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Three agricultural businesses from the province of Pavia have been selected to take an active role in the project within Spoke 6, which is focused on sustainability and the digitalisation of agricultural and livestock production intended for industrial processing. The participating companies are:   Il Sabbione, run by Alice Zanaboni, based in Robecco Pavese (PV) Azienda Agricola Frigerio Anna Maria, located in Voghera (PV) Azienda Agricola Luca Bonizzoni, based in Casteggio (PV)   The challenges proposed by these companies were presented to students on 14 March during the Advanced Digital Marketing course, part of the Master’s Degree Programme in Digital Communication. This marked the beginning of an innovative educational journey based on the “learning by doing” method. The students, organised into multidisciplinary teams and guided by Professor Elisa Conz, will develop ideas, projects, and innovative solutions in response to the companies' real-world needs.   The initiative has a dual aim: To provide students with the opportunity to work on real business cases, gaining practical and project-based skills in a dynamic and authentic environment. To enable companies to connect with young talent and discover innovative, applicable solutions for their production and communication strategies.   Students will have until June to develop digital marketing plans designed to enhance brand awareness and engagement for the selected businesses. Particular attention will be given to competitiveness on both national and international levels: the marketing strategies must highlight the authenticity and quality of local products, helping to position these brands in a distinctive way within Italian and global markets.

The "Networking and Acceleration on the Digital and Sustainable Mountain" meeting, held on January 16 at the LINKS Foundation headquarters, was an important moment of progress for NODES Spoke 4. This is demonstrated by the data, such as: 68 registered attendees 22 participating companies and startups 8 meetings between companies/startups and investors 25 B2B meetings between companies/startups The average rating of the event by the participating funded companies, collected at the end of the meeting, was 8.75/10. An event that is only the first of a 2025 full of activities and initiatives.

The Ethics Committees of Ospedale Maggiore della Carità in Novara (coordinating center), Auxologico in Piancavallo (VB), Ospedale Molinette in Torino, Ospedale San Luigi Gonzaga di Orbassano (TO) and Politecnico di Torino have given a favourable opinion on the conduct of the MOVEWISE study in each centre.   The Ethics Committes are independent bodeis that guarantee the protection of the rights, safety and well-being of people involved in scientific research. In italy, any study involving human participants must be evaluated to ensure compliance with fundamental principles, such as those established by the Declaration of Helsinki and the Oviedo Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. This process guarantees that research is conducted ethically, transparently and safely for all participants. The Territorial Ethics Committees of the five centers involved in the MOVEWISE project have approved the study protocol aimed at developing a wearable system to monitor mobility parameters most closely associated with fall risk in everyday life. The study includes the recording of signals from wearable sensors in cohorts of sixty patients affected by multiple sclerosis (Ospedale Maggiore della Carità and San Luigi Gonzaga), Parkinson’s disease (Auxologico di Piancavallo), and vestibular disorders (Ospedale Molinette), as well as twenty healthy controls (Politecnico di Torino).    

On 4 April, the Spring Roadshow of Spoke 6 took place, promoted by the University of Pavia in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Cremona-Mantua-Pavia, dedicated to sustainability and digitalisation in the primary agri-food sector. Over 100 participants and 26 exhibiting companies had the opportunity to showcase and learn about the progress made in the sector, with a wide display of technologies and developed prototypes (proofs of concept), and to take part in open discussions on the latest research developments, industrial PhD results, and in-depth one-to-one meetings.   The event was opened by Rector Francesco Svelto: "Our University is committed to the local ecosystem and the agri-food sector, despite never having had a Faculty of Agriculture or a dedicated departmental area. We are part of a broader ecosystem that includes the University of Turin, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Forestry Services, the University of Sassari, and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change, recognising the agricultural value of the region. We have invested around €4.5 million, including support for businesses in the Oltrepò area. It is the right path to follow."   Also in attendance was Gian Marco Centinaio, Deputy President of the Senate: "The province of Pavia has a strong agricultural vocation: Lomellina with rice, Oltrepò with vineyards, innovations in olive oil and olive trees, and livestock farming for Grana Padano. The University of Pavia, already a leader in healthcare, has accepted the challenge of agriculture. This project is important for the region and for Italy as a whole. In Lomellina, we have the first experimental field for TEAs – techniques that will improve plant genetics in line with European Union goals."   Hermes Giberti, professor at the University of Pavia and project manager of NODES - Spoke 6, highlighted: "Primary agri-food industry is complex. With the VINO and FORMIDABILÆ projects, we aim for innovations to tackle climate change in viticulture and to promote smart, resilient dairy farms. With the NODES Spoke 6 fair, we are presenting 18 research and development projects, 3 innovation services, 2 industrial PhDs, 2 prototypes, and a new start-up. We have allocated nearly €4 million for business tenders and almost €1 million to academic proofs of concept for the creation of new enterprises."   Enrico Ciabatti, Deputy Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Cremona-Mantua-Pavia, added: "We have supported the initiative with over €6.5 million through Pavia Sviluppo. €1.65 million was allocated to the Innovation Call, and over €1 million to interest rate subsidy contributions. We are also pursuing two PID initiatives: the Digital Enterprise Point, for business digitalisation, and the Pavia Innovation District, to support SMEs in development and networking."

Great participation and concrete dialogue between research and business at the Spoke 1 event on Aerospace and Sustainable Mobility On April 3, the event dedicated to the results of Spoke 1 - Aerospace and Sustainable Mobility, organized at Environment Park as part of the Ecosystem Roadshow 2025, concluded successfully. Many moments of discussion and networking, to promote innovation and technological and sustainable transition. Excellent turnout of companies, researchers and stakeholders from Spoke 1 and the NODES area. Speeches by the companies involved in the Spoke gave a concrete overview of the project results obtained thanks to the Spoke 1 cascade calls, created to support high-tech solutions for the Aerospace and Sustainable Mobility supply chains.  

On March 31, 2025, the event "Tourism and culture: innovation for the North West" was held at the University of Turin, a partner of Spoke 3 - Tourism Industry and Culture, organized as part of the Primavera Nodes Roadshow initiative.   During the event, several companies operating in the North West took part and were able to win funds from the cascade calls.   Thanks to the funds received, companies were able to start interesting industrial research and experimental development projects that were presented during the day. Prototypes of applications to be used in the field of tourism, culture but also sustainable fashion captured the attention of those present, who asked several questions to the company representatives.   Finally, Prof. Piercarlo Rossi of the University of Turin and Prof. Stefania Cerutti of the University of Eastern Piedmont presented the results obtained to date with the two flagship projects CIRIL and TOEP.    

On Wednesday 26 March, the podcast: Tourism, between precariousness and precariousness was presented at the Aula Magna Campus SAA of the University of Turin.   The event, full of ideas for professionals in the sector, was introduced by Davide Caregnato, Director of the SAA, by Marcella Costa, Director of the Department of Foreign Languages ​​and Literatures and Modern Cultures, and by Rossi Piercarlo, full professor of Administrative Law and Flagship Manager of the NODES - Digital and Sustainable North West project.   Tourism is one of the strategic sectors of our country system. It is in good health, but continues to show strong structural criticalities: in Italy it is still dominated by individual businesses, often undercapitalized and far from managerial management. A fragility that, also due to the seasonality of the offer, negatively influences the professional choices of the new generations, increasingly oriented to consider tourism as a transitory occupation.   These are some of the topics covered in the new podcast by Filippo Monge, professor of Business Economics and Management and Innovation Economics at the University of Turin, as well as director of the SAA-COREP masters dedicated to the management of territorial systems and sustainable agriculture.   The podcast is the result of two years of research in Italy and abroad, with primary data taken from financial and social security databases. The text was written in collaboration with Paolo Gerbaldo, tourism historian, and Robin Vanzolini, researcher. The direction is by Massimo Pasquale, in the studios of Radio 110 – the Web Radio of the University of Turin.   In the classroom and online, over 250 participants including students, professionals and stakeholders in the sector. Guests included: – Federico De Giuli, top manager and former president of the Tourism Group of the Industrial Union of Turin – Riccardo Staglianò, journalist and author of the book “Hanno vincere i ricco” (Einaudi, 2024), presented during the meeting – Marco Novarese, economist at the University of Eastern Piedmont, who enriched the discussion with interesting suggestions on research.   A necessary dialogue to understand the transformations of the tourism sector and enhance the role of training and innovation.  

  In recent days, a group of students from the IBE and FIMIF-FIMEDIS Master's Degree courses in Economics at the University of Insubria had the opportunity to visit the company Novello Case srl in Oggiona con Santo Stefano (VA) as part of the Challenges of the Nodes project.   The aim of the visit was to experiment with collaboration between students from Master's Degree courses characterized by different educational objectives, offering them the opportunity to interact with local business realities and work together on topics of innovation and sustainability.   The contamination of ideas between students with different backgrounds, and between the academic world and business are essential to enhance the talent of young people.

On March 28th, 2025, the Stakeholder Committee of Spoke 5 met virtually to take stock of the progress of the spoke. Here the main points discussed:    Spoke 5 and the objectives of the Stakeholder Committee:  The project manager of Spoke 5, prof. Marco Invernizzi, introduced the NODES project, highlighting the key role of the Stakeholder Committee in defining the objectives and goals of the project, as well as supporting strategic decisions and scientific collaborations.    Flagship Projects: The progress of the flagship projects INNDIANA and TINCARE were presented, in line with the project's timeline and with significant results in terms of scientific publications, studies approved by the Ethics Committee and patent development.   Proof of Concept:  Particular attention was given to the PoCs, both academic and industrial. The high demand for funding exceeded available resources, confirming the strong interest in the themes of Spoke 5. The vast majority of the projects are still ongoing, also in base of the extension requests that were received and approved by the Evaluation Committee. All the projects (both Academic and Inudstrial PoC) financed in the first and second cut-off have successfully passed the mid-term review, both from an administrative, accounting and scientific perspective.    Roadmap: Dr. Anrò of the bioPmed innovation cluster showed the update of the Roadmap, in line with NODES timeline. After an initial draft developed in M3, based on the Intelligent Specialization Strategy (S3) of the Piedmont Region, a final version was launched in  M18 thorugh an online survey aimed addressed to companies.  Now, in M30, the Roadmap is being updated based on the results obtained from the flagship projects and both academic and industrial PoCs, with the aim of integrating new evidence and guiding the next strategic actions.    Events 2025:  In 2025, several events are planned to promote the results of the NODES project:  April: business event for the presentation of projects and first results. (14 aprile 2025 - Vercelli) May: meeting on Academic PoC, with the aim of attracting potential investors. September: participation in the European Researchers' Night. End of the year: HUB NODES concluding events, focusing on the project’s closure and future perspectives.     The concluding discussion highlighted the participants' support for Spoke 5 acivities, confirming their continued interest in NODES initiatives and their future prospects. 

Oriana Benfatto, a third-year PhD candidate within the NODES program in the PhD course in Electronic, Computer, and Electrical Engineering (Cycle 38), talks to us about her research project, "Sustainable services for agricultural areas: renewable energy communities and micro-grids." The project, supervised by Professor Norma Anglani from the Department of Industrial and Information Engineering at the University of Pavia, is developed within the flagship project FORMIDABILAE. It focuses on integrating renewable energy and energy communities to enhance sustainability in agricultural areas. NB: Renewable energy communities represent an opportunity to make the agricultural sector more sustainable and efficient. In your opinion, what are the main obstacles to their large-scale adoption? OB: Energy communities offer a great opportunity to make agriculture more sustainable, but they also face several challenges. One of the main issues is the stability of the electrical grid: while renewables are essential, they are also variable, requiring storage systems and advanced strategies. Moreover, a lack of awareness among farmers and citizens limits participation, highlighting the need for greater outreach and education. Bureaucratic complexity also slows development, with intricate procedures and uncertainties regarding incentives. Overcoming these challenges requires clearer regulations, targeted incentives, and advanced energy storage and smart management technologies to ensure a sustainable and inclusive transition. *** NB: The FORMIDABILAE project aims to develop innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency in the agri-food sector. What is the specific contribution of your research in this context, and what promising technologies are you working on? OB: Within the FORMIDABILAE project, my research focuses on a case study involving a dairy farm, evaluating electrical loads and converters to make it as self-sufficient as possible and less dependent on the power grid. Specifically, I study the control of grid-forming and grid-following inverters to ensure system stability while optimizing energy flow between renewable sources, battery storage, and critical loads such as milking and milk cooling systems. In parallel, we analyze municipalities served by the same primary substation, assessing the potential for rooftop photovoltaic installations using geospatial analysis techniques and comparing estimated energy production with consumption data from national databases. This allows us to estimate the community's self-sufficiency level and optimize system sizing. The ultimate goal is to develop a replicable model for creating self-sufficient energy communities, promoting the adoption of advanced energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy integration in the agri-food sector. *** NB: Being part of the NODES ecosystem and a flagship project like FORMIDABILAE, has this experience provided you with new perspectives or collaborations that have enriched your research journey? What results have you achieved so far? OB: Being involved in the NODES project has allowed me to collaborate with the AUDE laboratory at the University of Pavia, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. This experience has enriched my journey, enabling me to analyze energy communities from technical, architectural, and urban planning perspectives. I have visited research centers and agri-food companies, gaining firsthand insight into renewable energy technologies and practical challenges. I developed a simulation model to assess the energy self-sufficiency of a dairy farm and its connected community, combining load analysis with photovoltaic potential evaluation.Additionally, I have deepened my study of grid-forming and grid-following inverter control to enhance local grid stability, proposing scalable solutions for the agri-food sector.

The "Networking and Acceleration on the Digital and Sustainable Mountain" meeting, held on January 16 at the LINKS Foundation headquarters, was an important moment of progress for NODES Spoke 4. This is demonstrated by the data, such as: 68 registered attendees 22 participating companies and startups 8 meetings between companies/startups and investors 25 B2B meetings between companies/startups The average rating of the event by the participating funded companies, collected at the end of the meeting, was 8.75/10. An event that is only the first of a 2025 full of activities and initiatives.

On Friday 4 April from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Novara Castle there will be an event branded Geonight 2025 entitled: “Landscapes. Reality, impression, symbol”.   Landscape is undoubtedly a key theme of geography, full of meaning and constantly reinvented. It reflects and stimulates dialogue on urgent issues such as climate change, sustainability and our relationship with nature, which are open fields for today's geographies.   The Geonight 2025 event will see the students of the University of Eastern Piedmont of the Challenge PNRR NODES Spoke 3 participate in a guided and animated tour of the exhibition “Landscapes. Reality, impression, symbol”.   It will allow them to move critically and creatively from the world of art to that of cultural and tourism planning, outlining its role as a lever for sustainable development and a common future. This first-hand experience will also allow them to understand the importance of making ancient and historic containers, such as the castle, a living and open heritage.   The visit will be held in collaboration with METS Percorsi d'Arte and its president Dr. Paolo Tacchini.  

Throughout the development process of the NODES project, many companies have approached the project, participating in events, training courses, challenges and other initiatives. A significant number of them have also benefited from the funds deriving from the cascade calls, for the development of innovative projects.   Spoke 3 provides, during the last phase of the project, a service that all NODES stakeholders can access, namely a help desk activated to explore opportunities at national and European level that allow companies to continue what they have undertaken in recent years or to realise what they have imagined but not yet implemented.   The help desk will operate in virtual mode, thanks to the collaboration between the Spoke 3 group of the University of Eastern Piedmont, led by Professor Stefania Cerutti, and the company Novareckon SrL, specialized in the programming of European funds.   Office opening hours: 03/24/2025 to 05/30/2025 Registration deadline: 05/23/2025 For information and registrations write to info@novareckon.it