19 Aprile 2024

Venerdì della Sostenibilità is the Ferrara Technopole's initiative marked by a series of four multidisciplinary meetings during which researchers present the results of studies and research in the field of sustainability, with the aim of spreading and promoting best practices to mitigate climate change and raise awareness of the importance of an increasingly circular economy. 

The talks, scheduled at Ferrara's Sala Estense from 9 to 10:30 p.m., run from June to December 2024 and are addressed to anyone who has curiosity about the impact caused by climate change on health and the environment and to those who want to explore and learn more about production models that aim to extend the life cycle of agricultural and marine products.

On June 21, Claudio Trapella, adjunct at the Laboratory for Advanced Therapy Technologies (LTTA), describes the process of upgrading straw, a waste product that can and should be reused and that could become an important economic resource thanks to the recovery of some of its valuable components. It is no coincidence that within the Ecosister PNRR Emilia-Romagna project, several research groups of the University of Ferrara, are involved in the reuse of this waste product of the agri-food chain for the production with “green” techniques of monomers of interest for the synthesis of pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products.

The second meeting takes place on Sept. 13 with the participation of Barbara Fabbri from the Terra&Acqua Tech Laboratory, Chiara Visentin from the Department of Engineering and Elena Marrocchino from the Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences and Danila Azzolina from the Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences. The focus of the meeting is to illustrate the study of indoor environmental air quality in university classrooms conducted as part of the ATELIER project. Through a synergistic and multidisciplinary approach, ATELIER aims to identify a correlation between different parameters, including sounds and noises, temperature and humidity with subjective assessments of occupants' well-being and comfort obtained through the administration of questionnaires, with the ultimate goal of identifying a possible low-cost solution for monitoring environments, all with a view to enhancing well-being within the University of Ferrara.

The implementation of circular economy processes requires the development of a so-called “regenerative” chemistry that does not consume resources or create waste, but retransforms products taking into account the peculiarities of each of them in terms of origin and composition.  On Nov. 8, Luisa Pasti of the Terra&Acqua Tech Laboratory will present research results on methods that enable the valorization of organic materials, with a special focus on biomolecules extracted from marine organisms, which can be used in clinically tested products that can benefit human health.

During the last meeting on Dec. 13, Peggy Carla Raffaella Marconi of the LTTA Laboratory discusses the connection between two intertwined and interdependent areas that cast a long shadow over the future of our planet and the well-being of generations to come: climate change and infectious diseases. As temperatures rise, interactions between animal habitats and human populations multiply and, along with other factors such as weakened immune systems and an inadequate health infrastructure, create fertile ground for the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases, many of them “emerging,” such as dengue fever, West Nile fever that find easy spread as a result of the change our environment is facing. 

For more information send an email to: tecnopolo@unife.it