La mediazione come strumento di integrazione: potenzialità e sfide dell’insegnamento interdisciplinare e bilingue della mediazione

The paper examines the ADR teaching experience hosted at the Istituto di Diritto Italiano / Institut für Italienisches Recht (Institute for Italian Law) at the University of Innsbruck. Delivered within the unique framework of the European Region Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino — a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation endowed with legal personality under EU law — the course on Alternative Dispute Resolution, with a particular focus on mediation, is conducted bilingually in Italian and German. Adopting an interdisciplinary and practice-oriented approach, the two instructors — a full professor of Civil Procedure and a professional Italian/German translator with expertise in cross-cultural communication — guide students through the complexities of conflict management with the aim of achieving sustainable, mutually agreed solutions. In this context, knowledge of effective communication principles and the development of soft skills have proven essential for addressing multilingual and multicultural disputes. At the same time, mediation has emerged as a valuable tool for fostering cohesion and resilience in an increasingly complex, multifaceted, and therefore challenging society.