After my MA in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Bologna, I started to collaborate as project manager and researcher with the Zero Waste Research Centre. This institute is part of an international network of NGOs with the aim of reducing the generation of waste. I have worked in waste management, materials classification and recycling networks, with a focus on sustainability and circular economy issues in communities' and companies' organisation. I took part in the EU-China NGOs Twinning Exchange Program, promoted by the German NGO Stiftung Asienhaus and supported by Robert Bosch Foundation and Stiftung Marcador. Thanks to this program, I had the chance to carry out field research about the governmental and “unofficial” urban waste management in Beijing, in collaboration with the Chinese NGO Friends of Nature.
I have collaborated as facilitator for the Zero Waste Europe Foundation in the Life Eco-Pulplast project, which aims to demonstrate the possibility of recycling pulper waste – the industrial waste of paper mills that use recovered paper – in the manufacturing of eco-sustainable plastic pallets.
I have been project manager of the Zero Waste Families pilot project in Capannori (Italy), the first Italian institutional project to aim to reduce the generation of waste. This pilot has attracted significant attention from local, regional and national media; and I had the chance to be on Italian National Television discussing my work with the Zero Waste Research Centre in the same programme that also included an interview with Ellen MacArthur.
My current research focuses on sustainable waste management in relation to circular economy ideas and practices and how these can affect a community organisation in a context of economic uncertainty. Specifically, I aim to understand the role of waste, how these materials are perceived by the actors in their daily life and which agencies are involved in the process of re-negotiation of the meaning of waste as community resources within a context of sustainable development. This project involves collaboration with the Zero Waste international network, public and private stakeholders. I will also be working with the Circular Economy Team at the WBCSD.
I'm looking forward to studying at the Pentland Centre because it represents an unique opportunity to develop my research in a brilliant and transdisciplinary environment dedicated to the promotion of sustainability. My research will contribute to the Centre's goal to motivate public and private stakeholders towards sustainable practices.