Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Host University

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano and "Relational Social Work Work" Research Centre

Founded in Milan on December 7th 1921, by the Franciscan Fr Agostino Gemelli, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is not just the most important Catholic higher education establishment in Europe but also the only Italian university to boast a countrywide dimension, with four campuses present across the national territory: Milan, Rome (Policlinco “A. Gemelli”), Brescia and Piacenza-Cremona.

In 2021 we celebrate the Università Cattolica's centenary year: you can know more about us by the video A century of History ahead of us | 1921 - 2021.

The presence of 12 faculties within the campuses provides an authentic university experience, with the possibility for 42,000 students to benefit from interdisciplinary exposure and widen their cultural perspective beyond the boundaries of any given professional specialization. Thousands of graduates from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore have achieved significant milestones in a variety of professional fields. Being firmly rooted in Catholicism, the University’s universal vocation and fidelity to the Gospel makes it into an ideal environment for a fruitful dialogue with people of all cultures, in light of the friendship between reason and faith.

[See here for further information]

Social work programmes are offered in Milan and Brescia. In Italy, social work degrees have been offered exclusively within universities since 1987.

Università Cattolica offers following Social work programs:

  • 2 undergraduate programmes (in Milan and Brescia);
  • 2 Master programmes (in Milan focused on Child protection and Community work, in Brescia on Social work and Migration, Poverty, Elderly people and People with disabilities);
  • one PhD programme in Social work and personal social services (in Milan).

In the Department of Sociology is also present the Relational Social Work Research Center, founded in 2016 e aimed to promote studies in the field of Social Work, inspired by Relational Social work approach.

The Research Center is composed by professors, researchers, fellow researchers and PhD students, and the majority of them are social workers too. In these years of activities, the Research Center has developed national and international research projects in several areas of Social work, in collaboration with other Universities and local social services agencies. 

The Relational Social Work Research Center manages an open access journal called “Relational Social Work”. Relational Social Work is an international peer reviewed journal that analyses and promotes the relational approach in Social work and in related areas of social policy, social welfare, social development and human services, by publishing refereed papers on key issues in Social Work.

For further information about the journal, click here.

About the Conference