The Universal Exposition taking place in Osaka, Japan, during the Emilia-Romagna Week will host two STAAA PhD candidates. Expo 2025 will run from April 13 to October 13 on the artificial island of Yumeshima and will be centered around the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”. Emilia-Romagna Week will take place from September 21 to 27 inside the Italy Pavilion as well as in other spaces both within and outside the Expo grounds. The Region has organized a seven-day program of events, seminars, and initiatives to present itself through the voices of many protagonists, their stories, and their visions.
Among the scheduled events, three days (September 25–27) will be dedicated to all the universities of the Region, through their participation in the PENTRER - “Public Engagement for the Ecological Transition of Emilia-Romagna” project. During these days, a dedicated session will be organized for PhD students and young researchers to exchange and present their research projects.
Two PhD candidates - Valeria Musso and Giulia Scaramuzzo - will take part in the event, presenting the research group’s work on the topic of sustainable collective catering through the project LaRiSo (Laboratorio di Ristorazione Sostenibile), a living lab coordinated by DISTAL together with the Emilia-Romagna Region and which involve several actors (e.g. teachers, nutritionists, local AUSL, catering service companies). Moreover, the researchers will present the research group’s work to the event dedicated to the LaBo2030 initiative linking research to public engagement. The event will facilitate a discussion between two high school classes - one from Bologna (online) and one from Osaka - on the topic “Resources, Food, and Waste.” The students will present their projects to the Expo audience and engage in a constructive debate. Since November 2024, both classes have been working closely with the researchers, who have guided and encouraged them to develop creative and meaningful projects on the theme of sustainable school canteens.