Introduction
Roberta T. Di Rosa, sociologist and social worker. PhD in Sociology. Family and Community Mediator, specialized in community and cultural conflicts and in conflicts within migrant families and mixed couples. Senior Researcher at the Department Culture and Society, University of Palermo; Aggregate Professor of Sociology of Migrations, Sociology of Ethnic Relations and Intercultural Models and Skills for Social Work; currently involved in national research programs on the social integration of migrants.
Expert
Teaching and researching activities in Italian and foreign universities (France, Spain, Colombia, Switzerland); From 2004 to 2009, responsible for the Atelier Interculturalité within the European Master in Mediation of Sion (CH); Participant in the work of the Commission "Intercultural Competences in Social Service" of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, in the two years 2008/10 as an external expert.
Since 1992, she has performed volunteer service for Nyumba Yetu onlus, Italian Association in partnership with the Ismani Mission, Tanzania, for which she currently coordinates outreach activities, the departures of volunteers and on-site projects.
Founding member of Assistenti Sociali senza Frontiere (Social Workers Without Borders), she has been President since 2011.
The study path and research agenda undertaken over the years and/or that are still being explored have concerned:
-community relationships and processes of family and social assistance (in particular with regard to minors, old people, women and migrants);
-the procedures for receiving migrants and social policy on migration;
-theoretical reflections and observations on the development of mediation to favour a culture of democratic coexistence and responsible participation when dealing with interpersonal and community tension and conflicts;
-the growth and development within university courses that train for social work of intercultural competences and specific abilities linked to processes that assist migrants or processes that support realities which are culturally very different;
-the implementation of community participation in development processes and the experimentation of new ways through which to intervene on the social and cultural aspect in cooperation processes in developing countries.
Fields of expertise: Migration, Participation, Social protection