Category: Events

Food policy. Food Aid Hub network consolidates: over 795 tonnes of food recovered in 2024, 25% more than in 2023

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

The results of the Milan Hub network, new projects for the future and the involvement of the City of Milan’s partners in the city’s food policy were presented on the Day against Food Waste on 5 February 2025. A collective and concrete commitment, looking to the future, with structured and coordinated actions to transform the fight against food waste.

 

On the occasion of the National Day for the Prevention of Food Waste, 5 February 2025, the Deputy Mayor for Food Policy and Agriculture, Anna Scavuzzo, together with food policy partners, including the POLIMI School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, presented the results of the last year’s food policy and the management of food distribution centres, as well as the projects and actions planned for the coming year, in the premises of Sogemi – Milan Food Marke.

“A day to discuss, measure the results achieved and evaluate the tools we have put in place that, over time, have made food policy a participatory, effective and innovative urban practice”, stressed Deputy Mayor Scavuzzo. “Today, the fight against waste is increasingly characterised by broad and joint actions capable of restoring the value of food and underlining the commitment to talk about health and sustainability as an inseparable pair”. 2024 was an important year: we opened three new Hubs thanks to Earthshot Prize funds, which we invested in a smart, efficient and forward-thinking way. We strengthened the Hub network across the city, increasing food recovery by more than 25% compared to 2023. We intensified the recovery of surplus food in school canteens through the use of cargo bikes and promoted guidelines to optimise the recovery and redistribution of surpluses with the Politecnico di Milano, supported by Fondazione Snam ETS. And again: the Foody Zero Waste Hub in Sogemi and the study for a new tool linked to the study of the impact of different projects on the reduction of food waste. I2025 will be an intense year: ten years after Expo Milano 2015, next October Milan will once again become an international meeting point for cities from all over the world, coming together for the ninth edition of the MUFPP Global Forum”.

In 2024, the network of the five already active Food Aid Hubs (Isola, Lambrate, Gallaratese, Foody zero waste and Centro) was expanded and three new Hubs were opened: Selinunte, Loreto and Cuccagna. Thanks also to this implementation, 795.3 tonnes of food were recovered in 2024 (615 tonnes in 2023), reaching 14,973 households for a total of more than 126,000 people and 3,867 minors with more than 1,590,000 equivalent meals and 176 associations served.

In order to make the system even more efficient, in 2025 the Food Policy and Welfare Departments of the Municipality of Milan, together with the organisations and associations of the QuBi network, will launch a joint action to deepen the mapping of available resources and hub networks at municipal level.

 

What’s new in 2025: the new Sogemi Foody zero waste hub, the recycling project in school canteens and the guidelines of the POLIMI School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano.

Of the 795.3 tonnes of food recovered, more than 440 tonnes were collected at the Foody Zero Sprechi hub, located in the Sogemi food market: of all the hubs operating in the city’s network, it proved to be the most efficient in terms of the volume of surpluses recovered and redistributed, thanks to the synergistic work of four managers and the commitment of 99 wholesalers for the redistribution of fruit and vegetables to more than one hundred third sector organisations operating in the city. To continue along this path, in the course of 2025, thanks to a new agreement with the City of Milan, the Hub will find a new location in the spaces of the new pavilion and will expand in terms of action and openness to the city.

This year will also see the development of an experiment begun in 2024, in which Milano Ristorazione, in collaboration with the Food Aid Hub network, will play a leading role in the recovery of surplus food in school canteens through the European project Cultivate, funded by the Horizon Europe programme.

The project, to be launched in Municipalities 4 and 5, resulted in an agreement in December 2024 between Fondazione Snam ETS, the Municipality of Milan and Magma Srl for further implementation with the use of cargo bikes for the sustainable transport of surpluses, as well as various actions such as training sessions on healthy and sustainable food in schools.

As part of the ‘systemic actions’ that the City of Milan will undertake to implement the city’s food policy, there will be two areas of development in 2025:

  • the presentation and dissemination of the guidelines, made possible thanks to the contribution of the Fondazione Snam ETS and in collaboration with the POLIMI School of Management, which was responsible for collecting and monitoring the data and results of the Hub model in order to optimise recovery and redistribution and to become an operational tool for public administrations, third sector organisations and professionals interested in developing similar projects;
  • the redistribution of the remaining Earthshot Prize funds for Food Aid Hub activities among the co-design partners that will have achieved the defined KPIs according to a composite index, based on impact parameters.

Using big data for public transport management

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè
A new study explores the potential of innovative data sources to optimise planning, operations and performance in the public transport sector.

 

The conventional data used to support public transport management have inherent constraints related to scalability, cost, and the potential to capture space and time variability. These limitations underscore the importance of exploring innovative data sources to complement more traditional ones. For public transport operators, who are tasked with making pivotal decisions spanning planning, operation, and performance measurement, innovative data sources are a frontier that is still largely unexplored.

The exploration of big data sources for public transportation management is the focus of a study recently published by Valeria Maria Urbano, Marika Arena and Giovanni Azzone from POLIMI School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, in the Research in Transportation Business & Management entitled Big data for decision-making in public transport management: A comparison of different data sources.

The study is the result of a long-term research program aimed at exploring the potential of novel data sources and addressing emerging challenges in public transport. The research program includes four projects carried out by the research team in partnerships with two primary public transport operators (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi S.p.A. and Trenord S.r.l.) operating in northern Italy for five years over a five-year period (2019–2023).

The study establishes a framework for evaluating innovative data sources, highlighting the specific characteristics that data should have to support decision-making in the context of transportation management. Second, a comparative analysis is conducted, using empirical data collected from primary public transport operators in the Lombardy region, including smart card data, mobile phone data and automatic vehicle data, with the aim of understanding whether and to what extent different data sources meet the above requirements.

This study can support public transport operators in selecting data sources that are more coherent with the three primary decision-making domains, highlighting the potential benefits and key challenges associated with big data sources in public transport management. In addition to providing individual data source evaluations, this study underscores the pivotal role of data integration in improving understanding of travel behaviour, optimizing operational processes, and assessing performance metrics.

 

For more information: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210539525000136

Gender disparity in the participation to equity crowdfunding campaigns

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè
Despite the advent of equity crowdfunding increased democratization and access to capital resources and contributed to the financing of sustainable projects, there is puzzling evidence that women are less likely to invest in equity offers on the Internet. A recent study highlights the determinants of women participating in equity crowdfunding campaigns.

 

Equity crowdfunding is a form of financing in which people acquire shares in a company in exchange for invested capital using collective platforms. Despite the sound contribution that equity crowdfunding is potentially bringing to the achievement of global sustainable targets, there is one unsolved issue that characterizes this industry around the world: the scarce participation of women investors in the proposed projects. Equity crowdfunding platforms redefine the technology-people relationship, supporting a sustainable digital transition that accelerates women’s empowerment as leaders and investors.

The study tests four specific hypotheses related to the factors attracting investments from women in equity crowdfunding. Firstly, there is a hypothesis that women-owned businesses are more likely to be attractive to women investors. Secondly, it is conjectured that potential female investors pay more attention to sustainability issues, compared to men. Thirdly, it is hypothesized that the participation of women in equity crowdfunding investments is more likely if the minimum ticket is smaller. Lastly, it is tested that women are relatively less attracted by follow-on campaigns.

The article “Gender disparity in the participation to equity crowdfunding campaigns” by Claudio Bonvino, Andrea Odille Bosio, and Giancarlo Giudici from the POLIMI School of Management at Politecnico di Milano, published as part of the special issue “Crowdfunding campaigns for a sustainable development” in the journal Finance Research Letters, investigates the determinants that in equity crowdfunding are associated with a larger (or lower) participation of women.

Searches are based on a proprietary database comprising all equity crowdfunding campaigns published by Italian platforms from 2014 to 2023.

The findings highlight

  • Women are less likely to invest in equity crowdfunding campaigns.
  • Female investors are more likely to finance projects proposed by women.
  • Women pay attention to sustainability in deciding whether to invest or not.
  • Less women fund the project when the minimum investment chip is larger.
  • Women are relatively less represented in follow-on campaigns.

The engagement of women is still far from being fully exploited in equity crowdfunding, despite this funding channel being deemed by the literature to be potentially more inclusive and sustainability-oriented compared to traditional sources of finance.

For more detail: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1kPiU5VD4KyeER

Blockchain and Culture: New Frontiers for Public Services

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

An interdisciplinary study explores how blockchain technology could revolutionize public cultural services, from digital rights management to heritage preservation, mapping opportunities and challenges in an underexplored field.

 

Blockchain technology is increasingly recognized for its transformative potential in various sectors, including public cultural services. A recent paper by Deborah Agostino from POLIMI School of Management, with Federica Rubino and Davide Spallazzo of the Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, explores this potential through a comprehensive scoping review of the existing literature.

Published in the International Journal of Public Sector Management, the study identifies key use cases and examines empirical examples of blockchain applications in public cultural services, a domain where adoption remains underexplored despite its promising possibilities.

The scoping review uncovered a highly interdisciplinary body of literature, incorporating perspectives from fields such as computer science, cultural management, digital humanities, engineering, law, and political science. Out of 54 initial records, 38 peer-reviewed journal articles were selected for detailed analysis, reflecting the broad and fragmented interest in blockchain applications for public cultural services. Geographically, the studies included contributions from countries such as the United States, Italy, China, and the United Kingdom, highlighting the global nature of the discourse. However, a notable concentration of studies was situated in Europe, underlining a regional interest in cultural heritage and technology integration.

The research highlights several primary use cases for blockchain technology in the cultural sector. These include the tokenization of cultural assets and fractional equity, digital rights management, cultural asset management, decentralized funding systems, and decentralized platforms for heritage preservation. For example, tokenization enables fractional ownership of assets like rare manuscripts or digital artifacts, democratizing access and potentially generating new revenue streams. Similarly, blockchain can secure intellectual property rights, enhancing transparency and accountability in cultural organizations.

Despite these prospects, the paper emphasizes the limited empirical data on blockchain applications in this sector. Most of the current discourse remains theoretical, underscoring the need for more in-depth empirical case studies and practical evaluations. Challenges such as regulatory uncertainty, a lack of technical expertise, and resistance to adopting novel technologies are noted as significant barriers to blockchain integration.

The paper also explores the broader implications of blockchain technologies for public governance in delivering cultural services. By fostering transparency and community engagement, blockchain holds the potential to revolutionize public service delivery in the cultural domain, pushing for increasingly horizontal and decentralized power structures. However, achieving this requires robust policy frameworks and collaboration between public institutions, policymakers, and stakeholders involved.

This work contributes to the emerging scholarly conversation on blockchain in public services, with particular attention to its application in cultural contexts. By mapping existing research and identifying knowledge gaps, the authors provide a foundation for future investigations, paving the way for a deeper understanding of how blockchain can transform public cultural services.

Redesigning Product Language: Innovate without losing identity

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

In an ever-evolving context, redesigning product language is essential to redefining customer perceptions and unlocking new market opportunities. A recent study explores how a product can communicate differently with consumers by evolving its language while maintaining its core identity.

 

The ever-evolving socio-technological landscape is forcing companies to rethink how they communicate their products and what those products mean to their customers. A product’s language-defined as the combination of signs such as shape, color, and materials that make up its identity-plays a critical role in guiding consumers’ perceptions and meaning-making activities.

To remain competitive in the marketplace, companies must continually innovate their product language and reshape the meaning that customers ascribe to their offerings.

The article “When Products Speak Differently: Designing New Languages for Established Products” by Federico Artusi, Paola Bellis, and Roberto Verganti from the POLIMI School of Management at Politecnico di Milano explores how a product can communicate anew with consumers by transforming its language without compromising its essence.

Innovative product language not only redefines customer perception, but also paves the way for new market categories.

The authors illustrate this concept with a case study of Videndum, a company that specializes in premium content creation tools and accessories. Videndum is reimagining the language of its existing products to incorporate new narratives that align with evolving customer preferences.

Through 18 interviews at various levels of the organization, archival data analysis, and direct observation, the article explores Videndum’s efforts to transform the language of its established products.

The findings highlight the role of design principles as a bridge between strategic decisions and design execution. They show how designers can work at two levels of design principles:

  • Value Principles: Reflect the company’s core values.
  • Solution Principles: Translating those values into tangible product features.

These Design Principles work in synergy to influence product language and create a cohesive identity.

This research provides valuable, practical insights into how to innovate product language by bridging abstract intended meanings, identified while innovating strategies, with concrete design implementations, while preserving the qualities that make a product successful.

 

For more detail: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/caim.12637

 

Elisa Negri wins the “Digital Twin Young Scientist Award”

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

At the international DigiTwin 2024 conference, Elisa Negri, a researcher from the Politecnico di Milano, was awarded the “Digital Twin Young Scientist Award” for her pioneering studies on the use of Digital Twins in industrial production management, contributing to improvements in efficiency, sustainability, and circular economy practices.

 

DigiTwin is a prestigious international event that brings together companies from various sectors to share their experiences and needs in industrial applications, promoting the adoption of Digital Twin technology across diverse fields such as design, manufacturing, biomedicine, urban planning, energy, civil engineering, and more.

The 4th edition of DigiTwin, held from October 14 to 18, 2024, at the Politecnico di Milano, saw Elisa Negri, a researcher at the POLIMI School of Management, receive the prestigious “Digital Twin Young Scientist Award” for her significant contributions to the use of Digital Twins in managing production systems.

Since 2017, Elisa Negri has been conducting research on the role of “Digital Twins” in managing and controlling production systems.

These so-called “Digital Twins” are gaining increasing interest from both academic and industrial spheres due to their potential applications. They are virtual models that include data, algorithms, and carefully designed simulators that allow for “mirroring” real-world events in the digital realm. This enables the exploitation of data processing capabilities, scenario simulation, and the monitoring of deviations from predefined pathways.

Negri’s work is part of a research stream focused on demonstrating and quantifying how Digital Twins can simplify, enhance, and accelerate decision-making in managing production systems throughout their entire lifecycle—from design and commissioning to operations, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning, with a focus on circular practices.

The role of Digital Twins in decision-making is multifaceted, ranging from supporting monitoring activities to predicting future scenarios, optimizing parameters, and prescribing optimal actions.

The demonstrated benefits of using Digital Twins for production management include improved productivity (particularly through integrated management of production and maintenance), enhanced environmental and social sustainability (by reducing material and energy consumption and improving the working conditions of factory personnel), and the facilitation of circular economy practices in manufacturing.

Sustainability and Finance: EU accelerates, but gap between environmental and social impact remains

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

The Sustainable Finance Action Plan has boosted private investment in companies with an environmental purpose, but the lack of a social taxonomy is hampering progress on issues such as diversity and healthcare. A study highlights achievements and challenges for a truly sustainable future.

 

The European Union’s goal to become the first climate-neutral continent requires a significant redirection of financial flows toward sustainable activities. The 2018 Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, along with subsequent regulations, has played a key role in this process by introducing tools to classify and monitor sustainable economic activities. A study published in Finance Research Letters analyzes the impact of these policies on private markets, revealing promising results but also areas for improvement.

The research, conducted by Leonardo Boni, Assistant Professor at POLIMI School of Management, and Lisa Scheitza, researcher at the School of Business at the University of Hamburg, is part of the research activities developed by TIRESIA POLIMI research center, and is based on an analysis of private equity transaction data from 2007 to 2023.

The results show that the Action Plan significantly increased funding for companies with environmental purposes in EU countries. After 2018, the volume of transactions and the average deal value for companies in electric mobility, renewable energy, and the circular economy grew by 63.4% in deal size and 42.2% in total funding. However, investments targeting companies with social purposes, such as diversity or healthcare services, did not see the same growth.

Although the Action Plan has improved transparency and reduced perceived risks, challenges remain. Sustainability-focused tech companies, for example, still struggle to attract capital due to regulatory uncertainty and long development cycles. Additionally, the absence of a Social taxonomy that clearly defines standards for socially sustainable activities limits the potential of European policies in this area.

The study suggests expanding the regulatory framework to include a social taxonomy capable of ensuring a more equitable allocation of resources between environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. Strengthening regulatory support for tech companies could also accelerate sustainable innovation. Finally, stricter monitoring is essential to mitigate the risk of greenwashing, ensuring that sustainability funds are genuinely used for their intended purposes.

In summary, the study also has implications for the development of impact investing. While the EU has made significant progress in mobilizing private capital for environmental impact, achieving a balance between environmental and social impact requires further regulatory and strategic interventions.

 

For more information: Analyzing the role of regulation in shaping private finance for sustainability in the European Union

How spillovers propagate among energy commodities during business-as-usual scenarios and crisis episodes, differentiating between short- and long-term effects

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

Fossil fuels dominate the transmission of shocks along the energy supply chain, with effects amplified during crises. A study examines how these spillovers affect commodity markets and highlights the importance of mitigation strategies to contain instability.

 

Fossil fuels often act as primary spillover transmitters to energy derivatives, with the interconnectedness among commodities intensifying significantly during energy crises.

A recent study published in the International Review of Financial Analysis by Mattia Chiappari, Francesco Scotti, and Andrea Flori from POLIMI School of Management of Politecnico di Milano analyzes the dynamics of shock transmission within energy commodities describing how spillovers impact commodities along the supply chain.

The study has two main goals: first, to determine if upstream fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, or downstream derivatives, such as gasoline, heating oil, and ethanol, are dominant in shock transmission; and second, to evaluate if these effects vary based on market conditions, especially in times of crisis like the 2014-2015 Global Commodity Crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Findings reveal that fossil fuels are typically the primary transmitters of shocks, while derivatives usually act as receivers, absorbing fluctuations. However, in times of severe crisis, even derivatives can shift roles and become transmitters, amplifying the impact across commodity markets. Within commodities, the oil supply chain drives the spillover transmission. Notably, the analysis of short-term shock frequencies shows that energy commodity markets can absorb shocks within few days, underscoring the efficiency with which these markets incorporate new information.

Key Insights:

– Fossil fuels play a pivotal role in transmitting market shocks, particularly during periods of crisis.

– Energy derivatives, by contrast, mainly absorb shocks but can amplify them during extreme market instability.

– The efficiency of energy markets in shock management opens potential strategies for mitigating the impacts of market crises.

 

For further insights, the full article is available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521924005970?via%3Dihub

The role of digital technologies in the circular transition of the textile sector

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

 

Digital technologies are transforming the textile sector, an industry with a high environmental impact, towards a more circular and sustainable model. A study conducted by the POLIMI School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano explores how solutions such as IoT, blockchain and artificial intelligence can reduce waste, improve transparency and optimise processes throughout the product lifecycle, laying the foundations for a more responsible and innovative supply chain.

 

European textile consumption has the fourth highest impact on the environment and climate change. The textile industry faces resource-intensive and environmental issues due to the linear economy, which is based on a take-make-waste approach. Despite the growing awareness of these issues and the industry’s efforts to adopt Circular Economy (CE) practices aimed at reducing waste, reusing materials, and recycling products, the integration of circular principles throughout the entire product lifecycle remains fragmented. In addition, Digital Technologies (DT) like IoT, blockchain, and AI are widely acknowledged as promising enablers of this transition.

A study by Rabia Hassan, PhD student at the School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with Federica Acerbi, Paolo Rosa, and Sergio Terzi, examines the role of digital technologies in the circular transition of the textile sector across product lifecycle stages published in the Journal of the Textile Institute.

The study critically analyzes the literature to offer insights into the possible and efficient use of digital technologies in textile manufacturing from design to the disposal stage. The paper highlights technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D technologies, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital platforms, which are essential in enabling this transition. These technologies enhance supply chain transparency, optimize production processes, and promote recycling and reuse. For instance, IoT allows better materials tracking, blockchain ensures secure and transparent transactions, and AI can forecast trends and manage waste more effectively. The authors proposed a conceptual framework to include these technologies along the product lifecycle stages to assist firms in the textile industry in achieving circularity through digitalization.

Although the application of these technologies has advantages in the textile industry, there are some issues that this industry must meet while adopting them. Some of the challenges are high implementation costs, limited infrastructure, and the need for workforce training. Thus, the authors urge establishing strategic partnerships between IT suppliers and textile businesses, raising awareness about the need for proper government support for sustainable digitalization, and considering other forms of clients’ financing, including leasing and using new technologies as services.

Global IoT and Edge Computing Summit: Manufacturing Group article wins ‘Best Paper Award’

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

During the GIECS 2024, held on 24 September in Brussels, the paper was awarded the prestigious ‘Best Paper Award’.

 

The Global IoT and Edge Computing Summit is a major international conference that aims to gather and present the most advanced research in the field of Internet of Things and computing continuum. The event brings together researchers, engineers, scientists and practitioners from around the world, providing an ideal platform to discuss the latest technological developments and industry trends.

The Summit provides an opportunity for leading experts in the field to share their studies through papers and presentations, allowing attendees of the most significant advances. A rigorous peer review process allows the organising committee to select the best contributions from researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of cloud, edge and IoT, promoting a deeper understanding of how continuous computing is shaping the future of the data exploitation.

This year, the paper written by Danish Abbas Syed, Walter Quadrini, Nima Rahmani Choubeh, Marta Pinzone and Sergio Gusmeroli from the Manufacturing Group of the POLIMI School of Management, was awarded as the best scientific paper. The paper, entitled “Approaching interoperability and data-related processing issues in a human-centric industrial scenario”, was recognised by the conference’s scientific committee for its relevance and originality.

The paper, first authored by our research fellow Danish Abbas Syed, is part of a new human-centric vision that will drive the future of industrial production. In line with  HumanTech ,the project financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) for the 2023-2027 period as part of the initiative “Departments of Excellence”, the paper explores the use of private mobile networks and distributed software architectures to solve latency issues and the management of data generated by process operators.

In particular, its content paves the road for the realisation of a computer network distributed among the different levels of a software architecture to monitor the state of fatigue of an operator engaged in manual assembly tasks. In its prototype version, realised at the MADE Competence Centre, the operator’s state of fatigue is indeed constantly monitored and, as his fatigue increases, a series of auxiliary operations is taken over by two collaborative robots, releasing the human actor from the most demanding workloads and thus enabling optimal condition recovery, while also preventing pain and inflammations related to the musculoskeletal system.

The technical-scientific community of the Alliance for IoT and Edge Computing Innovation (AIOTI), the organiser of the event, also expressed interest in the solutions proposed in the article and shared the need, highlighted in the paper, for appropriate frameworks in line with the ethical principles of transparency at the heart of the current debate at European level.