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Spoke 6's flagship project FORMIDABILÆ The agro-industrial sector is undergoing a huge transformation due to globalization, the increasing global population, and climate change. This transformation requires significant investments in innovation, digitalization, and the development of new technologies.    Moreover, in the European Union, the transition towards a more circular economy is crucial to achieving the sustainability goals of the Green Deal, and agriculture is a critical sector in this transition. The flagship project FORMIDABILÆ consists of five research modules aimed at improving the sustainability, circularity, and resilience of the agro-livestock system. The primary objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this sector. The research modules will focus on agricultural production, maize, livestock optimization, climate effects on herds, and the use of precision farming techniques.    The project involves a multidisciplinary team of engineers, agronomists, botanists, biologists, and animal scientists coordinated by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, along with the University of Pavia, the University of Turin, the University of Sassari, and the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change. The project will promote targeted approaches to improve smart, resilient, circular, and diversified farming in the agro-livestock sector. This ensures food security and the socio-economic sustainability of dairy and dairy-based food chains in a 4.0 and farm-to-fork perspective.

From vineyard management to wine production The challenges and opportunities that the Italian wine sector is facing due to ongoing climate change highlight the need for sustainable innovation. The sector is highly fragmented, with a large number of actors in the value chain. The VINO project will propose three pillars of sustainable innovation to address these challenges. These pillars include the development of data collection systems for grape transformation stages, the interpretation and analysis of data for the development of climate models, and the implementation of climate sensors for data collection.    The involvement and collaboration of wine sector operators and economic actors are crucial for the success of the project. The use of remote sensing systems, expertise in big data, and precision agriculture techniques can contribute to addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainably improving the competitiveness of the sector.    The project aims to test and develop a sustainable business model that can be replicated in other sectors of primary agro-industry. The University of Turin, the University of Sassari, ERSAF, and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change will support the University of Pavia by providing researchers and professionals with multidisciplinary scientific and technological expertise. Agronomists, botanists, climatologists, biologists, and geologists will be connected in specific research modules where they can carry out the necessary activities to cover all project objectives with a multidisciplinary and integrated approach.

NODES Spoke 6: Technological Innovation and Sustainability in the Transformation of Primary Agro-industry On November 29, 2022, the activities of Spoke 6 "Primary Agro-industry" within the three-year project "NODES" were presented at the Fondazione Riccagioia. The project is funded by the Ministry of University and Research through investments provided by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Spoke 6, led by the University of Pavia, aims to support innovation in high-potential technological trajectories.    The main objective is to develop new products and processes in existing SMEs, create "Deep Tech" start-ups and spin-offs in the local agro-industry, and increase the competitiveness of the involved companies at the international level.    The project promotes collaboration, training, and innovation tools to enable the relationship between large companies, SMEs, start-ups, and the research community in a context of cross-contamination and open innovation. The focus will also be on talent development and redefining the role of doctoral research from an industrial perspective. Large companies will support the ecosystem by identifying industrial development trajectories, hiring highly qualified personnel, and facilitating the absorption of developed innovations.    The implementing bodies of NODES are public universities, including Politecnico di Torino, University of Turin, University of Eastern Piedmont, University of Insubria, University of Pavia, University of Valle D'Aosta, and University of Gastronomic Sciences. They will collaborate with affiliated entities to carry out research activities within their expertise, including the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, six innovation hubs, five reference research centres, three incubators, one accelerator, and one competence centre.    Several representatives attended the presentation meeting, including Roberto Orofino (Ersaf), Paolo Gay (Department of Forestry and Food Sciences, University of Turin), Graziano Rossi (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia), Hermes Giberti (Department of Industrial and Information Engineering, University of Pavia), and Antonio Gallo (Department of Animal Sciences, Nutrition and Food, University of Piacenza).    Spoke 6 "Primary Agro-industry" focuses on the transformation of the agro-industry due to globalization, population growth, and climate change. The goal is to invest in innovation to make new technologies accessible to agro-industrial enterprises and identify new models of sustainable production and consumption. Research areas include the development of sensors and communication systems, data collection and processing to develop innovative services for the sector.    The NODES project aims to attract young researchers and students to ensure the introduction of new technologies in production processes and raise awareness of digital and socio-environmental sustainability issues.    Two flagship projects that receive significant research activities are the integrated forage, livestock, and biogas supply chain, aimed at developing a resilient, circular, and diversified agro-livestock sector, ensuring food security and sustainability in dairy food chains. The other project focuses on vineyard management for grape and wine production, where expertise in Big Data is applied and production and consumption models based on the principles of agro-industry and precision agriculture are developed.    For more details click here