University Food Policies

Edited by Davide Fassi

An abstract dark navy blue background. The composition features minimal, out-of-focus graphical elements: multiple light steel blue bars radiating outward from the bottom-left corner, and a large, soft-focus gradient semi-circular shape in the top-right corner, blending from dark blue to lighter blue.

The volume introduces a set of guidelines for university food policies and investigates their application through prototyping activities carried out in different Italian institutional contexts.

Universities are increasingly recognised as key actors in the transition towards more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems. As complex socio-technical environments, where food is variously produced, procured, distributed, consumed, and embedded within spatial, organisational, and social practices, university campuses can be understood as cities within the city, offering unique opportunities to connect policy, design, and everyday life.

A concept map showing semantic relationships between food and nutrition terms. Key concepts are divided into two main clusters: a scientific-biological one centered on "foodstuffs" and "nutrition," and a strategic one focused on the 2030 Agenda goals.
Map of relationships among terms – scientific area. Image taken from the essay 'Promoting Sustainability in Higher Education: A Case Study Analysis' by Donatella S. Privitera, Alessandro Scuderi, Irene Selvaggio, Carla Zarbà.

The book University Food Policies, Designing Sustainable Food Systems on Campus presents the results of the PPP-URB project, developed within the PNRR OnFoods research, and explores how universities can design and implement integrated food policies by acting across multiple dimensions, including procurement, services, spaces, community engagement, and short food supply chains.

Process infographic of the "onfoods - PPP_URB" project, illustrating the journey from case studies to the definition of University Food Policy guidelines through various analytical stages.
PPP_URB process. Credits: Polimi DESIS Lab. Image taken from the essay ‘Codesigning the Polimi Food Policy’ by Marta Corubolo and Irene Bassi.

Bringing together contributions from multiple disciplines and universities, the book shows how campuses can function as living laboratories for food system innovation, where strategic visions are translated into concrete actions through participatory and design-driven approaches. By linking research, experimentation, and policy-making, it offers both a conceptual framework and practical insights for scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers engaged in food system transformation.

Contributors: Filippo Arfini, Irene Bassi, Camilla Borsani, Federico Caniato, Marta Corubolo, Annalisa De Boni, Annalinda De Rosa, Giovanna Del Gaudio, Davide Fassi, Valentina Giovenzana, Marianna Guareschi, Giovanni Ottomano Palmisano, Riccardo Guidetti, Alessandro Perego, Elena Lupolo, Donatella Privitera, Abhishek Dattu Narote, Stefano Quaglia, Massimiliano Renna, Rocco Roma, Alessandro Scuderi, Irene Selvaggio, Pietro Santamaria, Fabiana Sepe, Teresa Tugliani, Carla Zarbà

University Food Policies is available in the FrancoAngeli open access catalog.

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