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)

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Sammendrag

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.

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Sammendrag

Coastal communities are grappling with challenges from the climate crisis, rural depopulation, and economic pressures. The BlueRev initiative addresses these issues by empowering coastal communities, reimagining policy frameworks and fostering adaptable governance structures. BlueRev aims to drive social and environmental impact within local communities across pilot regions (Denmark/Greenland, Italy, Estonia) by establishing sustainable and socially responsible business models in the blue bio-based sector. This report highlights best practices from pilot regions in fish by-products valorisation, showcasing innovative business models in Greenland, Denmark, Estonia, and Sicily. • Greenland: Transforming fish processing waste into dog food. • Denmark: Developing an Omega-3 enriched functional beverage. • Estonia: Utilizing red algae for nutraceutical and cosmetic applications. • Sicily: Promoting the sustainable valorisation of by-catch, specifically The Ritunnu. The guidelines developed in this report will serve as a foundation for scaling these practices within the blue bioeconomy and beyond. They provide practical, actionable steps for implementing sustainable business models and are intended to support future efforts to expand the adoption of circular economy principles in the blue bio-based sector

Living lab illustration. Nature and society working together with rivers, fishermen, agriculture, farmers, trees and a big orange sun.

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.

Active Updated: 05.10.2026
End: mars 2029
Start: apr 2026
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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.

Active Updated: 30.01.2024
End: des 2026
Start: jan 2023
Tilia cordata

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.

Active Updated: 23.05.2024
End: okt 2027
Start: nov 2022