TheInfoDay of the CIRCOLIVE project: “Skills and strategies for a circular and sustainable olive oil supply chain”. The event was hosted by R2B (Research To Business), the International Exhibition of Research and High Skills.
Five countries involved
The CIRCOLIVE project – co-financed by the Erasmus+ program and coordinated by Vakakis & Associates – aims to strengthen and increase skills relating to the circular economy in the olive oil sector in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Croatia, promoting the adoption of circular economy models for the valorization of waste, by-products and co-products of the olive oil supply chain, in particular obtained in the oil mill.
During the InfoDay - which registered over 40 participants (in person and online) - they spoke Marco Foschini e Laura Castellan di Agrifood Clust-ER, Tullia Gallina Toschi, Enrico Valli e Mario Guide of the University of Bologna, Arsonela Sorra e Giusi Faioli di IFOA.
Public-private participation
Laura Castellan opened InfoDay by presenting the CIRCOLIVE project; the word then passed to Marco Foschini and Tullia Gallina Toschi, who explained how this project fits into a path already consolidated in Emilia-Romagna thanks to the work of the regional olive-oil Focus Group. Foschini explained the origins and composition of the Focus Group, aimed at creating synergy, collaboration and public-private participation between research, business, education, public administration and civil society (in particular consumer associations). The Focus Group addresses the issues of the olive supply chain and is coordinated by an Italian company, Olitalia, with the technical-scientific support of the University of Bologna, to facilitate ed highlight critical issues along the entire value chain in Emilia-Romagna. Various stakeholders participate in the Focus Group, including producers, research centers and operators from the entire supply chain, from cultivation and processing to distribution and collective catering.
Gallina Toschi then illustrated the composition of the Focus Group and its three subgroups relating to the primary, transformation and distribution phases, highlighting several key aspects such as the identification of a regional model of competitive and sustainable olive growing and oil production, which considers both both economic and environmental sustainability aspects.
Promote new strategies
Enrico Valli and Mario Guida (University of Bologna) presented the questionnaires of the CIRCOLIVE project for the actors in the olive oil supply chain. In the course of the project, in fact, they will be developed several questionnaires and interviews. The goal is identify problems that limit the implementation of a circular economy and discover and promote new strategies for the valorisation of co-products, waste and by-products, which can be shared at national and European level. Guida also presented ongoing research on the analysis of the risk of hydrocarbon contamination of mineral oils in extra virgin olive oils produced in Emilia-Romagna.
Arsonela Sorra of IFOA presented the planning and provision of training courses in the olive oil sector, which include the creation & , experimentation di transnational training programs. As part of the project, two training programs are foreseen: one to develop the skills of young people, the other to improve the skills of operators in the sector. The general objective is to promote the adaptation of the training offer to the skills required by circular companies through the development of transnational curricula. In Italy there will be 90 young people involved in the training and another 70 operators from the olive sector.
For updates on CIRCOLIVE project, future developments and opportunities, you can contact the Project Manager Laura Castellan: laura.castellan@agrifood.clust-er.it
