Past projects 
\ Research for Global Challenges

FISH-MeeTing: Sustainable recovery and valorisation of fish wastes processing

FISH-MeeTing (FMT) aims at establishing a cross-border network for "brain circulation" amongst researchers of the Italian-Montenegrin academies (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; Venice, Italy and University of Donja Gorica, Podgorica, Montenegro) in the field of sustainable recovery and valorization of fish processing waste. As a further target, FMT is finalized at creating the premises for an involvement of local small-medium enterprise (SME) including fish-processing/aquaculture factories, as well as waste management companies operating in coastal areas of the Adriatic-Ionian basin. After an initial qualitative and quantitative assessment of the fish waste valorization strategies already in place, FISH-MeeTing will propose sustainable, integrated innovative marine growth strategies by promoting sustainable treatments and valorization of fish processing residues, following a circular model of modern biorefinery units (BUs).

Researcher: Maurizio Selva
Duration: 01/10/2018 - 30/09/2020

LIFE FORESTALL: Restoration of alluvial forests and cladium mariscus habitats

The objective of the action "LIFE FORESTALL - Restoration of Alluvial Forests and Cladium

mariscus habitats in Ramsar and Natura 2000 sites" is to assess the impacts of the project conservation actions on the ecosystems functions and related ecosystems services (ES) in the study area, thus

contributing to meet to goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020, Target 2, which requires that ecosystems

and their services are maintained and enhanced. The action will apply the principles and methods of the EU initiative Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES), according to which ES are classified into (i) provisioning, (ii) regulating and maintenance, (iii) cultural services In Valle Averto Oasis. These ES, selected based on a consultation with local experts, correspond to the ES potentially provided by the project’s target habitats; their actual relevance will be verified during the course of the project. 

Website
Researcher: Fabio Pranovi
Duration: 27/11/2020 - 30/11/2023

CROSSMOBY: planning intermodal, cross-border and sustainable public transports

​The CROSSMOBY project addresses the challenge of improving life planning capabilities sustainable mobility and to provide cross-border public transport connections based on a strong approach of institutional cooperation, to achieve concrete results for the citizens of the Program area, in terms of reduction of emissions deriving from transport. The main objective of the project is the creation of new cross-border and sustainable transport services and improvement of planning of the mobility implemented within the entire area. The expected substantial changes will materialize through the experimentation of new passenger rail services and in a new approach to mobility planning, based on the already existing PUMS methodology applied to a limited number of pilot projects. The main project outputs concern the reactivation of railway services cross-border transport and a strategic cross-border action plan on sustainable mobility, which they contribute to making CROSSMOBY an original and new project in the Italy-Slovenia cooperation programs leading to similar results. Also, to address the lack of sustainable mobility options and to improve accessibility cross-border, cross-border cooperation is needed where the authorities responsible and other organizations from Italy and Slovenia are able to develop services in such a coordinated way.

Website
Researcher: Andrea Stocchetti
Duration: 01/09/2018 - 31/08/2021

VULNER - Vulnerabilities under the global protection regime

How does the law assess, address, shape and produce the vulnerabilities of the protection seekers? 'Vulnerability' is increasingly used as a conceptual tool to guide the design and implementation of the global protection regime, as illustrated by the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and the subsequent adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and of the final draft of the Global Compact on Refugees. However, 'vulnerability' lacks a sharp conceptualisation and still needs to be accompanied by a thorough understanding of its concrete meanings, practical consequences and legal implications. This research project aims to address these uncertainties from a critical and comparative perspective, with a focus on forced migration. It will provide a comprehensive analysis of how the ‘protection regimes’ of select countries address the vulnerabilities of 'protection seekers’' The select countries are in Europe (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Norway), North America (Canada), the Middle East (Lebanon) and Africa (Uganda and South Africa). 

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Sabrina Marchetti
Duration: 01/02/2020 - 31/01/2023
Funding: Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges - Europe In A Changing World

The Starch Food Niche: Human Adaptation, Genes, and Culture Ressources

The Starch4Sapiens project aims to analyze and compare the biological and behavioral changes that made possible efficient starchy food metabolization which occurred in Eurasia between the Upper Pleistocene and Neolithic (from ca 126 ka to 12 ka, 6). The hypothesis is that regular consumption of large amounts of dietary carbohydrates required molecular adaptations to permit positive selection under constraining environmental conditions and this favored Homo sapiens expansion. The project aims to read the history of genotypic changes from genomes, which are also noticeable in fossil remains and cultural behavior, in order to determine the extent to which they were introduced by regular starch-rich food consumption well before the Neolithic transition. Thus, the project risk-hypothesis is to show that continuous and massive dietary carbohydrate consumption was only possible due to co-evolution between genetic adaptation, which allowed the effective digestion of starch-rich foods contained in dietary carbohydrates, and lifestyle transformations, on the level of socially-learned culture and behavior patterns (mechanical processing of starchy plants into staple food by means of ground stones and probably associated to thermal treatment, namely wet-cooking). These modifications may have led to better health conditions (visible by change in bones, teeth and pathology from EAHS and HS) necessary and essential for a constant increase in the HS population and, consequently, to the disappearance of other humans (notably Neandertals and Denisovans).

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Researchers: Laura Longo,  Elena Badetti
Duration: 01/12/2020 - 30/11/2023

ESG Factors and Climate Change for Credit Analysis and Rating

The aim of the ESG-Credit.eu project is to implement a methodology to include ESG (Environmental, social, and corporate governance) criteria and climate change factors into credit analysis and ratings. Given that ESG factors measure the firm’s sustainability and its ethical skills, the project investigates how those factors affect the creditworthiness of a firm measured by credit ratings over time. Moreover, we include in the analysis the impact that climate change could exert over a firm belonging to a certain industry. The expected result of the ESG-Credit.eu project is to introduce augmented credit ratings which include ESG factors and climate change scenarios.

Website
Researcher: Monica Billio
Duration: 01/12/2019 - 30/11/2022

Monitoring and preventing online hate speech

"IMSyPP – Innovative Monitoring Systems and Prevention Policies of Online Hate Speech" aims to automatically detect hate speech in several languages, to identify triggers, to recommend effective counter narratives, and to propose policies to the European communication regulators. The data will be manually annotated for types of hate speech, and quality carefully controlled. We will develop hate speech models by applying advanced machine learning methods. The models will be deployed in online settings and used to analyze the large amounts of data already collected. This will allow to analyze mechanisms and trends in hate speech, and identify different types of triggers. We will conduct a pilot study on possible counter narratives and develop recommendations.

Website
Researcher: Fabiana Zollo
Duration: 01/03/2020 - 28/02/2022

EeMMiP - Energy efficient Mortgage Market Implementation Plan

EeMMIP responds to the objectives of the EU in the areas of sustainable finance and climate change and aims to influence the entire value chain, from consumer to bond investor, stimulating mentality change and securing energy efficiency in market attitudes and best practices both in Europe and globally. The Project conducts an analysis of the current market systems relevant to the development of an EEM market and establishes demonstrators to support the demonstration of the end-to-end customer journey and EEM life-cycle. It will establish market-based governance and an EEM Label to support recognition of and confidence in EEM and facilitate access to quality information for market participants.

Website
Researcher: Monica Billio
Duration: 01/09/2020 - 31/08/2022

Transparent assessment of energy efficiency in ESG ratings

TranspArEEnS (Mainstreaming transparent assessment of energy efficiency in environmental social governance ratings) objective is to enhance standardized disclosure of EE and ESG information at firm level, to foster access to long term financing (e.g. via securitization) and better risk assessment, while taming the risk of greenwashing. TranspArEEnS will achieve its goal by means of five measurable objectives that foresee the collaboration of project partners from academia, financial policy and industry: 1. develop a standardized large-scale EE-ESG database; 2. develop a standardized EE-ESG SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) survey; 3. develop standardized EE-ESG rating; 4. support long term EE-securitization; 5. dissemination and capacity building.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Monica Billio
Duration: 01/06/2021 - 30/11/2023
Funding: Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges - Secure, clean and efficient energy