NAPOLI (ITALPRESS) – More than 400 scholars from 50 universities and 10 countries gathered to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming relationships, learning processes and educational contexts. The sixth edition of the REN – Research Education Network International Conference (September 4-6), organized by CASE – Center for Advanced Study in Education of the Department of Education and Sport of the Pegaso University, opened today in Naples. The work will continue in Ischia until September 6th where the Thinking Room will take place dedicated to the themes of the 2026 edition.
The inaugural ceremony was introduced by the institutional greetings of Gaetano Manfredi, Mayor of Naples and Pierpaolo Limone, Rector of the Pegaso University, with the intervention of Francesco Peluso Cassese, President of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the REN Conference. During the conference, an official award was awarded to the Mayor of Naples in recognition of his historic commitment to education.
Keynote speaker of the day were Derrick de Kerckhove, a sociologist of international fame and expert in digital culture, director of Media Duemila and Observatory AllMedia and already professor at the University of Naples Federico II, and Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, archbishop and theologian, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life, long committed on the themes of the family, bioethics and the relationship between technology and human life.
Since 2021, the REN Conference has grown to become one of the main events of the national and international scene dedicated to educational research, with a particular focus on innovation and social inclusion. The theme chosen for the 2026 edition is “Battiti Algoritmici: the Education to Affection at the time of the Fourth Revolution”.
At the centre of the work, the growing impact of artificial intelligence not only on learning processes, but also on relationships, perception of emotions and how students, teachers and educators interact. For the third consecutive year, the Pegaso University is organising the Conference, continuing its investment in scientific research and international comparison of new educational models.
“The growth of the REN Conference demonstrates how it is necessary to create places of confrontation in which universities, scientific communities and institutions can question together on the transformations affecting society and the world of education – said Pierpaolo Limone, Rector of the Pegaso University and Ordinary Professor of Educational Psychology –. For an Athens doing research means not only producing new knowledge, but helping to interpret change and to offer useful tools to society. The Pegaso University strongly believes in the ability of research to relate different disciplines, skills and experiences and to build increasingly open and international scientific networks. It is in this perspective that we support this event capable of gathering scholars from so many universities and countries to Naples”.
The Scientific Organizing Committee of the REN Conference brings together international academic personalities in the fields of Pedagogy, Psychology and Sociology and is conceived and chaired by Francesco Peluso Cassese, Professor of Pedagogy of the Pegaso University, who stressed: “While the debate on artificial intelligence often focuses on machine computing skills, the real educational challenge is played on empathy. In the face of technologies capable of simulating human behavior and satisfying listening needs we cannot limit ourselves to erect barriers, but we must learn to live this progress. The key to facing the Fourth Industrial Revolution is to develop a real “digital affective literacy” thatallow us to live critically and consciously the relationships mediated by technology. In this hybrid ecosystem the role of the educator does not disappear, but it becomes even more central in emotional awareness, conflict management and the ability to return meaning and depth to human experience.”
During the three days the REN Award will be awarded to the scholar who, in the last year, has made the most significant contribution to the development of knowledge in the field of educational research. The winner will be identified through the vote of academics belonging to the scientific group of educational research, called to express their preference through a digitized procedure.
The Conference is sponsored by the FERE – Federation of Scientific Societies of Educational Research, by SIPES – Società Italiana di Pedagogia Speciale, by SIRD – Società Italiana di Ricerca Didattica, by CIRPED – Centro di Ricerca in Pedagogia, by SIREM – Società Italiana di Ricerca Mediale, by the Municipality of Naples, by the Municipality of Ischia and by the University of Naples “Parthenope”, which secretaria.
– photo office printing University Pegaso –
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