As part of the GROW course, this workshop will showcase innovative initiatives, including technological applications, that have agrobiodiversity as their main focus, with particular emphasis on addressing food insecurity. It will explore the potential of leveraging artificial intelligence to optimize farming practices in densely populated areas and regions facing soil scarcity.

A case study will be presented, highlighting an initiative with the capacity to be scaled up in regions and ecosystems where urban agriculture and innovation are key to alleviating food shortages.  The speakers will discuss how agrobiodiversity and innovative methods can generate solutions where agricultural land is increasingly limited or population density is high. Urban agriculture in these areas offers an opportunity to reduce environmental pressure while providing additional societal benefits such as stress reduction and social cohesion.

Speakers:

• Rodrigo de Lapuerta, Director – Logistics Services Division, FAO

Holds a Master of Arts in European Law and International Politics and Economics from the University of Paris, a Bachelor of Laws in International Law and a Bachelor of Laws in European Community Law from CEU San Pablo/Complutense University of Madrid. He joined FAO in 1998. He served in the Cabinet of two Directors-General (2004-14), as Director ad interim of the Office of Support to Decentralized Offices, OSD (2014-15), as Director, OSD (2015), as Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the European Union and Belgium in Brussels (LOB) until 2017. Director of the Logistics Services Division of FAO since 2021. 

• Clementina Pinzón Rodríguez, Communications & EU Funding Manager – Ecobubble

Holds a bachelor’s degree in labor relations from Universidad de La Laguna. At Ecobubble she works with the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), the Agency for the Promotion of European Research in Italy (APRE) and other stakeholders. She represents Ecobubble S.L. at Brokerage Events, such as CASSINI Entrepreneurship Days, to network and identify potential partners.

• Paolo di Croce, Secretary General – Slow Food

Secretary-General of Slow Food, he also serves as a board member of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. His journey within the Slow Food association began in 1999. Since then, he has been involved in projects related to the Ark of Taste and Presidia, focusing particularly on institutional relations and fundraising. From 2003 to 2007, he held the position of Secretary-General of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. From 2005 to 2014, he served as Secretary-General of the Terra Madre Foundation.

 

• Fabio Attorre, Director – Botanical Garden of Rome, Sapienza University

Associate Professor of Environmental and Applied Botany, Director of the Botanical Garden, Sapienza University of Rome. His research includes biodiversity and habitat conservation and monitoring, management of protected areas, analysis of climate change impacts, vegetation survey using GPS and other topographic tools. Additionally, he has extensive experience in the development of Web-GIS and smartphone and tablet applications for species and habitat monitoring.

 

• Carlo Murer, Value chain and marketing expert, NaturaSì

Specialized in Sustainable Tropical Forestry at Copenhagen University. Currently working as buyer of organic raw material for EcorNaturaSì Spa, Italian company specialized on production and distribution of organic food products. He keeps the commercial relation with the 200 farms supplying raw materials (cereals, seeds and pulses) for the EcorNaturaSì’s monitored production chains. He is implementing a Participatory Guarantee System PGS in Italy, among the farms working with EcorNaturaSì.

 

• Moderator: Giorgio Grussu, Programme Officer, FAO-Mountain Partnership Secretariat

Project Coordinator for the Mountain Partnership Secretariat at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) since 2012, Giorgio holds a PhD in Environmental Biology, a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering, a Master’s Degree in Environmental Policy, and a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Before joining FAO he worked as an advisor on environmental issues with the Italian Development Cooperation, and as a project manager with IUCN, UN Environment and NGOs in Morocco, Angola, Republic of Northern Macedonia, Kosovo, and Bosnia & Herzegovina.