FROM A DISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE CULTURE OF INCLUSION : THE ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STUDIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA IN THE PROJECT “ INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN KOSOVO ”

Particularly over the past decade, the Department of Education Studies of the University of Bologna has consolidated its role in education and consulting in the field of socio-educational interventions in international cooperation. In different contexts and with different social stakeholders, the common purpose has always been to foster the development of autonomy and construction of aware identities by the inhabitants and communities in the project territories. In the latest project, funded by Save The Children Italia Onlus and the Italian Development Cooperation, from 30/11/2012-30/04/2013, generally aimed to contribute to the inclusion of more vulnerable groups in the economic and social life of Kosovo, starting from school. With 50% of the population aged under 25, the implementation of quality inclusive education starting from pre-school age for all citizens, whatever their ethnic, social belonging, their disability/ies, represents a priority for the Government for the development and democratisation of the country. A specific objective is to guarantee access to quality preschool and primary education for children with disabilities in 8 municipalities of the 7 regions of Kosovo. The operational plan of the project was based on the cooperation between Save the Children, the MEST “Minister of Education, Science and Technology” of the Republic of Kosovo, the Faculty of Education of the University of Prishtina and the Department of Education Studies of the University of Bologna with the aim of: implementing the “Strategic plan for organizing inclusive education for children with special educational needs in pre-university education in Kosovo”, drafted by the MEST; providing technical support to the MEST and the University of Prishtina for drafting a teacher training plan for teachers and support teachers, based on inclusive education (establishment of a Master Course of Inclusive Education; renewal of the Preschool Programme and Primary Education Programme with a view to social inclusion); viewing and knowledge of the Bologna degree programme for support teachers; activating and supporting a process of renewal in teacher training, recalling the social function of school and professionalism which may be a factor for innovation in the quality of course contents in new training courses and social policies. CONCEPTUAL ORIENTATION FOR DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AND THE NEW ROLE OF UNIVERSITY COOPERATION Socio-educational and learning interventions in the context of development cooperation cannot be removed from an in-depth reflection on the very concept of cooperation and development, in relation to social transformations and new global scenarios, which demand models and practices that take account of sustainability, governance and an educational dimension that is increasingly linked to autonomy, participation and inclusion. The aim is to analyse new potential conceptual orientations, through models, instruments, thoughts on good practices that offer ideas for adjusting the aim of intervention policies. This means starting from changes in the complex concept of development in order to be able to define new cooperation instruments and models. The concept of development dates back to the post-war period, defining the process through which, thanks to the support of more industrialised countries, "backward" countries would have reached the same level of so-called progress, in the name of modernisation and economic growth, in a western, post-colonial perspective. According to this meaning, antinomies are created that are still very difficult to overcome, despite their inadequacy: developed/developing, rich/poor, industrialised/non industrialised. Around fifty years later, during which time economic growth has not managed to achieve the illusory objective of putting an end to poverty, we examine the profound contradictions that mark the activities undertaken with a view to development, which is still very often perceived as more in terms of damage than of opportunity. The attempt to create a fairer world has failed, the global socio-economic divide has taken a stronghold, the difficulties caused by development have increased where the poverty of certain groups or countries has been used as a pretext to promote investments with positive effects mainly in the richer countries. In the 1990s a new concept of development took hold, with a different meaning: “human”, combining the criteria of