I am a policy expert and consultant at the Ministry of Agricultural Policies. I also collaborate with the University of Pisa as a researcher. I hold an MSc in European Regional Development from the Cardiff University and a PhD in Agrarian Economics from the University of Basilicata.

I have about 20 years of experience in research having worked in several EU-funded projects with the Universities of Rome “La Sapienza”, “Federico II” of Naples and with the University of Pisa. My professional experience also includes monitoring and evaluation of regional EU-funded programmes. I published a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as edited and co-authored three books.

As a policy expert, I am involved in the coordination of policies related to agricultural innovation, rural development and bioeconomy. I am also a national deputy delegate to the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) and a member of Governing Board member in the Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change (FACCE-JPI).

Key research interests

• Rural development processes
• Small farming and short chains
• Urban and peri-urban agriculture
• Agricultural and bioeconomy policy

Core competences

• Vulnerability and resilience models
• Foresight and backcasting exercises
• Qualitative analysis
• Transdisciplinary research methods

Current and past EU-funded projects

MOVING – Mountain Valorization Through Interconnectedness and Green Growth

LIAISON – Better Rural Innovation: Linking Actors, Instruments and Policies through Networks

See the list of all projects the group is involved in here

Some recent publications

Molina, N., Brunori, G., Favilli, E., Grando, S., Proietti, P. (2021). Farmers’ participation in Operational Groups to foster innovation in the agricultural sector: an Italian case study. Sustainability, 13(10), 5605. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105605

Galli, F., Grando, S., Adamsone-Fiskovica, A., Bjorkhaug, H., Czekaj, M., Duckett, D., (…), Brunori, G. (2020): How do small farms contribute to food and nutrition security? Linking European small farms, strategies and outcomes in territorial food systems. Global Food Security 26 (Sept.2020) 100427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100427

Fortes, A., Ferreira, V., Barbosa Simões, E., Baptista, I., Grando, S., Sequeira, E. (2020): Food Systems and Food Security: The Role of Small Farms and Small Food Businesses in Santiago Island, Cabo Verde. Agriculture 2020, 10(6), 216. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10060216

Palmioli, L., Grando, S., Di Iacovo, F., Fastelli, L., Galli, F., Prosperi, P., Rovai, M., Brunori, G. (2019): Small farms’ strategies between self-provision and socio-economic integration: effects on food system capacity to provide food and nutrition security, Local Environment 25(1): 43-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2019.1697869

Check my other publications: