ITALIAN SCHOOLS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. A NETWORK APPROACH: THE ITALIAN CASE STUDY

The aim of this paper is, first, to describe the role of educational institutions for Sustainable Development. The school must put forward the change that is taking place, as well as, be an incubator of innovative teaching methods in which sustainability is the keystone in which all aspects of school life are addressed. The school, along this path, is the main driving force behind the pursuit of the training objectives identified as priorities by the various national and international entities, such as equality, inclusiveness, the culture of the exchange of ideas and knowledge between public and private realities. The objective of this work is to highlight how the need to meet common objectives (among the schools) of concretization of the outgoing students, staff training and improvement of the quality of services provided in the perspective of sustainability, has led to the creation of a network of schools for Sustainable Development (ReSS – Rete delle Scuole per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile), as one of the first experiences of coordination and sharing between Italian schools, of different order and degree, committed to the issues of social responsibility and environmental sustainability.