personal and social skills. In the present article it is, therefore, analyzed how active and/or passive participation in cultural activities can represent an interesting educational ground for promoting well-being through the development of soft skills. At the same time, the neurobiological effects of such enjoyment and an examination of the most effective pedagogical interventions are reported. Il ruolo della cultura nel potenziare il benessere e le soft skills: da partecipazione passiva ad attiva. L’agenda 2030 ha tra i suoi obiettivi di sostenibilità la promozione della salute e del benessere. Questi obiettivi sembrano dipendere da disparati fattori interdipendenti tra loro, tra cui il benessere psicologico, la capacità di autodeterminarsi, nonché la coesione sociale del contesto all’interno del quale un individuo cresce e si sviluppa. La partecipazione culturale sembra rappresentare una risposta efficace a questa sfida, in quanto in grado di promuovere lo sviluppo di competenze personali e sociali. Nel presente articolo è, quindi, analizzato come la partecipazione attiva e/o passiva alle attività culturali possa rappresentare un interessante terreno educativo per promuovere il benessere attraverso lo sviluppo di soft-skills. Allo stesso tempo sono riportati gli effetti neurobiologici di tale fruizione ed una disamina sugli interventi pedagogici più efficaci.

Introduction. In March 2020, the Italian Ministry of Health prohibited individuals’ movement in the whole national territory. Schools closed, and teacher, educators, and students had to adapt to distanced learning ever since. However, the Italian National Institute of Statistic reported that only one student out of four could follow distanced learning, especially in the country’s poorest regions. Aim. To explore the evolution of distanced learning and produce evidence upon students’ perception of the past year’s educational experiences. Methods. The research team analysed two questionnaires conducted at a different time during the lockdown, in April and December 2020. The analysis was conducted using a quantitative approach and Cohen’s h effect size. Results. Data showed no improvements to the learning experience, leaving students with a poor, disadvantaged didactic experience. However, the data also showed an increment in students’ relationship abilities. Conclusion. It is then possible to conceive new intervention paradigms to foster the educational experience and prevent further students’ dropouts. Considering the embodied theories that have been neglected during the lockdown, the upcoming years of education are a call for responsibility to all adults (not only teachers and educators) since the health and education of the children, nationally and internationally, is at stake.

Questo lavoro nasce da un dialogo di natura inter–intra–disciplinare circa le potenzialità pedagogico–didattiche della danza come dispositivo educativo–terapeutico per il trattamento di problematiche psico–emozionali associate ad obesità. Il seguente contributo propone un caso di studio di 6 ragazze di età compresa tra i 13 e i 15 anni con obesità certificata secondo i criteri OMS relativi al BMI (Indice di massa corporea). Il percorso educativo–terapeutico realizzato, muove dalle teorie dell’Embodied Cognition Science circa il ruolo della corporeità nell’apprendimento e si realizza in un programma di danza educativa di 6 settimane impostato secondo i criteri di una metodologia didattica sperimentale. Il lavoro, seguito da un nutrizionista nella fase di reclutamento dei soggetti, da uno psicologo–pedagogista, un pedagogista esterno–esperto e un danza–educatore nella fase progettuale e operativa, si arricchisce di un’intervista educativa e di una breve riflessione sui dati ricavati e sulle future prospettive di sviluppo.

COVID-19 has shaped and changed our normalities, and, with the discovery of new variants, the long-COVID syndrome, and stress disorders, the end of the pandemic seems distant. The current scenario is impacting all aspects of our lives. In particular, many studies reported that the pandemic resulted in increased psychiatric disorders and grief-related symptoms in adolescents. The project developed between Italy and Slovenia investigated students’ experiences during the lockdown and, in particular, reported the perception of distanced learning, producing a transparent qualitative analysis that can inform future research and open to discussions on learning strategies. A survey was conducted with secondary school students in Southern Italy between 1 April and 31 May 2020 and in Central Slovenia between 16 March and 28 February 2021. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected based on students’ perception of distanced learning, via an online survey platform. The results focused on three main aspects: learning experience, relationships with peers and teachers, and anxiety levels. The data showed similarities and differences in the two cohorts and suggested strategies to improve education (e.g., with blended approaches) to prepare students, teachers, and tutors for the challenges of returning to classes. In particular, data showed that it is recommended to foster collaboration between EU countries and to work to prevent students’ social isolation.

The first case of pneumonia was reported on 8 December 2019 and identified on 7 January 2020 as COVID-19. On 9 March 2020, to stop the spread of COVID-19 cases, the Italian government declared a health emergency, forcing all citizens to go into lockdown. Suddenly, schools were constrained to using distance learning strategies with little or limited experience on the topic. Particularly, in the southern regions of Italy, approximately 20% of the students did not have access to any devices and were excluded from learning, producing a direct risk of increased adolescent delinquency. This research team intended to report the results of an observational study that focused on the perceptions of distance learning in adolescents from secondary school in Naples (Italy) between April and May 2020. The questionnaire comprised 11 questions focused on the perceptions of distance learning in comparison to live classrooms, relationships with peers and teachers, and levels of anxiety. The study is amongst the first to report the effect of the pandemic from a student-centred perspective and hopes to produce information to develop future research on asynchronous learning.

The civil education approach uses sports practise as a preventive intervention to increase self-awareness and to help modulate emotion in adolescents. Indeed, sports participation results in a better quality of life, more favourable cardio-metabolic and sleeping profiles and a healthier body composition. Adolescents involved in sport activities also report a higher level of social and emotional skills, and reduced mental health distress. However, the Italian school’s program provides only two hours weekly of physical education, with lack of options and participation. In alignment with the civil educational approach, the research team aims to develop a predictive sport, movement, eating habits, relationships and technologies (S.M.A.R.T.) questionnaire to identify the youths that present a higher risk of delinquency. The following research aims to explore preliminary data from 501 adolescents completing the S.M.A.R.T. The results show that the female group (n = 260) was healthier than the male group (n = 241); particularly, the female group demonstrated a higher level of self-awareness in the use of technologies (p < 0.05). Our results produce the first data set on a cohort of young adolescents in Italy using the S.M.A.R.T. questionnaire. The questionnaire possesses a high response rate and should now be implemented towards validation.

Previous studies suggested that the occipitoparietal stream orients attention toward the near/lower space and is involved in immediate reaching, whereas the occipitotemporal stream orients attention toward the far/upper space and is involved in delayed reaching. In the present study, we investigated the role of the occipitotemporal stream in attention orienting and delayed reaching in a patient (GP) with bilateral damage to the occipitoparietal areas and optic ataxia. GP and healthy controls took part in three experiments. In the experiment 1, the participants bisected lines oriented along radial, vertical, and horizontal axes. GP bisected radial lines farther, and vertical lines more above, than the controls, consistent with an attentional bias toward the far/upper space and near/lower space neglect. The experiment 2 consisted of two tasks: (1) an immediate reaching task, in which GP reached target locations under visual control and (2) a delayed visual reaching task, in which GP and controls were asked to reach remembered target locations visually presented. We measured constant and variable distance and direction errors. In immediate reaching task, GP accurately reached target locations. In delayed reaching task, GP overshot remembered target locations, whereas the controls undershot them. Furthermore, variable errors were greater in GP than in the controls. In the experiment 3, GP and controls performed a delayed proprioceptive reaching task. Constant reaching errors did not differ between GP and the controls. However, variable direction errors were greater in GP than in the controls. We suggest that the occipitoparietal damage, and the relatively intact occipitotemporal region, produced in GP an attentional orienting bias toward the far/upper space (experiment 1). In turns, the attentional bias selectively shifted toward the far space remembered visual (experiment 2), but not proprioceptive (experiment 3), target locations. As a whole, these findings further support the hypothesis of an involvement of the occipitotemporal stream in delayed reaching. Furthermore, the observation that in both delayed reaching tasks the variable errors were greater in GP than in the controls suggested that in optic ataxia is present not only a visuo- but also a proprioceptivo-motor integration deficit.