Authors: Selene Righi and Letizia Forzoni

From 1 to 5 September 2024, two young researchers from PAGE participated in the 75th Congress of the European Association of Animal Production (EAAP) in Florence, organised also by our colleague from Pisa, Prof. Marcello Mele and his team PLAS – Pisa Animal Science.

The general theme of the congress was “Global quality: Environment, Animals, Food”. The congress was composed of 98 parallel scientific sessions in which updated research results covering the whole domain of the Animal Science were presented and discussed, as well as the presentation of main ongoing research projects, dealing with animal genetics, nutrition, health and welfare, physiology, farming system, and precision farming. Representatives from the world of research and industry, as well as institutions, attended for a total of 2,000 participants from different parts of the world, confirming its status as a meeting place for experts in the field worldwide.

Our PhD student Letizia Forzoni and researcher Selene Righi, in particular, also helped with the organisation and as staff they were able to attend some parallel sessions and follow them in depth.

The first day’s discussions opened with a ONE-DAY SYMPOSIUM “Livestock are more than food”, organised by the Animals Task Force (ATF) (https://animaltaskforce.eu/OldMenu/Our-organisation/Organisation). The FAO Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership presented its forthcoming guidelines on “The Role of Livestock in Circular Bioeconomy Systems”. During the presentation, Philippe Becquet, one of the authors of the new guidelines, emphasised their overall objective: to provide a solid and comprehensive framework for improving circularity in the livestock sector. Becquet emphasised how these guidelines highlight synergies, trade-offs and interactions within livestock systems in a circular bioeconomy, focusing on the essential role of the sector in promoting sustainable practices. The researchers participated and followed with interest the progress of the proceedings and also listened to the round table discussions, where topics were touched upon that are expected to become an essential resource for policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders alike, helping them navigate the complex challenges of creating a sustainable future.

The following day, another session with several insights for the PAGE group was “Viable future dairy farming systems and products from production, feeding, environmental and consumer viewpoint”. The concept of resilience related to livestock farming and methods of quantifying impacts such as true cost accounting were discussed.

On the last day, Letizia Forzoni presented a study on “Living Lab approach in the ecological transition of livestock farming in Abruzzo region,” co-authored by professors F. Di Iacovo, C. Vincenzina, F. Riccioli, M. Moretti and dott.ssa S.Righi. In the session “Living labs and demonstration farms: approaches to improve sustainability of LFS globally”. The session brought together an international and multidisciplinary assembly, engaged in working in various Living Labs (LL), each with different objectives and stakeholders. The session’s program included case studies with experimental purposes, such as living farms, featuring innovations aimed at sustainability in terms of GHG emissions, by-product utilization, circular economy, as well as educational farms and business cases that have become “showcases” for citizens. The role of the Living Lab as a true co-design space emerged in the case of Manciano within the Agromix project presented by Prof. Mantino (UNIPI). Finally, two presentations were related to the PNRR Agritech project. The first, Soltice, is the network of LLs engaged in technological innovation in agriculture, while the second was social innovation presented by PhD student Forzoni, which provided an opportunity to reflect on the role of universities and local institutions in promoting more sustainable farming systems.

In addition, a poster on PAGE’s work was also presented by animal science colleague Alina Silvi “Insights and experiences of two Living Labs in Tuscany (Italy)”, co-authored by dott.sse G. Foggi, L. Ortolani, and S. Righi, and professors A. Mantino, G. Brunori, M. Mele and M. Moretti.

“This was therefore a nice experience that also made us realise what it means to be in the organisation of such an important conference and gave us the opportunity to attend sessions that were interesting for our work and to network with fellow experts in the field from all over the world. As well as having the chance to see in person the coordinators and some partners of the Re-Livestock and Pathways projects of which we are part who were present. We were very happy to have this opportunity, and this was enhanced by the fact to have a beautiful city like Florence as a venue and to be accompanied by high quality local food.”