NRP Mission 4, Component 1, Investment 3.4 – “Advanced university teaching and skills”, sub-investment 3) “Digital Education Hubs”

• MUR Notice No. 2100 of 15.12.2023
• Financing: € 244,465.04
• Directorial Decree Granting Funding No. 1152 of 31 July 2024
• Project proposal: DEH2023-00003
• CUP: E83C23003480007

EDUNEXT adopts, develops and promotes digitalisation in higher education by implementing advanced, innovative methods and technologies. These are delivered through high-quality, personalised training initiatives that adapt to the demands of the labour market and society. The aim is to increase the number of graduates in Italy. Key actions include designing, developing and delivering diverse, inclusive, accessible and innovative digital training courses in formal education (degree and master's/advanced courses) and professional and continuous education. These courses offer more flexible formats, such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses).
Particular focus is placed on strategic areas such as digital skills and citizenship, sustainability and energy, data literacy, and artificial intelligence as a field of study, a tool to enrich and personalise the learning experience, and a means of supporting teaching planned by academic staff and producing multimedia content. The project also includes training and knowledge-building activities for lecturers and staff at universities and AFAMs, as well as the exchange of lecturers and the implementation of inter-university training courses. Students will also have the opportunity to earn university credits from the entire network, and an Educational Content Library will be developed for lecturers at partner institutions. A qualifying and strategic goal is to establish a system for issuing microcredentials and e-portfolio management to certify skills acquired within European Union frameworks (ESCO EU- FRAMEWORK).
A VideoCast channel hosted on a national platform and Podcast channels on the main listening platforms will enable knowledge from all areas of expertise and scientific research to be disseminated to a wider audience (Edunext onair). A Steering Committee comprising representatives from institutions, organisations, and companies will support the design of innovative training courses.
EDUNEXT aims to be a catalyst for change in the higher education sector in Italy.  

Actors involved:
The Edunext network comprises 34 Italian universities and five AFAMs. It aims to transform the approach to higher education in Italy by creating the largest and most innovative higher education group in Europe, with over 700,000 students and more than 20,000 professors and researchers.
The initiative is also supported by 52 institutions, including 5 regions, the CNR and the INDIRE, as well as associations, cultural organisations and enterprises spread throughout Italy.

NRP Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.5 - Creation and strengthening of 'Innovation Ecosystems', building 'territorial R&D leaders' 

• MUR Notice No. 3277 of 30.12.2021 
• Financing: € 109,866,032.00 
• Directorial Decree Granting Funding No. 1058 of 23 June 2022 
• Identification code: ECS000043 
• CUP: I43C22000250006 

The consortium 'iNEST - Interconnected North-East Innovation Ecosystem' was established for the realisation of the research programme as an 'innovation ecosystem' within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan - PNRR, which funded it with 110 million euro. 

The consortium - which sees the University of Padua as the proposing founding body - is aimed at extending the benefits of digital technologies to the main areas of specialisation in the Triveneto (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto and the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano), thus creating a capillary network in the North-East capable of enhancing digital technologies in the industrial-manufacturing, agriculture, sea, mountains, construction, tourism, culture, health and food sectors. 
The interconnection of local ecosystems at the macro-region level will make it possible to work on a common 'digital vision' for the benefit of the economy and citizens, with local strategies of intelligent specialisation to be united in a shared mission for the North-East. 

Actors involved:
The Consortium consists of 11 founding members, 9 universities and two institutions: University of Padua, University of Verona, University Ca' Foscari of Venice, IUAV of Venice, University of Trento, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, University of Udine, University of Trieste, SISSA of Trieste, the National Research Council (CNR) and the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics OGS. The appointed chairman is Franco Bonollo, lecturer at the Department of Technique and Management of Industrial Systems at the University of Padua. 

The establishment of the iNEST Consortium marks the start of an important initiative for the North-East, which strengthens the existing ties between the territory and the world of public and private research. The North-East is characterised by a plurality of vocations that need to be supported in an integrated vision in order to ensure their fullest expression, and in the nascent ecosystem, the integrating factor is the 'digital thread' that not only binds the themes that characterise the activities of the 9 spokes, but can also play an important role in combating the tendency to fragmentation that often characterises highly polycentric production and social systems. The significant funding of the project by the NRP also rewards the ultra-regional dimension of the initiative, testifying that by moving together we can be more effective in tackling the demanding challenges that await us in implementing the digital transition with a view to economic and environmental sustainability and social impact on the territory. 

NRP Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.4 - Strengthening research structures and creating 'national R&D champions' on certain Key Enabling Technologies. 

• MUR Notice No. 3138 of 16.12.2021 
• Funding: 350 million euro (320 million from the PNRR) 
• Directorial Decree of Granting of Funding No. 1032 of 17.06.2022 
• Identification code: CN000022 
• CUP: I53C22000730007 

The Agritech Centre is promoted by the University of Naples Federico II and funded by the PNRR. It currently involves 28 universities, 5 research centres and 18 large companies. The funding of around 350 million euro (320 million from the PNRR) is unprecedented in the field of agrifood research. The aim is to promote the adaptation of crops to climate change through the use of enabling technologies for efficient and environmentally friendly agrifood production. 

The Centre envisages the development and application of technologies pursuing five main objectives: 

• Resilience (adaptation to sustainability criteria and climate change); 
• Low impact (waste reduction and ecological sustainability); 
• Circularity (strategic development of circular economic forms); 
• Recovery (development of marginal areas); 
• Traceability (promotion of safety, traceability and typicality of agri-food chains). 

Agritech was established with the ambition of combining the best scientific expertise to make the Italian agrifood industry more competitive and sustainable. The parterre, made up of the Italian agrifood excellences, counts 51 players distributed throughout Italy, and has collected, to date, almost a thousand expressions of interest in the sector. By linking national research infrastructures and the use of IOT technologies, a concrete ecological and digital transition is promoted. Collaboration with businesses is crucial to increase national economic resilience and competitiveness and to train the next generation of scholars in the field. 

Subjects involved:  
National Research Council, University of Bari, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, University of Milan, University of Naples Federico II, University of Padua, University of Siena, University of Turin, University of Tuscia, Euro-Med Centre on Climate Change, Council for Research in Agriculture and Analysis of Agricultural Economics, New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Edmund Mach Foundation of San Michele all'Adige (Trento), Milan Polytechnic, Turin Polytechnic, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, University of Basilicata, Free University of Bolzano, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, University of Catania, University of Foggia, University of Florence, University of Genoa, University of Perugia, University of Pisa, University of Parma, University of Reggio Calabria, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Salerno, University of Sassari, University of Udine, University of Marche, Antares Vision, Consorzi Agrari d'Italia, Casillo Group, CNH Industrial, De Matteis Agroalimentare, e-geos S.p.A., Engineering, Eni, Graded, IBF Servizi, Irritec, Relatech, Società Sementi Italiana, Telespazio, IBF Servizi, Fondazione Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Intesa San Paolo and Nestlé.

PNRR Mission 4: Education and Research, Component 2: From Research to Enterprise, Investment 1.3 - Partnerships extended to universities, research centres, enterprises and research project funding:

• MUR Notice No. 341 of 15 March 2022 
• Financing € 114,500,000.00 
• Directorial Decree granting MUR No. 1550 of 11 October 2022 
• Identification Code: PE0000003 
• CUP I33C22006890001 

ONFOODS is a Foundation that is concretely committed to improving the future of the community and the supply chain through a new sustainable food model. This ambitious objective will be made possible thanks to a new and unprecedented form of collaboration between 26 realities engaged in the food and nutrition sector, with prestigious university and research institutes in our country flanked by important national companies and cooperatives - Barilla, Bolton Food, Sacco System, De' Longhi, CIRFOOD, Tecno alimenti and Confcooperative. 

The University of Parma is the leader and proposing body of the project, committed in the food sector in terms of research, production and innovation and united in following the same path towards the common goal of promoting a new, unique and distinctive sustainable food model. Not only research, then: the ultimate goal will be to concretely apply these research projects in the production system scenario, making research an enabler of progress, functional to industrial development and a tool for relaunching the country. This also represents a major step along the path to relaunching and enhancing the role of research in the Italian general system with the contribution of universities, research centres and enterprises. 

Through the activities of these spoke, the six objectives that the Foundation is committed to achieving within 36 months will be pursued: 

• Promoting sustainable food production 
• Promoting sustainable food distribution 
• Developing innovative technologies for sustainable food production and consumption 
• Increasing adherence to more sustainable eating patterns 
• Improving the quality of food and diets 
• Ensuring food security for the general population and specific vulnerable targets