Per raggiungere le aule in cui si terranno le sessioni parallele della conferenza (Aule I, Corte interrata, presso la Cittadella Politecnica), l’entrata dell’Università è da Corso Castelfidardo 34 (ingresso bar MixTo) oppure da Via Paolo Borsellino 53 (ingresso edificio Aule R). Le sessioni plenarie si terranno in Sede Centrale presso l’aula magna, in quel caso l’entrata più comoda è quella principale da Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, oppure con ingresso da Corso Castelfidardo 39.

COME RAGGIUNGERE IL POLITECNICO:

Dalla stazione Porta Nuova

Dal lato opposto di Corso Vittorio Emanuele, di fronte alla stazione: fermata “PORTA NUOVA n 40”, da qui prendere il tram 15 direzione Borgata Lesna o l’autobus 33 direzione Collegno e scendere a fermata Mediterraneo, da lì sono circa 10 minuti a piedi. Dall’uscita della stazione su via Paolo Sacchi, procedere verso Via San Secondo dove si trova la fermata “PORTA NUOVA n 252” prendere l’autobus 12 direzione Mirafiori Nord, Via Allason (Poste) e scendere alla fermata Politecnico, da lì sono circa 5 minuti a piedi. Per raggiungere il Politecnico di Torino a piedi, il percorso è di circa 30 minuti.

Dalla stazione Porta Susa

Dalla fermata “QUESTURA n 29” su Corso Vinzaglio, prendere il tram 10 direzione Mirafiori Sud, Corso Settembrini e scendere alla fermata Politecnico, da lì per le aule sono circa 10 minuti a piedi all’interno dell’università. Per raggiungere il Politecnico di Torino a piedi, il percorso è di circa 20 minuti

Da entrambe le stazioni è possibile prendere la metropolitana in direzione Fermi e scendere alla stazione Vinzaglio, da lì sono circa 15 minuti a piedi. Il prezzo del biglietto 1 corsa dei trasporti pubblici è 2€.

In città sono presenti diversi servizi di bike sharing e monopattini elettrici che è possibile utilizzare per gli spostamenti, oltre che una rete di taxi.

Dall’aeroporto Torino Caselle

In autobus: “Arriva” (8,50€), che ferma sia alla stazione Porta Susa che alla stazione Porta Nuova o “Flibco” (da 3€ online, 6€ a terra), che ferma all’autostazione Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 131, a circa 10 minuti a piedi dalle aule. In treno (3,70€) dalla fermata “Aeroporto di Caselle” per Porta Nuova o Porta Susa. La corsa in taxi ha un costo di circa 35€.

ENGLISH:

To reach the conference halls (Aule I, Cittadella Politecnica), the entrance to the university is on Corso Castelfidardo 34 or Via Paolo Borsellino 53. Plenaries will be held in the Main Hall, in which case the most convenient entrance is from the main gate located in Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, or from the back gate in Corso Castelfidardo 39.

HOW TO REACH THE POLITECNICO:

From Porta Nuova train station

On the opposite side of Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in front of the station: stop ‘PORTA NUOVA no. 40’, from here take tram 15 direction Borgata Lesna or bus 33 direction Collegno and get off at Mediterraneo stop, from there it is about 10 minutes walk. Alternatively, from the station exit on Via Paolo Sacchi, at the ‘PORTA NUOVA no. 253’ stop take bus 12 towards Porta Nuova and get off at the Politecnico stop, from there it is about a 5-minute walk. You can reach the Politecnico di Torino on foot in approximately 30 minutes.

From Porta Susa train station

At the stop ‘QUESTURA no. 29’ on Corso Vinzaglio, take tram 10 direction of Mirafiori Sud, Corso Settembrini and get off at the Politecnico stop, from there it is approximately a 10-minute walk to the classrooms. You can reach the Politecnico di Torino on foot in approximately 20 minutes.

From both stations you can take the metro direction Fermi and get off at Vinzaglio station, from there it is about a 15-minute walk. The price of a 1-ride public transport ticket is 2€.

In the city there are several bike sharing services and electric scooters that you can use to get around, as well as a network of taxis.

From Caselle airport

By bus: ‘Arriva’ (€8.50), which stops at both Porta Susa and Porta Nuova stations, or ‘Flibco’ (€3 online, €6 on board), which stops at the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 131 bus station, about a 10-minute walk from the classrooms. By train (€3.70) from the ‘Aeroporto di Caselle’ stop to Porta Nuova or Porta Susa.

Comitato scientifico

• Francesca Bastagli, Fondazione Agnelli
• Gregorio Buzzelli, Politecnico di Torino
• Tania Cerquitelli, Politecnico di Torino
• Patrizia Falzetti, INVALSI
• Franco Deriu, INAPP
• Anna Di Palma, Politecnico di Torino
• Costanza Gagliesi, Politecnico di Torino
• Dora Gambardella, Università di Napoli Federico II
• Rebecca Ghio, Università di Milano
• Patrizia Lombardi, Politecnico di Torino
• Rosaria Lumino, Università di Napoli Federico II
• Ilaria Madama, Università di Milano
• Giuseppe Moro, Università di Bari
• Francesco Nicoli, Politecnico di Torino
• Emmanuele Pavolini, Università di Milano
• Michele Raitano, Sapienza Università di Roma
• Stefania Sabatinelli, Politecnico di Milano
• Stefano Sacchi, Politecnico di Torino
• Gianluca Scarano, Università di Torino
• Cristina Solera, Università di Torino
• Patrik Vesan, Università della Valle d’Aosta

Comitato organizzativo locale

• Gregorio Buzzelli, Politecnico di Torino
• Anna Di Palma, Politecnico di Torino
• Costanza Gagliesi, Politecnico di Torino (segreteria organizzativa)
• Rebecca Ghio, Università di Milano
• Francesco Nicoli, Politecnico di Torino
• Stefano Sacchi, Politecnico di Torino
• Gianluca Scarano, Università di Torino

18th ESPAnet Italia Conference 2025

Technology, climate, demographic change: challenges and social policy responses in a world in transition

Politecnico di Torino, 16-18 September 2025

The triple transition - environmental, technological and socio-demographic - represents one of the crucial challenges of our time, forcing rethinking of the relationship of the human species with others, between urban and natural spaces, of production processes and redistribution of resources, and of welfare systems at all levels of governance.

As the reality of climate change becomes alarmingly evident, pressure grows on policymakers and economic and social actors to engage production systems in a serious process of environmental transformation. However, the recent COP29, as well as the new US administration's change of tack, confirm the difficulties inherent in balancing economic development - particularly of emerging countries - and global emissions reduction (Draghi 2024). Environmental transition calls for sectoral adjustments that may bring about new employment, as well as job losses, changes in the skills and job profiles required, and significant consequences in terms of political consensus and demands posed on decision-makers by the political community. At the same time, technological development, and in particular the advent of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), outlines new fundamental risks (Kissinger et al. 2022) or at the very least the reconfiguration of human labour (Mugge 2024), as well as new opportunities for economic growth (Acemoglu 2024). 

The impact of generative AI concerns the manufacturing sector as well as public and private services (from medical diagnostics, to logistics, to services for the unemployed). The use of decision-making processes based on large databases increasingly affects the organization and provision of welfare services, resulting in a difficult balancing act between efficiency and transparency of administrative action, as well as between the expectations of effectiveness resulting from the use of IT systems and the experience and judgement of welfare workers (Van Gerven 2022). 

In the last decade, the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ has seen a renewed interest in industrial policies to revive productive sectors, together with education and social policies: proactive and social investment for skills training, and reactive for compensating impacts. Similarly, the strategy of combating climate change through decarbonization pursued by the European Union gives rise to consequences that must be managed through a mix of policies involving industrial policies, territorial development, education and training, and social policies, in a scenario characterized by the global decline in fertility and population ageing (The Lancet 2024). These issues undermine the sustainability of health and social protection systems and foreshadow a slowdown in economic growth.

In such a context, even more so after the Covid-19 pandemic, public sector intervention is increasingly seen as necessary to seize development opportunities and to support collaboration between research, school, university and industry. However, possible tensions emerge between conceptions of public intervention as aimed at producing resources or rather reallocating them, thus opposing industrial and social policies against each other. Tensions that could be quashed by re-conceptualizing, a quarter of a century later, social policy as a productive and competitiveness factor (European Commission 1997, Pontusson 2005). An angle, however, subject to contestation by those who consider productivist social policy co-extensive with growth capitalism, and part of the problems of modernity rather than their solution, whereas an effective response to the challenges posed by transitions would require a paradigm shift in a ‘post-productivist’ sense (Dukelow and Murphy 2022).

The ESPAnet Italia 2025 conference aims to reflect on the challenges that these interrelated transitions pose to the production system, to resource redistribution mechanisms and to the social policies that respond to, regulate and shape socio-economic processes. While the use of new technologies may facilitate environmental transformation, increasing automation raises concerns about the employment conditions of many workers with obsolete skills, while the shortage of skilled labour resulting from an ageing population and the reduction of younger cohorts generates itself incentives for automation, also in the health and welfare professions (including through the adoption of generative AI). The increasing pressures on the pension and health system due to the demographic transition jeopardize the introduction and provision of compensatory policies for those exposed to new eco-social risks (victims of hydro-geological disruption, workers in the fossil energy supply chain, etc.). At the same time, more vulnerable groups may be less prepared to face the negative consequences of climate change and natural disasters.

The conference promotes sessions that address these issues both from a theoretical and interpretative point of view, and through the presentation of empirical research, case studies and/or comparative analyses, practical experiences, with a focus on present scenarios and future developments. The presentation of new methodologies and techniques of analysis is encouraged, stimulating an interdisciplinary discussion that spans the following disciplines: sociology, economics, political science, history, law, psychology, demography, urban planning, social service, pedagogy and medicine.

The topics to be discussed and on which sessions are invited (in a non-exhaustive list) are:

• Strategies and policies for mitigating the social impacts of the triple transition
• Industrial and labour strategies and policies for environmental transformation and digital transition
• Public perception of major transitions and public policy preferences
• Intergenerational dynamics (conflicts, solidarity, exchanges)
• New forms of living together, long-term care and caregiving 
• Urban transformation and smart and sustainable cities
• Social welfare services, digitization and use of AI
• Family, birth and female employment policies
• Scenario analyses and future studies on new social risks in the triple transition
• Impacts of new technologies and green transition on employment and job quality
• Digital transformation of welfare administration
• Disintermediation, ‘remotization’ and algorithmic decision-making models in labour and social policies
• Training (digital skills and green skills) for labour markets in transition
• ‘Smart’ active labour market policies (use of AI in employment services, demand-supply matching, etc.)
• Role of the third sector and social economy
• Active ageing
• Disability and new technologies
• Climate justice
• Digital transformation and new forms of activism
• New migrations: climate refugees and response policies
• ...

Session proposals (between 250 and 300 words in English or Italian) should be submitted by 24/03/2025 to: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.

Acceptance of proposals will be communicated by 12/04/2025.

XVIII Conferenza ESPAnet Italia 2025

Tecnologia, clima, cambiamento demografico: sfide e risposte di politica sociale in un mondo in transizione

Politecnico di Torino, 16-18 settembre 2025

Tema della conferenza

La tripla transizione – ecologica, tecnologica e sociodemografica – rappresenta una delle sfide cruciali del nostro tempo, obbligando a un ripensamento del rapporto della specie umana con le altre specie, degli spazi urbani e naturali, dei processi di produzione e redistribuzione delle risorse e dei sistemi di welfare a tutti i livelli di governance.