ECOSISTER: Ecosystem for Sustainable Transition in Emilia-Romagna
The project aims to bring technological innovation for environmental sustainability to companies in the Emilia-Romagna region through scientific and industrial research. It starts with setting up the Ecosister Foundation to coordinate and manage the activities.
NRRP intervention area: Mission 4 – Education and Research
Component: 2 - From research to business
Investment: 1.5 - Creating and strengthening innovation ecosystems, building territorial R&D leaders
Duration: 40 months, ending on 28/02/2026
Total project funding: €110,000,000
Proposer: Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
How can we support the production system of the Emilia-Romagna region towards a sustainable economy?
The Ecosister project supports the ecological transformation of the economic and social system of Emilia-Romagna, focusing on:
- transforming production cycles to share, borrow, reuse, repair and recycle materials in a circular economy perspective
- pollution prevention in cities and ecosystems
- collective action to combat climate change
Project structure and participation
Foundation Composition
Universities and research institutes
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - CNR (National Research Council)
- Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
- Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
- Università degli Studi di Parma
- Università degli Studi di Ferrara
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
- Politecnico di Milano
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics)
- ART-ER Società Consortile per Azioni
- Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development)
- ENEA - National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
Private actors
- CINECA Consorzio Interuniversitario (Inter-university Consortium)
- Centro Ceramico Consorzio Universitario (Ceramics Centre University Consortium)
- REI Foundation - Reggio Emilia Innovation
- Democenter-Sipe Foundation
- BI-REX Big Data Innovation & Research Excellence
- CertiMaC S.cons. a r.l.
- CRPA Spa Animal Production Research Centre
- LEAP S. Cons. a r.l. Energy Environment Laboratory Piacenza
- MISTER Smart Innovation
- MUSP (Machine Tools and Production Systems) Consortium
- Consorzio PROAMBIENTE
- Romagna Tech
- T3LAB Technology Transfer Team
- ALMACUBE S.r.l.
Areas of action
The activities fall into 6 areas:
- SPOKE 1 - Materials for sustainability and ecological transition
- SPOKE 2 - Clean energy production, storage and saving
- SPOKE 3 - Green manufacturing for a sustainable economy
- SPOKE 4 - Smart mobility, housing and energy solutions
- SPOKE 5 - Circular economy and blue economy
- SPOKE 6 - Ecological transition based on HPC and data technology
Project team
University of Bologna participants
Scientific coordinator
Professor Dario Croccolo
Teaching and research staff
- Marco Alberio
- Stefania Albonetti
- Maria Alessandra Ancona
- Giovanni Angelini
- Catia Arbizzani
- Renata Archetti
- Loredana Baffoni
- Silvia Bagni
- Barbara Ballarin
- Marco Bandini
- Serena Bandini
- Luca Barbaresi
- Massimo Baroncini
- Andrea Bartolini
- Paolo Bellavista
- Alberto Bellini
- Tiziana Benelli
- Patricia Benito Martin
- Beatrice Bertarini
- Giulio Bertuzzi
- Augusto Bianchini
- Maria Bignozzi
- Cesare Biserni
- Carla Boga
- Alessandra Bonoli
- Maria Elena Bontempi
- Alberto Borghetti
- Vando Borghi
- Marco Bovo
- Lisa Branchini
- Marco Breschi
- Armir Bujari
- Chiara Buratti
- Valentina Cacchiani
- Maria Maddalena Calabretta
- Franco Callegati
- Laura Camanzi
- Giampaolo Campana
- Daniele Caretti
- Marco Carricato
- Paolo Castaldi
- Daniela Cavalcoli
- Giulio Cazzoli
- Paola Ceroni
- Walter Cerroni
- Cristiana Cesari
- Daniele Cespi
- Martino Colonna
- Mauro Comes Franchini
- Michele Costa
- Federica Costantini
- Valerio Cozzani
- Marco Crescentini
- Andrea Cristofolini
- Dario Croccolo
- Alessandro Dal Pozzo
- Gabriele D'Angelo
- Davide Dardari
- Maurizio De Angelis
- Silvana Di Sabatino
- Roberto Diversi
- Ferruccio Doghieri
- Lorenzo Donati
- Giampiero Donnici
- Davide Dragone
- Giordano Emrys Scarponi
- Antonio Esposito
- Davide Fabiani
- Daniele Fazzi
- Andrea Fermi
- Paolo Figini
- Stefano Fini
- Giuseppe Fornasari
- Beatrice Fraboni
- Daniela Francia
- Alberto Fregni
- Leonardo Frizziero
- Maria Grazia Fumo
- Maurizio Gabbrielli
- Massimo Garai
- Damiano Genovese
- Matteo Gherardi
- Marco Giacinti Baschetti
- Valentina Gianfrate
- Marco Giorgetti
- Valentina Alena Girelli
- Chiara Gualandi
- Tiziana Guarnieri
- Andrea Guizzardi
- Luca Lambertini
- Alessandra Landi
- Claudio Lantieri
- Massimiliano Lanzi
- Romolo Laurita
- Alfredo Liverani
- Michele Lombardi
- Danila Longo
- Mariolina Longo
- Francesco Maluta
- Gabriele Manella
- Vittorio Maniezzo
- Stefania Manzi
- Carla Martini
- Diego Masotti
- Raffaello Mazzaro
- Laura Mazzocchetti
- Rita Mazzoni
- Francesco Melino
- Matteo Minelli
- Alessandro Mingotti
- Silvia Mirri
- Cristina Mora
- Alessandro Morri
- Luca Muccioli
- Matteo Mura
- Claudia Naldi
- Fabio Napolitano
- Andrea Natale Tallarico
- Artur Nenov
- Gabriele Neretti
- Carlo Alberto Nucci
- Giorgio Olmi
- Alessandro Paglianti
- Roberta Paltrinieri
- Silvia Panzavolta
- Enrico Paolini
- Francesco Paolucci
- Luca Pasquini
- Fabrizio Passarini
- Lorenzo Peretto
- Antonio Peretto
- Davide Pinelli
- Massimo Ponti
- Arturo Popoli
- Federico Porcù
- Catia Prandi
- Marco Prandini
- Daniela Proli
- Beatrice Pulvirenti
- Carla Raffaelli
- Serena Righi
- Paola Rinaldi
- Gabriele Rizzoli
- Luca Roffia
- Aldo Romani
- Eugenia Rossi Di Schio
- Paolo Ruggieri
- Federico Rupi
- Andrea Saccani
- Giacomo Sala
- Elisabetta Salatelli
- Ernesto Salzano
- Cesare Sangiorgi
- Gian Maria Santi
- Enrico Sassoni
- Erika Scavetta
- Joerg Schweizer
- Paolo Seri
- Leila Signorelli
- Andrea Simone
- Laura Sisti
- Stefano Stagni
- Daniele Tarchi
- Andrea Tilli
- Luca Tomesani
- Maurizio Toselli
- Fabio Tossani
- Pier Andrea Traverso
- Marco Troncossi
- Alessandro Tugnoli
- Rocco Vertechy
- Mirko Viroli
- Nelsi Zaccheroni
- Sara Zanni
- Andrea Zucchelli
Staff hired with project funds
Researchers
- Lorenzo Agostini
- Alberto Maria Angelotti
- Giovanni Delnevo
- Giacomo Foli
- Luca Raimondi
- Francesco Segatta
- Simone Vincenzo Suraci
- Alessandro Zappi
Staff with a research fellowship
- Ilaria Giada Anversa
- Vincenzo Ballerini
- Natalia Cardenà
- Veronica Castellari
- Antonio Giordani
- Juan Luis Herrera Gonzalez
- Privilage Hove
- Orkide Izci
- Francesco Maria La Rota
- Mattia Lucertini
- Riccardo Mercuri
- Carmen Minichiello
- Riccardo Onesti
- Edoardo Pignatelli
- Antonio Punzo
- Billy John Rudolfh Ibonia Rejuso
- Antonietta Settino
- Francesco Maria Tiburtini
- Gianluca Torta
- Isaia Vitri
- Vito Vurro
- Giulia Zini
Departments involved
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences - BiGeA
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician" - CHIM
- Department of Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari" - CHIMIND
- Department of Architecture - DA
- Department of the Arts - DAR
- Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi" - DEI
- Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering - DICAM
- Department of Physics and Astronomy "Augusto Righi" - DIFA
- Department of Industrial Engineering - DIN
- Department of Management — DISA
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering - DISI
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences – DISTAL
- Department of Economics - DSE
- Department of Sociology and Business Law - SDE
- Department of Political and Social Sciences - SPS
- Department of Statistical Sciences "Paolo Fortunati" – STAT
Thanks to this project, the University of Bologna has contributed to:
- developing materials and production processes from renewable sources and industrial waste, which efficiently interact well with biological systems, reducing the environmental impact of packaging in the food supply chain.
- creating recyclable products and eco-sustainable production systems, i.e., low-impact and environmentally friendly processes that respect workplace conditions.
- developing integrated product and process systems, with particular focus on logistics and material distribution and storage systems.Designing low-impact and recyclable batteries that support the conversion and storage of renewable energy.
- establishing mobility infrastructure, aimed at ensuring the development of the city in line with economic, social and environmental sustainability
- conducting feasibility studies and experiments aimed at understanding the current level of environmental sustainability of industrial activities in Emilia-Romagna.
What activities are in progress?
- The University of Bologna is carrying out research into:
- The development of technologies for:
- The conversion of renewable energy.
- The disposal and reconversion of industrial waste into new materials.
- Designing new materials and production processes.
- Creating integrated product-process systems that reduce environmental impact and improve workplace conditions.
- Improving the sustainability and accessibility of urban mobility through the electrification of transport.
- Sectoral studies on phenomena related to flooding, water scarcity and water management in the region.
