Campus Bio-Medico kicks off Agri Research and Teaching Centre, multifunctional and innovative agro-biotech hub

The Bio-Medical Campus has inaugurated the Agri Research and Teaching Centre, an advanced hub for innovation as a bridge between universities, companies and institutions. The centre represents a European agro-biotech hub of reference in the One Health sphere, capable of combining research, application and real impact. It is the answer to contemporary global challenges such as food security, energy, integral sustainability, efficient management of natural resources, technological innovation and protection of human health. In an increasingly complex and interconnected context, it is necessary to adopt models capable of addressing these critical issues simultaneously, linking environment, man and production systems.

The Agri Research and Teaching Centre, an integral part of the Applied Technology Park of the Social Green Masterplan, is conceived as an evolved ecosystem integrating research, care, education and environmental sustainability. The hub is configured as a multifunctional high-tech infrastructure, which offers the possibility of an integrated pathway of interest for different research fields. It aligns with the bio-innovation sector in terms of sustainable sourcing and exploitation of biological resources, maximised by engineering and AI applications. The Campus Bio-Medico initiative is set against a backdrop of increasingly limited natural resources, including water scarcity, soil degradation and the growing impacts of climate change. Traditional agriculture is no longer sufficient to guarantee security and sustainability, so it becomes imperative to develop advanced technological solutions capable of increasing productivity while reducing resource consumption.

The multifunctional greenhouse, with an adjoining experimental laboratory, is designed as an open hub and energy hub according to the principles of strategic security, a space where universities, research centres and companies meet and build concrete synergies. An infrastructure where agriculture, biotechnology and engineering coexist in harmony, fostering a multidisciplinary environment that hosts biotechnologists, agronomists, physicians, pharmacologists, computer scientists, students, researchers and start-ups. The joint effort is geared towards the development of theses, experimental projects, corporate programmes, hackathons, international cooperation initiatives and applied research. In the Social Green Masterplan, this working environment promotes ESG culture with concrete actions, serving people and in line with integral human ecology and the One Health paradigm, facilitating global cooperation.

The Agri Research and Teaching Centre's operational model is based on advanced cultivation techniques and innovative research, such as above-ground agriculture. In parallel, the facility constitutes an advanced laboratory for the study of biomolecules and nutraceutical compounds, integrating digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital twins for process modelling. The nature of the project is geared towards replicability and international scalability. This confirms the vocation of the Agri Research and Teaching Centre to become an exportable model that can be adapted to different geographical and socio-economic contexts.

For Giorgio Salvitti, advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Francesco Lollobrigida, 'this is a fundamental issue for the agricultural sector, because investing in research is essential to increase not only production capacity, but above all product quality. This is the most important aspect'.
According to Giancarlo Righini, Councillor for Budget, Economic Planning, Agriculture and Food Sovereignty of the Lazio Region, 'the Agri Research and Teaching Centre is a strategic initiative that enhances the potential of the Lazio Region in the fields of agro-biotech innovation, sustainability and applied research. The Bio-Medical Campus project concretely interprets the One Health vision, integrating scientific development and environmental protection in a perspective of sustainable and international growth'.
For Titti Di Salvo, President of the Municipality of Rome IX Eur: 'This is a project with a social vision that focuses on innovation, food safety, education and health, strengthening the role of the Bio-Medical Campus as a reference point for research and the development of models oriented towards integral human sustainability'.