T.I.Me Project: This is Me! Future Developments, Artificial Intelligence, and Inclusion at the University of Catania

Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Social Sciences in the 21st Century

Year: 2026

[PDF]

T.I.Me Project: This is Me! Future Developments, Artificial Intelligence, and Inclusion at the University of Catania

Stefania Scaffidi

ABSTRACT:

In a context of cultural and economic transition marked by uncertainty, fragmentation, and growing inequality, the university can no longer simply provide tools for individual choices, but must assume a transformative, cultural, and collective role. We have developed a program for students attending our University to strengthen, together with faculty, academic inclusion strategies, analyzing how individuals with learning disabilities can use technology and AI to gain greater autonomy and effectiveness in their academic careers. This program is designed to support students’ life and career trajectories, promoting individual and collective empowerment from a sustainability and Life Design perspective (Savickas, 2009 et seq.). The primary objective is to strengthen UNICT’s focus on inclusion, in compliance with specific and complex EU directives and to increase the competitiveness of Europe by providing new knowledge and models/practices for non-standard and alternative forms of cultural and social resources.
The goal is a paradigm shift from traditional education to personalized, flexible, open, multicultural, multi-centered, innovative, and engaging education, capable of meeting the needs of individuals, society, the labor market, and the industrial and commercial sectors. From this perspective, placing the future at the center means not only guiding choices, but collectively imagining new ways of inhabiting the present, reactivating the links between knowledge, territory, and desires. The added value was exploring the use of AI to innovate communication and creativity in the training and human capital development fields.

Keywords: Asymmetries, Cultural Change, Inclusive Mindset, Networking, Sustainability