University education of the social health educator in Italy between temptations and opportunities.

The basic education of the social health educator in Italy has obtained, in the last ten years, the status of university degree. This was an important change because the legal acknowledgment of the degree allows Italian educators to participate actively in the ongoing process of globalization of the professions. This change, however, was not without problems. The case of the small autonomous Province of Trento (in the north of Italy) is particularly interesting, because it has been able to cope with many difficulties. In the first part, the paper shows the innovative characteristics of the Degree Course for Social Health Educators at the University of Trento and Ferrara and it analyzes the political, pedagogical, social and epistemological reasons that may explain the setting up of this course. In the second part of the paper, we started to investigate, through literature, participant observation method and a direct experience on the field, some risks involved in the acknowledgment and the formalization of the qualifications at a global level, identifying the two main “temptations” on a communicative and professional level: prestige and language. The final goal of this article is to encourage those who consider strategic the setting up of a degree course for social health educators and to answer to the question: what are the conditions that enable the different factors of a local territory to promote and create university courses able to enhance the full professionalism of this educational figure, keeping the focus on those the relief efforts are intended to help and on their rights? The case of Trento can be illuminating to illustrate the main factors involved.