METROFOOD-IT: A systemic approach to the Agri-food sector

METROFOOD-IT took center stage at the 20th National Congress of Chemists and Physicists, currently underway in Paestum (Salerno). Specifically, during the session dedicated to innovation in the agri-food sector, Cesare Manetti, a professor at La Sapienza University in Rome (a partner of the METROFOOD-IT Consortium), delivered a presentation. In his speech, the Professor highlighted the need for a systemic approach in the face of challenges affecting the agri-food system. This approach should enable product certification, fraud prevention, and also clarify the biosynthetic pathways and relationships between living systems and the environment.

The Objectives of METROFOOD-IT

In this context, as early as 2015, La Sapienza University in Rome initiated the "Food Passport" project, a genuine systematic study of food based on profiling (in the laboratory), Lab-on-a-Chip (portable devices), and knowledge transfer. Subsequently, the Roman university established a new Master's degree program in Food Science and Technology, with the role of disseminating skills and others useful for innovating the approach to quality assurance and the enhancement of products in food supply chains. These significant "theoretical" experiences laid the groundwork for participation in the METROFOOD Consortium, a community that operates actively at both the national and European levels to drive innovation in the agri-food sector, Manetti emphasized how "All activities of METROFOOD-IT can not only enhance the knowledge and skills of stakeholders in the food supply chain but also disseminate a systemic approach to address and resolve issues related to sustainable development, involving citizens and structuring the role of METROFOOD-IT as a development booster of knowledge and skills in support of agri-food".

All services, from the use of available instruments to access to data, Living Labs, and training, will be accessible through a single platform starting from early 2024.

Training Activities of METROFOOD-IT

During the final phase of his presentation, the Professor detailed the structured 'Training & Education' (T&E) activities of the Consortium, which include:

• Developing educational materials related to key scientific themes and R&D activities of the infrastructure (IR);
• Defining the structure of courses and training experiences to enhance the skills of different stakeholders, both in-person and remotely;
• Organizing a platform to disseminate these materials synchronously and asynchronously;
• Implementing a learning system that connects virtual experiences to the physical structures of the IR;
• Creating systems to access information from the data platform of the IR and analyze them in "external" laboratory sessions;
• Improving existing doctoral courses in various affiliated universities with a transdisciplinary approach, including implementing a "new" METROFOOD-IT program.

There is also a planned creation of a true HUB for "sustainable" innovation and training, involving experts from universities and research institutions. The recipients of the training programs will be stakeholders in the agri-food sector, primarily companies (especially SMEs), as well as research institutes, food inspection and control agencies, and authorities.

In Paestum, during the morning dedicated to agri-food innovation, Massimo Iannetta, Head of the Biotechnology and Agroindustry Division of ENEA and President of the CTS of the National Technological AgriFood Cluster CLAN, delivered a presentation titled "Innovation for the Sustainability and Competitiveness of Agri-Food Systems."