Founded in 2017 within the POLIMI School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, the Food Sustainability Lab is a multidisciplinary knowledge center focusing on innovation for the sustainability of agrifood systems. It brings together professors and researchers from the Department of Management Engineering, the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering Giulio Natta, and the Department of Architecture, Construction Engineering and Built Environment of Politecnico di Milano.

The Lab aims to contribute to the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems at local, national, and international scales, generating original knowledge through scientific research, experimentation, education and dissemination, combining technological innovation with innovation in business models, processes, and policies. The Lab works closely with other structures and departments at Politecnico di Milano and adopts a participatory approach with companies, supply chains, institutions, and third-sector organizations to create shared value.

Research includes circular economy solutions along agrifood supply chains, models and cross-sector partnerships for surplus food recovery and redistribution for social purposes, local food policies for sustainable and inclusive urban food systems, strategies and tools for the resilience and the sustainable and inclusive management of agrifood supply chains, systems for measuring and evaluating corporate sustainability performance along the supply chain, analysis of the environmental and energy impacts of food products and supply chains, innovations in sustainable and collaborative business models, and the role of startups and digital technologies for agrifood sustainability.

The Lab includes the Food Sustainability Observatory, which is part of the Digital Innovation Observatories of Politecnico di Milano.

For more information, contact giulia.bartezzaghi@polimi.it