Teaching - Università degli Studi della Tuscia

BIOECONOMY AND AGRI-FOOD SYSTEM (objectives)

The Bioeconomy and Agro-Food System course is essentially oriented towards understanding the role that natural resources and their use, particularly in the agro-food sector, can have for the development of the bio-economy. It aims to provide students with the analytical tools to understand the opportunities offered but also the technical and economic constraints for a sustainable use of natural resources in the context of the bio-economy. In this context, the course will focus on the role of the agro-food system in pursuing its multiple objectives, as well as on the complementary and competitive relationships with other sectors of the bioeconomy in the use of natural resources. Such knowledge and skills aim to provide students with the ability to evaluate: a) the policies implemented at the local, national and international level for the development of a sustainable bio-economy and; b) to formulate, on the basis of the incentive structure offered by the market and by policies, innovative projects in processes and products.

Dublin Descriptors
1. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The course aims to provide basic theoretical and methodological knowledge in order to allow the student to independently understand the interaction between the dynamics of the agri-food system and the development of the bioeconomy. This knowledge will be acquired mainly through lectures, the reading of targeted texts and participation in thematic in-depth seminars.

2. ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The student must be able to apply the methodological and theoretical knowledge acquired, thus acquiring the ability: a) to evaluate the policies implemented at the local, national and international level for the development of a sustainable bio-economy and; b) to formulate innovative projects in processes and products on the basis of the incentive structure offered by the market and policies. These specific skills will be developed above all through the examination of strategic documents, statistical data and the debate in the classroom.

3. AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT
The autonomy of judgment will derive from the technical mastery of the tools, and from the understanding of the reasons that make different approaches bearer of different solutions in different contexts. This is built through lessons that encourage reasoned discussion with students and group work that stimulates discussion.

4. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The student should acquire the ability to expose and present the problems and topics covered by the course with mastery of language and adequate analytical skills. The exercises focused on critical reading and interpretation of official documents and statistical data will aim precisely at implementing this skill.

Code

119284

Language

ENG

Type of certificate

Profit certificate

Credits

Scientific Disciplinary Sector Code

AGR/01

Contact Hours

Type of Activity

Core compulsory activities

Derived from	119284 BIOECONOMY AND AGRI-FOOD SYSTEM in CIRCULAR ECONOMY LM-76 SORRENTINO Alessandro, PANCINO Barbara (syllabus) Contents of the course: 1) Bioeconomy and Circular Economy. - Defining aspects. - European and national strategy for the bioeconomy - Objectives of sustainable development and European policies 2) The agri-food system (AFS) as a whole - Organization and functional relationships - The structure of the sector - Production and income distribution 3) The Farming Industry - Agriculture in economic development - The productive structure of agriculture - Productive orientation and economic results 4) Food consumption and product differentiation - The dynamics of food consumption - Nutritional and consumption patterns - Food product differentiation 5) Coordination and bargaining power in the AFS - Coordination and integration in the AFS - Market and bargaining power in the agro-food chain (reference books) The course does not include a single textbook but refers to the slides presented in the classroom together with the papers and documents indicated in the following syllabus 1) Bioeconomy and Circular Economy • Brunori, Bartolini, “I Dilemmi della Bioeconomia”, AgriRegioniEuropa n. 41, 2015 https://agriregionieuropa.univpm.it/it/content/article/31/41/i-dilemmi-della-bioeconomia-una-riflessione-sulla-bioeconomy-strategy-della • Brunori, “Biomass, Biovalue and Sustainability”, EuroChoice 2013 available on Moodle platform • B. Eichout, “A Strategy for a Bio-Based economy”, Green European Fundation, Brussels 2012, (Cap. 1 pag. 7-15) available on Moodle platform • H.Hoff, F.X.Johnson, B.Allen, L. Biber-Freudenberger, J.J. Förster (2018): Sustainable bio-resource pathways towards a fossil-free world, IEEP Think2030 conference, Brussels, October 2018, available on Moodle platform Optional • EU Commission, “A sustainable Bioeconomy for Europe”, COM(2018) 673 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0673&from=EN • CNBBSV, “BIT II –Bioeconomy in Italy”, 2019 (pag. 1 – 23 and 61-80) https://cnbbsv.palazzochigi.it/media/1774/bit_en_2019_02.pdf • ASVIS, Dal Green Deal al Next Generation EU, 2020, (pag. 9-21; 66-74; 138-146) https://asvis.it/public/asvis2/files/Pubblicazioni/Quaderno_Obiettivi_di_sviluppo_sostenibile_e_politiche_europee.pdf 2) The Agri-Food System as a whole • EU Commission, You are part of the food chain: key facts and figures on the food supply chain in the European Union , EU Agricultural Markets Briefs, June 2015, available on Moodle platform • Fair Trade, Who’s got the power: takling imbalances in agricultural supply chain, Report by BASIC 2014 (pag.4-22), available on Moodle platform • EUROSTAT, Key Figures on the European Food Chain, Luxembourg 2021, available on Moodle platform 3) The Farming Industry • Conforti P., Carbone A., “Il declino relativo dell’agricoltura nel corso dello sviluppo economico e le grandi regolarità dello sviluppo agricolo alimentare”, handout available on Moodle platform • Van Arendonk A. The development of the share of agriculture in GDP and employment, Wageningen NL 2015, handout available on Moodle platform • EUROSTAT, Performance of the Agricultural Sector, Luxembourg 2021, available on Moodle platform • EUROSTAT, Farms and farmland in the European Union, Luxembourg 2018, available on Moodle platform 4) Food Consumption and Product Differentiation • Kearney J. “Food Consumption Trends and Drivers”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (2010) 365, available on Moodle platform • Gerbens-Leenes P.W. et.al. “Food-consumption-patterns-and-economic-growth”, Appetite 55 (2010), available on Moodle platform Optional • CENSIS, “Gli italiani a tavola: Cosa sta cambiando”, Roma 2016 http://www.censis.it/sites/default/files/downloads/Sintesi_14.pdf 5) Market and Bargaining Power in the Agri-Food Supply Chain • Cacchiarelli L., Russo C., Sorrentino A., “ Potere di mercato e contrattuale nella filiera agroalimentare” AgriRegioniEuropa n. 46, 2016 available on Moodle platform • Fair Trade, Who’s got the power? takling imbalances in agricultural supply chain, Report by BASIC 2014 (pag. 22-38 and 55-60), Report available on Moodle platform • Sorrentino A, Russo C., Cacchiarelli L., “Market power and bargaining power in the EU food supply chain: the role of Producer Organizations” in NewMedit 4/2018, available on Moodle platform
Dates of beginning and end of teaching activities	From to
Delivery mode	Traditional
Attendance	not mandatory
Evaluation methods	Oral exam