University fourth mission and nowadays society. Ethic imperative and relational challenges in the context of high education in Italy

The paper aims at investigating the concept of “Fourth Mission”, which is nowadays emerging in the University context both in Italy and abroad. Studies dedicated to this issue - whose conceptual perimeters are dynamic and not clear-cut - have focused on some major dimensions and analytic perspectives converging in exploring, by several disciplines and points of view, the socio-cultural values and "impact" of high education in contemporary society.