CapabITALY is a network of scholars, lecturers, researchers who apply the principles of the Capability Approach in different disciplines. The networks aims at promoting evidence-based policies for sustainable human development.
Capability Approach
The Capability Approach is a theoretical framework introduced by Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics Amartya Sen in the 1980s. This approach has since been developed through the contributions of numerous scholars and under different disciplinary perspectives, such as economics, philosophy, pedagogy and sociology.
Because it focuses on the multidimensionality of individual and collective well-being, the approach is a useful tool for designing policies that promote the factors that enable men and women to pursue a condition of ‘good living’. At the heart of the approach is the recognition of the importance of ‘well-being’ and ‘welfare’ in its various facets as a metric for assessing public policy.
The Human Development and Capability Association brings together scholars at the international level, including researchers from ARCO, who contribute to the coordination of thematic groups, the organisation of training sessions and the theoretical discussion by presenting research at international conferences.
The CapabITALY Network
In the last years, Italian scholars and researchers have set up a network with the aim of creating a space for discussion among those who apply the Capability Approach within Italian Universities. The network, called CapabITALY, fosters the scientific exchange and training of young researchers, and aims at disseminating the human development approach at the level of local institutions and policy makers.
The CapabITALY network met on 13-14 September for the “2021 Colloquium on Capability Approach”, organised by ARCO and the Department of Enterprise and Business Science of the University of Florence. The 20 participants discussed the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) in the light of the Capability Approach and shared their latest research and reflections.
ARCO’s research team presented its most recent work on social accountability (SROI), multidimensional poverty, child well-being in out-of-home care and women’s empowerment.
Programme
Read more on our Inclusive Development Unit
