the Future Farming Initiative unites academia, private sector expertise and visionary market thinking
to navigate the three-dimensional complexity of the Matrix, we have identified 8 domains of applied research that represent broad areas of interest for the Projects we look for
within a domain, a Project happens when solid technical foundations meet solid market-driven reasons
under this founding principle, Projects can be very different: they can have a predominantly technological focus (such as implementations in the field of robotics), with a cross-cutting impact on all Future Farming solutions. Alternatively, they can be solely focused biology, e.g. engineering a metabolic pathway to produce a biologic via a Nature Co-Designed process alternative to traditional industrial processes. And obviously all what’s in cross-way between tech and biology
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WE GROW is where we started: it reimagines how we nourish the world's growing population. This domain encompasses research into optimal cultivation techniques, vertical farming, precision agriculture and fermentation, advanced automation, AI and digital twins, agro-ecological practices that maximize yields while minimizing environmental impact. We don’t stop to leafy greens: we look beyond plants at virus, bacteria, fungi, algae, insects
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in RETHINKING FOOD we focus on transforming how we think about food by creating new, nutritious options and exploring alternative proteins, new processing technologies and functional features like bio-fortification. It's about inventing new foods that are good for our health and for the environment. Researchers, chefs and food scientists collaborate. And Italians, when it comes to food, are in a pretty good position. This domain also considers the entire food cycle, from production to waste management, aiming to reduce it and use resources wisely. RETHINKING FOOD is about changing the way we eat for us and for a healthier planet, but also about the way we see new food: it requires education and focus on facts rather than on fake-news
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space might feel distant from the market-ready applications we like. But it’s not. We can split space economics into two parts: upstream and downstream. Upstream is about supplying space technology like satellites, rockets, and materials for space habitats (where biology plays a role)
downstream is about using on Earth technology invented for space. For example, NASA came up with aeroponics in the 1960s to figure out how to grow plants in space using very little water. This idea got back to Earth and now we use it in all our soil-less cultivation systems. Without downstream from space, we wouldn't have things like GPS navigation in cars, working smartphones, or weather forecasts for skiing trips. In SPACE FRONTIERS, we're not just thinking about space travel solutions. Instead, we're drawing inspiration from extreme concepts developed for space: the potential to capitalize on space knowledge back on Earth is huge, both in terms of technology and biology
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NATURE CO-DESIGNED MATERIALS is about harnessing nature's design principles to create revolutionary materials. By studying the resilience of ecosystems, we're engineering materials that are biodegradable, adaptive, and resource-efficient. These materials find applications in packaging, construction and beyond, fostering a more sustainable and regenerative industrial landscape
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BREEDING & HACKING is where classic genetics meets biotech, synthetic biology and AI. Through advanced breeding techniques and genetic modification, we're enhancing life forms for better yields, nutritional content, and resilience. By responsibly hacking genetic codes, we're tweaking life forms to overcome the limitations that prevent them from exploiting completely the advantages of controlled growing environments. That is the key to unleash their true potential
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BIO-FACTORIES envisions organisms as the manufacturing plants of the future. By engineering microorganisms, algae, fungi and plants, we're producing valuable compounds like food ingredients, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biofuels. This approach, based on controlled environment agriculture and precision fermentation at scale, offers economically viable alternatives to traditional manufacturing methods while minimizing ecological impact: it’s a paradigmatic shift between a exploitative manufacturing to a generative manufacturing
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within ECO-REMEDIATION we focus on strategies to restore and enhance ecosystems affected by pollution and environmental degradation. This domain aims to develop sustainable solutions that naturally clean and revitalize contaminated areas, utilizing biological, chemical, and physical processes. Researchers within this domain investigate techniques such as phyto-remediation, bio-remediation, and soil enrichment to mitigate pollution's impact, promote biodiversity, and ensure long-term environmental health
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CIRCULAR REGENERATION is the more holistic and ambitious of our domains: it can also be seen as the Manifesto where all the ideas we develop at the Future Farming Initiative play seamlessly together. It involves designing entire ecosystems powered by self-generated renewable energy where waste is transformed into a valuable resource and continuously reused. The challenge lies in proving how seamlessly integrating clean energy infrastructures with processes that convert energy into biologics can yield both environmental benefits and significative economic return. This duality between environmentally good a financially sustainable forms the cornerstone of the Future Farming vision. Within this domain, we envision, design, simulate the behaviors and lay the foundations for the realization of ambitious circular regeneration projects we call "Future Farming Districts." We do it with architects, designers, social scientists, thinkers. We also try to make aware policy makers this is not an utopia but a very possible future. This is the Future we love to Farm