Lombardy Dialogues: Innovative monitoring and management of environmental resources
Coordinator: Silvana Castelli
Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology (IBBA)
The protection of water, soil and agriculture, are the topics to be discussed during the conference "Innovative Monitoring and Management of Environmental Resources." The meeting will cover topics related to the management of water in the Milan area, characterized by the coexistence of important agricultural and industrial realities, to the management of intensive cultivation and reintroduction of oil and fiber plants whose waste contributes to the production of bio-products and energy.
During the meeting various technical innovations will be presented. These solution range from tools for a rational management of water resources, in large metropolitan areas, that exploit network of sensors to control the distribution of water and determine of the presence of pollutants to application for crop monitoring based on data acquired from satellite sensors. Additional topics that will be discussed are: microbial fuel cells powered by electricity generated by the removal of micropollutants , new processes to be employed in the transformation of waste product of flax and hemp, the development of mathematical models to support in field management of crop production and the exploitation of those model used to estimate the impact of cropping systems on the environment.
Mobile smart app able to involve citizens and support operators and technicians in collecting field data on crop status and agro-practices will be presented. In this context ample space will be given to a discussion on how these field information together with satellite images can be delivered through web application to public and private final users for a better crop management.
A consideration will also be given to the transition towards Bioeconomy .In this optic new productive chains can be introduced while preserving the environment. Using two traditional crops, flax and hemp, a new approach will be presented towards the exploitation of the whole plant to obtain wide bioproducts and chemicals including protein derivatives for the food and cosmetic industry, green building materials, resins from lignin and biolubricants from the oil. The same biorefinery approach can be applied to the valorization of agroindustry wastes.
Environmental sustainability is also addressed through the presentation of virtuous models of recovery and recycling of organic waste produced by urban communities (MSW) to obtain nutrients, biomaterials for agriculture and energy.
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
ERSAF
Università degli Studi di Milano
Agenzia Regionale Protezione Ambientale
University of Delaware
European Commission
Agrea Srl
RSE Spa
Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque
Istituto per il Rilevamento Elettromagnetico dell'Ambiente
Istituto di Matematica Applicata e Tecnologie Informatiche "Enrico Magenes"
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Molecolari
Istituto per lo Studio delle Macromolecole
Istituto di Biologia e Biotecnologia Agraria