Andrea Vargiu

Università di Sassari (Italy)

Biographical Abstracts

Andrea Vargiu is associate professor of Sociology at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Sassari (Italy) where he directs the Foist Laboratory for Social Policies and Training Processes. The Foist Lab was founded in 1977 by Professor Alberto Merler to promote equitable co-operation between the community and university. Foist is a partner of Living Knowledge, the international network of Science Shops, and is the first Italian hub of the K4C – Knowledge for Change programme. Under international coordination of the UNESCO chair in Community Based Research and Responsibility of Higher Education, K4C will train the next generation of community-based researchers.

At the University of Sassari, Andrea was recently appointed as Rector’s delegate for Third Mission (Humanities and Social Sciences area) and serves as president of the MA Course in Social Work and Social Policies.

Andrea has a solid record in action research and CBPR. He studies civic engagement of universities, social policies, and organized solidarity. He has been involved in European funded projects aimed at studying and promoting public engagement of science and responsible research and innovation. He co-ordinates impact evaluation of national and regional projects to contrast educational poverty in Italy. During the last ten years, he’s been strongly engaged with citizens, civil society actors, and local administration to shape the policy agenda for community development through permanent community-university co-operation in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of the city of Sassari.

Areas of Expertise

• Community-based participatory research
• Higher education policy
• Social policies and community development
• Social responsibility of universities
• Impact evaluation