Research Area: Bergamo Consum-attore
Food as a driver of local economic and social systems.
The project area developed for the 2014/2015 academic year focused on food as a key driver of local economic and social systems.
In February, a group of students from Harvard University came to Bergamo to study and work alongside students from the University of Bergamo to enhance the local agri-food supply chain as a catalyst for the sustainable development of the city and its surrounding rural areas. The aim was to reconnect producers and consumers on one side, and the city with its urban and provincial rural areas on the other.
This theme was deliberately chosen during the year of Expo 2015—the largest event ever held on food and nutrition—designed to highlight the excellence of each country’s agri-food and culinary traditions.
By promoting local and traditional products, encouraging low environmental impact production, reducing the distance food travels to reach our tables, shortening distribution chains, and rebuilding trust between producers and consumers, the initiative aimed to foster a local food system. This system is closely linked to broader issues such as freight logistics, the revival of the “urban factory,” the reuse of abandoned buildings and areas, and the urban-rural landscape.
Working across these areas of intervention can create favorable conditions to develop a more cohesive, efficient, and sustainable territorial food system—one in which businesses and consumers collaborate to improve food quality, seize opportunities for local development, and preserve local culture, traditions, and the environment.
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