Giovanna Ottaviani Aalmo
Forsker
(+47) 980 30 422
giovanna.ottaviani.aalmo@nibio.no
Sted
Ås - Bygg O43
Besøksadresse
Oluf Thesens vei 43, 1433 Ås (Varelevering: Elizabeth Stephansens vei 21)
Forfattere
María Bustamante Liria Concetta Maria Messina Simona Manuguerra Andrea Santulli Giovanna Ottaviani AalmoSammendrag
Despite significant progress in understanding the complexity of food systems’ challenges, there remains a lack of clarity around how these systems can undergo transformative change and what is required to enable such shifts. This paper focuses on social innovation as a promising mechanism for addressing structural challenges and reconfiguring food systems toward sustainability, equity, justice, and resilience. Our main contribution is the design of an actionable guidance that helps practitioners and researchers explore and leverage the transformative potential of social innovations. This guidance emerges from a dialogue between a key framework for analyzing social-ecological transformations and recent advancements in Transformative Social Innovation (TSI) theory. By incorporating insights on adaptive, bottom-linked governance and relational dynamics into the SES processual framework, we strengthen its applicability to TSI analysis and make it more adaptable for real-world contexts. We apply this guidance to a case study in Western Sicily’s aquatic food systems, where a long-standing social innovation – rooted in Living Lab methodologies and collaborative governance – demonstrates the potential to challenge dominant values by reconfiguring dominant social relations, empower local actors, and engage with both deep and shallow leverage points, contributing to systemic transformations. By combining cross-field dialogue with empirical application, this paper offers both practical tools for analyzing and designing transformative social innovation processes and practical insights into how social innovations can contribute to more sustainable, resilient, and equitable futures. It directly speaks to practitioners, scholars, and policy makers interested in enabling systemic transformation through socially embedded innovation processes.
Forfattere
Giovanna Ottaviani AalmoSammendrag
Det er ikke registrert sammendrag
Forfattere
Zhe Yu Yihui Du Qianwen Ding Qiang Hao Hongwei Yang Kerou Shi Chao Ran Yalin Yang Chen Wang Johan Johansen Giovanna Ottaviani Aalmo Zhen Zhang Zhigang ZhouSammendrag
Global food security demands sustainable alternatives to the conventional feed ingredient wheat. Nutrient-dense diploid potatoes (HQP) represent candidates due to their enriched phytochemical profiles, including high levels of vitamin C and lutein. However, their dietary utilization is constrained by endogenous anti-nutritional factors (ANFs), primarily solanine and trypsin inhibitors. Using a zebrafish model, we demonstrate that these ANFs trigger intestinal dysbiosis and an oxidative-inflammatory response. Mechanistically, this adverse gut environment suppresses the mTOR pathway, as evidenced by reduced phosphorylation of S6K1 and 4E-BP1, ultimately leading to growth depression. To address this toxicological barrier, we integrated genetic selection (diploid HQP) with thermal processing (steam-cooking). Quantitative analysis revealed that while thermal processing effectively reduced ANF concentrations to physiologically safe levels, the HQP matrix retained significantly higher residual concentrations of vitamin C, lutein, and zeaxanthin compared to conventional tetraploid (C88) and wheat-based diets. Mechanistically, protein-level evidence confirmed that this processed HQP formulation promoted the total NRF2 and suppressed NF-κB P65 accumulation. This metabolic shift attenuated inflammation, reactivated mTOR signaling, and subsequently enhanced growth performance and digestive capacity. Our findings establish a mechanistic framework demonstrating how integrated genomic design and processing strategies facilitate the functional utilization of high-phytochemical crops in sustainable food systems.
SFS-project: Food Systems Labs: Policy Coherence and Empowerment to Transform Food Systems within a Just Circular Bioeconomy
Divisjon for matproduksjon og samfunn
FlexBio – Flexible biorefineries for upcycling of local bioresources
FlexBio develops flexible biorefinery technologies to convert Norwegian food industry by-products and urban food waste into valuable feed ingredients. The project integrates biotechnology, process optimisation, and socio-economic assessment to enable more efficient and locally adapted use of bioresources.
Divisjon for matproduksjon og samfunn
BOLD LEAP
BOLD LEAP will provide an independent systems-based evaluation of Jawahir’s post-release pathway in Morocco. Jawahir is a drought-tolerant durum wheat variety released in 2023 following more than a decade of research and participatory evaluation with support from the BOLD Project, and seed multiplication is now underway towards commercial production.
Divisjon for matproduksjon og samfunn
FULCRUM – Transforming Food Systems Through Bioeconomy
FULCRUM envisions a world where circular and just bioeconomy strategies contribute to sustainable food system transformation. By engaging different actors in co-designing bioeconomy strategies in five different regions across Europe, FULCRUM connects bottom-up innovation with actionable and scalable policy recommendations for living and vibrant land and seascapes.
Divisjon for miljø og naturressurser
CANALLS Agroecological practices for sustainable transition
Agroecology covers all activities and actors involved in food systems. It also places the well-being of people (producers and consumers of crops and products) at its core. The EU-funded CANALLS project will focus on the agroecological zones and diverse farming systems in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa. It will explore the complex environmental, social and economic challenges, which in some cases are exacerbated by conflict and high vulnerability. Moreover, it will advance agroecological transitions in these regions through multi-actor transdisciplinary agroecology Living Labs at eight sites in four countries. The focus will be on crops such as cocoa, coffee and cassava, which are vital for subsistence and economic development.
FIREFLIES – Farming with nature
Divisjon for matproduksjon og samfunn
AquaUP - Aquafeed Upgraded: Enhancing Immune Function of Fish with Seaweed-modified Functional Compounds
The aquaculture industry is anticipating intensive production growth to meet future food demand. Yet, this growth is constrained by a number of challenges, not least including disease spread and use of antibiotics and chemicals to combat or reduce disease outbreaks.
Divisjon for skog og utmark
OptFORESTS - Harnessing forest genetic diversity for increasing options in the face of environmental and societal challenges
OptFORESTS har som overordnet mål å bidra til bevaring og bruk av skogtregenetiske ressurser i Europa og er en oppfølging av ambisjonen i EUs grønne giv (Green Deal) om å plante 3 milliarder trær i EU innen 2030. Skogplantingen vil øke karbonbindingen og tilføre samfunnet mer trevirke som en sentral del av grønn omstilling. OptFORESTS rolle er å utvikle både skogfaglig og sosiokulturell kunnskap for å kunne ta flere treslag i bruk i skogbruket, bidra til restaurering av skog og øke produksjonskapasiteten i skogplanteskolene i Europa. NIBIO er sammen med 18 andre institusjoner fra 15 land partner i dette prosjektet som går helt til 2027.