Systemic Design

| 1SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Luigi Bistagnino
Architect and designer, lives and works in Torino, Italy.
He attends to eco-compatibility of industrial products and components.
Founder of the research group on Systemic Design, with the goal of developing products and processes in order
to obtain zero emission.
Full Professor of Industrial Design, president of Industrial Design Courses at Politecnico di Torino, he is the
author of essays and articles published on many important national and international reviews.
He designed objects actually in production and won national and international design prizes such as
Il Compasso d‘Oro. ADI.
Coordinator and member of some national and European researches.
His main publications, among the others, are: Systemic Design, Slow Food edition, Bra 2009; The outside shell
seen from the inside, CEA, Milano 2008; Designpiemonte, Agit, Beinasco (Torino, Italy), 2007; Design with a
future, Time&Mind, Torino, Italy, 2003; Ecodesign in the EU, The Kuopio Academy, Kuopio, Finland, 2000.
credits
photos Slow Food® Editore srl © 2011
Sergio Corsaro, Dario Toso
Slow Food® Editore srl
graphic schemes editing Via della Mendicità Istruita, 14
Alessandro Balbo, Veronica Gallio, Andrea Marchiò 12042 Bra (Cn)
Tel. 0172 419611
with Ludovico Allasio
Fax 0172 411218
editorinfo@slowfood.it
cover
Ludovico Allasio, Alessandro Balbo editor in chief
Marco Bolasco
translations
Liliana Marostica managing editor
and Olivia Reviglio
Valentina Albertella, Roxana Domoços, Giulia Girardi,
Loredana Magnelli (supervision), Silvia Miglioretti, Marianna Musacchio, www.slowfood.it
Restelli Maria Grazia, Maria Chiara Sardi ISBN 978-88-8499-271-0
general supervision
Gian Paolo Marino
SYSTEMIC DESIGN by
Luigi Bistagnino is licensed
under a Creative Commons
Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non
opere derivate 3.0 Unported License.
Apart from the author of the book, the Systemic Design research team members are:
Ludovico Allasio, Alessandro Balbo, Silvia Barbero, Cristian Campagnaro, Clara Ceppa, Sergio Corsaro,
Brunella Cozzo, Andrea Di Salvo, Franco Fassio, Vassilia Gallio, Veronica Gallio, Carla Lanzavecchia,
Andrea Marchiò, Gian Paolo Marino, Lorena Mingrone, Valeria Montrucchio, Pier Paolo Peruccio, Alessandra
Rasetti, Lidia Signori, Paolo Tamborrini, Dario Toso, Fabrizio Valpreda, Riccardo Vicentini, Andrea Virano.
| 2SYSTEMIC DESIGN
I wish to thank the students who attended to the Systems Design module at the Master Degree in Ecodesign, Politecnico di Torino
(Italy), especially because of their trust and the effort they had done to comprehend the changing in the cultural paradigm as well as
to work so passionately within this new research field. I wish future students to get the same results and satisfactions.
Aicega Zubillaga Idoia, Aiello Luciano, Akizu Gardoki Ortzi, Alberti Daniele, Aletti Davide, Allasia Pietro, Allasio Ludovico, Alustiza
Harriet, Arciresi Giuseppina, Badiola Salterain Gaizka, Bagnasco Michela, Balbo Alessandro, Bar Luca, Barberis Enrico, Barbero
Silvia, Barone Giuseppe, Bassano Daniele, Basso Valentina, Beata Getto Francesca, Beccaria Daniele, Beitia Amondarain Amaia,
Bellesini Diego, Berardi Veronica, Bereciartua Ainhoa, Berto Alexandro, Bicocca Miriam, Blasi Ruggero, Boetto Lorena, Borra
Luisella, Boscolo Teresa, Bovero Dario, Brucco Stefania, Brunello Anna, Brunet Laura, Buffa Valentina, Buonerba Adamo Dario,
Bussone Federico, Cabboi Maria Antonietta, Caiati Michele, Camorali Carlo, Campo Antonino, Campolo Liuba, Candiloro Marco,
Cappone Arianna, Capra Gabriele, Capuano Silvia, Carballo Arrien Joana, Carcione Francesco, Carnevale Francesca, Carraro
Andrea, Castaldi Luigi, Castiglion Paolo, Castoro Luigi, Catalano Gianluca, Cattaneo Luca, Cavallera Luisa, Caviglia Andrea, Ceppa
Clara, Cerato Luca, Chai Zhi, Chen Meijing, Cheng Shuwen, Chiarizio Fabio, China Marta, Chiostri Marco, Cid Zabala Laida,
Ciociola Mauro, Clerico Rossella, Colonna Nicola, Concu Massimo, Corinto Federica, Corsaro Sergio, Costantini Nicola, Couvinhas
Ana Filipa, Cozzo Brunella, Cravetto Daria, Cravotto Selena, Curatolo Alessio Maria Claudio, Cutrupi Igor, Damin Alessandro, De
Ambrosi Miriam, De Boni Diego, Dealessandris Manuela, D'elia Jonathan, Del Basso Monica, Dentis Alessandro, Destefanis
Roberta, Di Gianni Federica, Di Muro Giuseppe, Di Salvo Andrea, Eizagirre Eneko, Emery Gaona Elsa, Esposito Gian Luca, Espro
Antonella, Etxezarreta Ane, Fan Jiajun, Faretina Simone, Farina Nicole, Faro' Barbara, Fasano Annalisa, Fassio Franco, Ferrari
Giulia, Fossi Sabrina, Frullini Andrea, Furchi' Fabrizio, Gaiardo Andrea, Galdos Aitziber, Gallio Veronica, Gallio Vassilia, Gallo
Diana, Gandione Giorgia, Garofalo Francesca, Gasparetto Chiara, Gerbino Giuseppe,Giachino Maurizio, Giraudi Marco, Gonnella
Roberto, Gonzalez De Heredia Arantxa, Graglia Alessio, Groppali Giulia, Guarneri Paola, Guerra Annachiara, Guerrieri Paola, Guido
Sara, Innocente Milena, Iriarte Azpiazu Ion, Jun Qian Ma, Krulis Martina, Labianca Marienza, Lalli Vincenzo, Lauria Andrea, Lazzari
Federica, Lazzaro Cinzia, Lerma Beatrice, Li Niaoniao, Liu Yusi, Ma Pingchuan, Macrì Francesca, Madariaga Ibon, Maffiodo
Lorenzo, Maiorana Maurizio, Mancuso Manuela, Marchiò Andrea, Marengo Alessandro, Martino Michele, Mata Garcia Laura,
Mazzaferro Marianna, Mehdi Pour Layla, Mei Liping, Melis Martina, Micelli Marco, Mingrone Lorena, Miscioscia Dario, Montanera
Carlotta, Montrucchio Valeria, Moranelli Amerigo, Morgante Alberto, Mottino Luca, Munulli Sara, Myslabodski Mendel, Natelli
Federico, Nicola Annalisa, Nikfam Faezeh, Novelli Roberta, Novello Sara, Oggianu Paola, Ortiz De Zarate Asier, Pace Nicola,
Palmero Giudi, Palmeto Stefano, Palmieri Francesco, Paluello Erika, Paolizzi Monica, Patella Annacarmen, Patrono Simona, Peng
Xiaolu, Petruccelli Luca, Petruccio Daniele, Piazza Claudia, Piccardo Cesare, Piccini Linda, Piccione Alessandra, Pinzin Gabriele,
Piovano Marco, Pissinis Valentina, Ponte Emanuela, Pozzato Katia, Pugliese Gilda, Quintero Suarez Angela Marcela, Racca
Valentino, Racioppi Alice, Raimondo Domenica, Ramonda Claudio, Ransberger Karin, Ravetto Dario, Reggio Maria Isabella,
Rendine Gianluca, Rinaldi Federico, Riva Dogliat Roberta, Robatto Marco, Rojas Sanchez Carolina Fernanda, Rolando Enrico, Rosa
Elena, Rosella Marco, Rubega Giorgio, Ruffino Marco, Ruiz De Azua Eguren Mikel, Sacco Erika, Salman Carrasco Fabiola,
Salvagno Massimo, Sandron Angelo, Sansone Emanuele, Santarelli Giacomo, Sarriegi Galparsoro Izar, Schettini Giovanni, Schirripa
Rocco, Serra Davide, Serto Alessandro, Signori Lidia, Soldano Fabrizio, Soncin Massimo, Sorbo Antonio, Sordello Ivan, Sorrentino
Giuseppe, Spagnolo Francesco, Spina Luca, Straface Luca, Szymanska Sonia, Tallarita Diego, Tamburrino Antonio, Tangi Matteo,
Tarantino Alessandra, Telletxea Azkarate Haitz, Toso Dario, Trotta Maria, Tundo Angela, Turco Manuela, Tuttobene Giuseppe,
Uccelli Adriana, Ugarte Lander, Urrutia Dorleta, Urrutia Rivero Alexander, Usobiaga Guesalaga Ane, Vargiu Stefano, Vicaretti Erika,
Villa Gabriele, Villa Roberto, Vinella Vito, Vittori Cristina, Vodola Antonietta, Wang Xibei, Wei Chao, Zara Gabriele, Zegna Ludovico,
Zenigaonaindia Nerea, Zhang Yang, Zhao Lulu, Zurlo Giuseppe.
| 3SYSTEMIC DESIGN
SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Index
1 1.1 Preliminary considerations 9
1.2 Reasons for a change 15
1.3 Systemic/interdisciplinary innovation 18
1.4 Project related plans: Systemic Design 22

Product or Service Design 28
Territorial Design 38
1.5 Rationale 59
1.6 Economic assessments 61
with notes and comments by Carlo Petrini
2 2.1 Design methodology 67

with C. Campagnaro
2.2 Experimental projects – case studies 73

with S. Barbero, C. Campagnaro, C. Ceppa, F. Fassio
A. Balbo, S. Corsaro, V. Gallio, A. Marchiò, L. Mingrone, L. Signori, D. Toso
Waste 73
Output/input Systemic Software, NN Europe, Lanzi, Coffee dregs, Polylaminates/multilayered
materials, Mr. PET quality solid waste separation/collection, Waste waters of an abattoir,
Security Gallery of Frejus Highway Tunnel, International Network of Producers who realize
objects with scraps or cast-off products (―Le Sedute del Torchio‖, Papili factory), Systemic
qualities of materials
Agro-industry 115
Systemic Consortium of Small and Medium Farms, Reggiana Red Cow, Culatello of Zibello and
Antique Piedmontese Apples (Slow Food Presidia), New consumption model (Ortofruit Italia)
Energy 143
Agrindustria, Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006/2008/2010,
Store (Proximity Supermarket) aiming to zero emissions
Events 164
Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2010, 2010 World Figure Skating
Championships, Exhibition of the Holy Shroud 2010, Zona Tortona, Concerts/meetings/tourism
Communicating the Systemic Design 182

Exhibition Innovazione&Design, Micro Brewery: BEFeD
2.3 List of Systemic Design projects 197
2.4 The new opportunities for agro-industry: 199

a conversation between Luigi Bistagnino and Carlo Petrini
Index
| 4SYSTEMIC DESIGN
3 essays by Catia Bastioli 204
Renewable raw materials and the transition from a product-based economy
to a system-based economy
Fritjof Capra 209

A science for sustainable living
Giusto Giovannetti 213

Bacteria and their relation with cultivations and human health
Ashok Khosla, Karan Khosla 222

Factors affecting food futures
Carlo Olmo 238

The systemic culture
Gunter Pauli 241

The new Design Paradigm
Carlo Petrini 247

The future starts from the knowledge of local agriculture
Massimo Settis 251

Now let's talk about open systems. We therefore wonder how they rank
in the current environmental regulation
Fabrizio Valpreda 256

Open Design Networking
Davide Vannoni 261

Consumerism adjustment to the cognitive niche. Awareness change at a
social level
glossary and bibliography 267
annexes 280
Index
| 5SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Introduction
The positive welcome reserved to the first edition of the volume, supported by interesting and real spin-offs in
the economic and productive field, urged me to study further in depth the already present cases and to explore
new ones as a token of the very spread and increasing interest in the systemic approach and in a radical
social and cultural change, that already exists. Following up a specific request, we also decided to translate
this volume into English, to guarantee a much wider diffusion. For the same reasons three new essays has
been drawn up («Factors affecting food futures» by Ashok and Karan Khosla,, «Bacteria and their relation with
cultivations and human health» by Giusto Giovannetti, «Open Design Networking» by Fabrizio Valpreda), and
others have been modified («From user to subject. Awareness change at a social level» by Davide Vannoni
particularly).
The Systems Design research team has further strengthened itself on a methodological level as far as its own
operational capability is concerned and, in this direction, the teams of researchers which will make reference
to specific areas are getting settled (as we can notice through the indication of different paragraphs).
I confirm what I have already written in the introduction of the first edition: we are still living a moment of
economic, social, cultural and politic crisis. Value crisis, above all. A crisis is usually a dramatic event, but, at
the same time, it is also an extraordinary opportunity to reorganize ourselves and to start again with new
enthusiasm and, where it is necessary, radical cuts. Certainly, as long as the financial markets and the
economy in general are influenced by factors like the “Consumers’ Trust” rate (elaborated by the Michigan
University or other institutions), in order to estimate the social welfare of a Nation, I think it will be really difficult
to carry out a change of cultural priorities and definitely modify a paradigm which still considers the product as
the main indicator of the health and the development of a Country.
It is dangerous both for the individual, the society and the environment to focus on the final product all the
efforts and interests. Indeed, everything is closely connected: from the relationships between people and the
stuff we own to our quotidian choices, which can alter the balance of the Planet. Besides, the deterioration of
the environment causes dissatisfaction within social relationships.
The environmental deterioration is the direct consequence of the social decay and of the incapability of the
community to understand that its strength comes from positive relations set up and not from the ephemeral
abuse on other people.
How can we positively react to these problems?
We need a quick change, starting from the design of our cities and houses in which we live in to the production
of those products we use in our everyday life: today, the function of designers is much more fundamental in
comparison with the importance it had in the 50s of the XX century, when the priority was to get out from the
war and from its atrocities and deprivations. Nowadays, instead, this function consists in trying to re-balance
the relation between production, environment and society and in making an effort to start some interventions
which maintain the balance of this mutual bond, making it better through a constant multi-disciplinary dialogue.
But more in general, the whole range of the actors of this economic process (politicians, economists,
manufacturers, designers, costumers, …) can jointly affect the new directions of the goals, modify the
consumer's habitus and create new profitability; the methodology used to achieve these goals consists in a
new design of production processes referred not to a classic constant schedule, which has always been
focused on a feverish repetition of unit, but to a systemic production model which prefers close resources
rather than distant ones, which pays attention to the flow of matter and energy which passes through it and
turns to better account the environment and its community.
The Systemic Design here presented, is, above all, a different model of economy, which puts in action a
network of relations in order to turn the outputs of a production system into resources (inputs) for another one,
in a local context: a virtuous cooperation among production processes (agricultural and industrial) and the
system of natural kingdoms, the territorial background and the community.
The human being and the whole social community, must become (again) the leading actor of any planning
activity: it deals with a design towards a new humanism synthesized into the slogan «Man at the centre of the
Introduction
| 6SYSTEMIC DESIGN
project», basis of the approach of the Systemic Design and of the whole Study Course in Design of the
Politecnico di Torino (Italy)1.
It does not deal with an anthropocentric vision, based on the superiority of the human being over the Nature,
but it rather deals with a concept of the individual as a creature within a network of relations, where life
(biological, ethical and social)2 has a major importance within the overall system of values.
In my opinion, the modern designer has first of all to be curious and to observe the phenomena of Nature, as
Leonardo Da Vinci used to do centuries ago. We do not need to make up something new, since design
solutions are within the natural systems that surround us: we should record these phenomena around us and,
where it is possible, repeat them from an industrial production point of view.
For instance, think about the lotus flower which can clean itself without using detergent: this natural technology
had already been studied and taken up in the architectural field by a German industry for the production of a
paint used for the cleaning of the fronts of buildings when it rains.
As Gunter Pauli shows us in his recent book “The Blue Economy”, there are many similar processes, based on
the inspiration to nature (technological mimesis), that have already been deeply studied by researchers all
over the world, from the Cornell University to the University of Leads. We should simply put them into practice.
The production activities as well, should imitate the principles of the metabolic process of Nature: living
systems in constant change which jointly make progress, keeping their own typical relational structure.
This book shows that this is possible through a series of case studies realized and analyzed by the Systemic
Design research team of the Politecnico di Torino (Italy); it could also be read as a design help for the
companies which are hardly able to find suitable tools to adapt themselves to crisis and to face the consequent
change.
The starting point is the systemic design: planning open systems where there is no waste of production. The
final point is a benefit for the whole community: total reduction of the production output, creation of new job
placements, increasing gains for companies and individuals, new virtuous cooperation among different people
and better environmental quality, but, above all, the possibility for humankind to have a future and not to
disappear like dinosaurs as a consequence of its own reckless actions.
1 see Luigi Bistagnino, Design for a new humanism, in: Claudio Germak, (edited by), Man at the centre of the project. Design for a
new humanism, Allemandi & C., Torino (Italy), 2008, pp.9-18.

2 see glossary.
Introduction
| 7SYSTEMIC DESIGN
1
| 8SYSTEMIC DESIGN
1.1
Preliminary Considerations
All the choices made every day are inevitably influenced, spontaneously and subtly, by the consumerist
habitus, so much so that we do not even realise we have become victimised. Environmental awareness,
despite being widespread, proves to be useless when facing attitudes that have now become deep-rooted in
our daily life and that end up denying this feeling of environmental friendliness. As a consequence it becomes
difficult to assess the outcomes generated by this behaviour, in that shared culture is not conducive to a
habitual consideration of daily choices, generating flows of matter and energy and involving the other
components of our social and economic system. Goods and products are light heartedly purchased or thrown
away, often with the mere purpose of making a statement of our own existence and of finding relief from
temporary depression.
Also on a planning level, we show a lack of consciousness and awareness and our work is not carried
out with the intention to pursue this goal, often blaming other people’s weak environmental education
and bad behaviour for the occurrence of the current ecological problems.
We live in a waste society and the food sector is one of the most affected since it produces huge
amounts of rubbish: statistics show that 40% of waste we find in the skips consists of packaging –
glass, plastic, paper and paperboard – and 10% of other disposable products. In terms of volume
these products take up from 60% to 70% of the volume of a skip and what remains is almost
exclusively organic material, like food remains. Think about our fridge: certainly inside we can find
mouldy cheese slices and remains of too big packed portions bought in supermarkets and still
forgotten food and stuff. The supermarket backs are the “waste Paradises”. The members of an
association, called “freegan”, even manage to feed themselves with recycled products thrown
away before expiry date, exclusively taken from skips. In Italy 4,000 tons of edible food are
thrown away every day; what an upsetting statistics! 3
Considering that we measure the importance of life by the value and the qualities of what we own, it is
inevitable that ―having‖ becomes the heart of the values displayed in our cultural, social and economic
systems, prioritising possession and looking at the product as a pivotal element upon which all considerations
are made.
If we wish to undertake a new experiential journey aiming at building a different cultural and ethical system, it
goes without saying that we need to see how limited this vision is, using this observation as a springboard for
new angles of observation where deeper values, naturally and intrinsically linked to ―being‖ are put at the
centre of our thoughts.
This unusual but spontaneous outlook makes the ordinary and intimate relationships we establish in our life
context, the focus of our attention and reflection, leading to a renewed real and cultural humanism.
Without the fulcrum of this renewed humanism, inducing important changes in this destructive,
literally “Earth consuming” way of living will be absolutely difficult. For instance, I would suggest to
change the term “consumer” into “co-producer”, so that he would be aware of being part of a
production machine, of being the last link of a process that needs to return sustainable and that
implies human relations, information swap and awareness of the context. If we started to consider
“production” what is still known as “consumption”, we would shift our point of view and the final
action of the process could also become the first action of another.
3 these insertions are Carlo Petrini‘s widenings referred to problem of food. A special thanks to Carlo Bogliotti for his precious
collaboration.
| 9SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Every time we need to design an object, we act thinking about the product to be realised, as well as the
research we carry out in the pre-planning stage, trying to identify what we have to do to meet the consumer‘s
requirements and what they will expect from it.
If we look at the product as the main ―focus‖ of a project, we can see how a number of values intrinsically
related to it, are subsequently and immediately singled out and concretised such as raw materials and
economic value. These significances, endowed with incredible strengths, reside in the fact that they make a
symbolic function concrete.
Owing a product that enables us to feel part of a clan, or a social class, is particularly appealing to customers,
in that a status symbol makes a precise statement of our place within the society, and gives us confidence.
Most of the times consumers end up buying the ―concept‖ of the brand of that particular product. As a result
possession fulfils an induced need, not a real one.
We buy mainly to assert our status, regardless of the function of our purchased object. If in the post-war period
the main need was to rebuild the social ―values‖, the boom of the 60s focused on unnecessary things. A must-
do-thing, nowadays, is to have something our neighbour does not have yet, almost as if owing something
special would make us special and unique too.
As Zygmunt Bauman has rightly stated, the consumer society has realized in a subtle way what
Russeau said: “Man must be forced to be free”. Actually, the needs that consumerism promises
to satisfy are not fulfilled by the system itself. These induced needs, are not to be satisfied to
allow the system to self-generate and survive. So, the society of consumerism is based on a
broken promise; the “idea” we buy (or that we think we are buying with a product, actually) is a lie.
I believe this kind of consumerist system has been created by a linear way of thinking, typical of
the industrial production, which has influenced the whole modern time. But today this way of
thinking is not appropriate to the challenges and problems that arise with vehemence. Both from
an ecological, climatic and a financial-economical point of view; and even culture and society are
deeply in crisis. A new “humanism” is also a new way of thinking processes, from mathematics to
the new information technologies, from agriculture to culture.
Only later on, when we actually use the object, do we realise what it was actually devised for, and when it
wears off the user will realise it is not only made of a shell, but also of other elements that make it work, those
being its parts.
Each object is considered as a whole, as a monobloc deprived of its constituent parts. An electric householder,
a telephone, a car, are objects that are experienced and enjoyed for what they represent and for what they
give, without realising, until they break down, that they are ―boxes‖ enclosing a far more complex world. It is
not until they stop functioning and need to be thrown away, that we have the real perception of their life cycle.
The European legislation is focusing on the end-of-life cycle of the product, on disassembling and recycling.
This partial approach aims to solve a problem after it has occurred, rather than before. A good starting point
would be to improve product maintenance so as to extend its useful life.
In any case, just because we have no real perception of the internal components, we do not worry of what
actually makes the product work. As we are not directly ―involved‖ in it, our main concern is not so much to
make sure it continues to perform satisfactorily, but to preserve the status it symbolises 4.
As the everyday life objects, after the Second World War food has been affected by a process
that has removed every connotation, value and function to the final product. A kind of dichotomy
between “food as fuel” and “food as status” has been created: it deals with two concepts of
nutrition quite far from the idea that should stand for man. Food, as a product of consumerism,
available in any supermarket already packed or even cooked, is deprived of its history, its origin
and what its production means, so that we do not know what we are eating. It is subject to a great
waste process and a considerable consumption of no-renewable energies. It is an element
4 see Luigi Bistagnino, The outside shell seen from the inside, CEA, Milano (Italy), 2008.
| 10SYSTEMIC DESIGN
perfectly integrated and functional to the society of consumerism. Both as pure “fuel” for our body
and as a “status” connotation - a typical idea of consumerism - food is a product that could be
assimilated with other modern consumer goods and should be considered as such, on an
economic, social and even cultural level.
The fact that we are totally entrusting the supplying and the transformation of our food to an
industry that is explaining us less and less of the processes that are carried out inside it, ended
up by making the most of us to be totally detached from the process. We are final consumers that
approach food without knowing what it actually is and what it involves in terms of complex
systems, human relationships, ecologic and cultural impact.
In general, also the perception of human life, of environmental sustainability and of our own world, manifest
themselves in the occurrence of a crisis, when facing the unavoidable.
Environmental catastrophes, global warming, increasing desertification and deforestation, depletion of non-
renewable resources, pollution and the ozone hole have been widely discussed topics.
However we have always talked with our eyes fixed ―on the future‖.
Only now we have started to make reference to ―the present‖ because it is ―now‖ that we are reaching the point
of no return. We can all tangibly ascertain its consequences as now we have a real perception of it.
According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment published by UN in 2004, most of the

unsustainable human activities is connected to the production, transformation, distribution and
consumption of food. As for food, public opinion awakens to an iniquitous and unsustainable
global agro-industrial system only during those moments when scandals and crisis come to light,
like the famous “mad cow” disease or frauds more or less crushing. But these crisis end, and the
gravity, meant as importance, that this global system has upon our lives and upon the life of the
Earth, cannot be understood thoroughly by the average citizen yet, also because the system is
really complex and wide, and it is difficult to study as a whole.
We needed to hit against the real evidence, as we tend to pay little attention to warning for the future, we had
to see concrete signs at the present, rather than thrusting into the future.
If, on the one hand, we know we are faced with a necessary change, on the other we do not know how.
The real evolutionary opportunity seems to reside in a turnover of the values that are currently rooted. Putting
being and not having at the heart of our future actions, will result in greater focus on our dearest value: life.
The perception of this value is linked to the primary needs: it is not reached through external means, but only
through the individual perception of needs related to the preservation of our own existence, which can be kept
only by harmoniously confronting what is ―around‖ us.
We need to be aware that we all differ one from another, as such difference arises from the uniqueness and
difference of social, ethical and cultural contexts our lives are woven around, so as to act effectively and in a
focussed way, without mixing the different types of users as if they belonged to a blurred and indistinct unicum,
lacking peculiar willingness and characterised just by undifferentiated and nebulous needs.
Being able to produce for differentiated markets enables the creation of non-globalised and indistinct markets,
presenting specific and contextualised features, preventing the positive outcomes of the recirculation of money
(profits and investments) from resulting in disastrous imbalances, as we have been able to assess.
Creating new markets means producing right products that can be positively incorporated by the society they
have been devised for. This implies creating new jobs and more widespread wealth.
One of the long term solutions, probably “the” solution to cut down the negative outputs of the
industrial and global food and agricultural system, is indeed a new localization of the productions
on a local scale, treasuring production traditions, technological innovation applied on a small
scale, territorial resources both in terms of human knowledge and in terms of raw materials. So a
whole series of local systems much more productive and effective, integrated with the production
| 11SYSTEMIC DESIGN
of non-centralized energy and respectful for both the biodiversity and the cultural difference, is
created. This is a way to reduce wastes, reverse the consumer trend and organize the food
production with a view to the features of the ecosystem and the local population.
Investment profits are, in such a way, doubled, both from an economic and social point of view. This is why the
product is, in this scenario, the last value to put at stake. Producing an object becomes a meaningless action if
we do not make appropriate assessment of its real use for our existence, if we do not realise in advance that
so many other values are far more important for human life.
Giving substantial emphasis to the values related to being, rather than having, will change our
relational and evaluative priorities in a social context as well in the productive one.
Values generating from PRODUCT and MAN.
The two schemes5 of PRODUCT (having) and of MAN (being) clearly highlight the value each individual
refers to and the scenarios that are produced and developed by the choices we make.
As designers, we need to wonder whether we want to carry on ―planning just the product‖ or if we‘d rather
―plan for the man‖; if we choose to prove our competences planning a form, or if we mean to use them to plan
for the society; if we wish to express ourselves by means of an ―hedonistic design‖ or if we opt for a
―humanistic design‖.
Whatever our choice is and whatever decision we decide to take, jointly with the industry, we will need to have
clearly in mind, from now on, what the positive or negative consequences of our action may be.
These two approaches, despite being in antithesis, may coexist harmoniously, with a correct balance among
the parts. As a matter of course, inside the scheme of MAN, the product is no longer placed in the middle, but
peripherally. The PRODUCT and the values connected to it, need to be systemically related to one another
and respect priorities. If the values highlighted in the scheme were part of this new approach, they would gain
a whole new meaning and would adequately relate to their ensemble, without altering it but, rather, triggering
positive development dynamics.
It is interesting to note that, also in an economic field, the belief that measuring the development of a society
cannot be merely based upon economic parameters is spreading widely, but as a result of a deeper
awareness of the need to adopt other thoroughly assessed values, in terms of quality and quantity, such as
quality of life, of the environment, of education, of service, those being the markers showing the degree of
prosperity, not so much from a material point of view but from the moral one of people.6
5 from the essay by Luigi Bistagnino, Design for a new humanism, in: Claudio Germak, (edited by), Man at the centre of the project.
Design for a new humanism, Allemandi & C., Torino (Italy), 2008.
6 conference “Beyond Gross Domestic Product - Beyond the Gross Domestic Product” established by the European Commission
and held in Brussels on November 19th and 20th 2007, in collaboration with the European Parliament, the Club of Rome, OCSE and
WWF.
| 12SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Food is something irreplaceable for the human being, it is a value that goes beyond its simple
role of fuel for the body. It was the industrialization process of the field, that shifted the “design
the product” style also to the nutrition, that ended up by depersonalizing food. It emptied it of all
meaning, also the ancestral and the “systemic” ones, if we consider food as an element which is
deeply linked to a considerable range of human activities. “Design the product” in the industrial,
agricultural and food industry ended up by worsening, in fact, the quality of our lives. While
solving a problem such as the saving of time or the comfort of a certain kind of packaging, on the
other side of the coin the intrinsic quality of the food was worsening, ecosystems were
undermined, rural societies and all their values and knowledge were destroyed. Within the
planning field, both industrial and social or politic, it is absolutely essential to turn to the “design of
the human being”, turning to the new humanism we were talking about previously. After all
“design the human being” and “design the food” shouldn’t be two processes so different.
Such a context calls for a deep change within industrial design practice. We will be required to face the
responsibilities that we, as designers, have toward those who put the solution of real problems in our hands,
as well as the realisation of wishes that have yet not been fulfilled and the qualitative improvement of their
lives.
Sustainability is not an individual property, but a shared value involving the whole community.
We are faced with a future where we will be able to plan and realise ecologically sustainable communities,
built in a way that the technologies adopted and the political choices will not contrast with the system of the
natural world. We will be able to create naturally harmonious technologies that want to learn and exist in
compliance with nature, rather than controlling it.
Life or nature, in general, are not trade products; on the contrary, they are an integral part of our existence.
Therefore we need to be deeply aware of the designs and take them as models for our new future
technologies.
| 13SYSTEMIC DESIGN
The product interacts positively with the man-related values if it changes its current priorities and serves its real instrumental
function.
| 14SYSTEMIC DESIGN
1.2
Reasons for a change
Over the years design has been able to identify the outcropping needs of the society and to go along with the
transformations, even anticipating new developmental fields. It has extended its boundaries getting more and
more in touch with other sectors, offering more open viewpoints on problems, most of all making different
types of know-how meet and interact aiming to discover new investigation contexts.
It has become an accredited point of reference for innovation development.
All this success geared at extending testing fields has generated new products, however it has relegated all
the problems related to the use of raw materials, energy and production rejects disposal to a technical and
technological area. These issues need, on the contrary, to be an integral part of the planning process, so as to
raise and develop awareness of production able to identify the correct types of resources and energy which
have to be used in compliance with, rather than being an external factor of the process.
Although the current linear production model proves to be ―efficiency orientated‖ throughout its production, recycle and economy
processes, both as far as product and scrap are concerned, it generates waste that inevitably results in considerable end-of-process
social costs.

| 15SYSTEMIC DESIGN
If up to now we have focused only on quantity and quality of raw materials and to their specific features, it will
be equally important for our future to focus our attention toward not only on what can enter a system, but also
to what can exit from it.
This insight results in the conception of a more developed project, interesting and complex, embracing the
whole production chain, including all the problems regarding the production waste which are placed on the
same level of supply and use of raw materials.
In the first place we will need to develop the output quality as well as the quantity, as they will be generating
the real future uses. This means that different production situations may be correlated, so that the specific
output qualities of a given production may turn into input for another process.
From this perspective, it is fundamental and unavoidable to elaborate a multidisciplinary vision, bringing
together all the different kinds of scientific knowledge, hoping for the occurrence of an innovation inspired to
the real dynamics and functioning of Nature.
Within the field of the connection among different branches of knowledge, it does not exist a more
multidisciplinary science than the gastronomy one, meant as the study of food in all of its aspects.
It is essential, from this point of view, to be able to carry out a process of recovery and revaluation
of the traditional agricultural and gastronomic knowledge, that have been pushed into the
background from modern science and have been stigmatized as outdated, less productive or
unsuitable for serial production. Actually, this knowledge is a perfect example of systemic design,
because it came out in a specific territorial context, in a local dimension and because it considers
the territory and the needs of people inhabiting it as a whole , human being and nature being part
of the same set. It is important, then, to carry out a safeguard and recovery work, an in-depth
study and, above all, a dialogue between modern science and the traditional knowledge, so that
they can be considered as equally important and new ways to reach sustainable innovation can
be found.
The approach of the productive world will need to change, going from a ―linear‖ type of action, to an advanced
type of ―interconnections‖, drawing solutions from a truly interdisciplinary ―new culture‖.
Tests of this concept in an industrial field, have shown that the production activities may reflect the metabolism
principles of nature, a reality which does not generate waste.
Furthermore, for what traditional knowledge is concerned, the old-style farm, biological and multi-
productive, has always been representative of this kind of approach that is nowadays being
wished for, putting in touch the animal, vegetable and handcraft productions in order to make
one’s waste productive for the other. The study of these systems, that were considered outdated
until now, may be the source for a great inspiration for a new system design. Food, together with
us as the consumers, and nature as the supplier, is an integral part of the Earth metabolism,
being that what the ancient called “Gods’ breath”.
Design endorses this innovative approach of project of flow of matter and energy, investigating the positive
transformation occurring in the production processes and becoming systemic design.
It goes without saying that this renovated and fluid ―flowing‖ of matter generates a new economic model which,
enhancing the local resources, will give new life and revival to the territorial cultural and identification
peculiarities.
Another important opportunity, arising from the outlined orientation, seems to be a change in the approach to
the output of the production systems. The existing legislation is based upon the fact that industrial process
waste is something with little value, compared to the product, or that has been strongly polluted, so much so
that manufacturers regard it as an issue to be solved as quickly and cheaply as possible. From this
perspective it is easy to understand why the legislator wants to protect both the environment and the people,
by means of obligatory regulations that aim to chart the course performed by substances regarded as
hazardous.

| 16SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Instead, if we turned the output from a problem into a resource, producing in such a way, an interesting
economic value, we would consequently be interested in considering them as an active part of a process. As
such we would try to enhance their intrinsic qualities and we would be inclined to change all the working
processes that downgrade them. We would pay deeper attention to keep their appealing properties
unchanged, in order not to lose their economic trading value, achieving at the same time a formidable result,
that being a ZERO EMISSIONS productive culture.
We are all aware that tests on blood, urine and faecal cultures, the outputs of our body, help us determine our
state of health. Once doctors have analysed the outcomes of these tests, they may prescribe a diet, or a
change in life style, so as to rid of all those elements that are detrimental to our health and conducive to poor
blood test results. Changing the inputs (resources) introduced in our body system is geared to improve our
metabolizing process (productive) so as to restore the outputs produced and, more in general, our health.
Why is it not possible to apply the same procedure to the diagnosis of the qualities of a production process
through its waste? Nobody would ever consider monetizing the aforementioned negative tests results to the
doctor. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens in the productive world, where polluted outputs are
deemed special waste to be monetized. This is absurd but perfectly legal. Conversely, by changing and
improving the processes, we would ultimately arrive at better outputs, useful to other systems. We would
immediately make a profit and improve the environment, in that the harmonious relationships between
community/society, production/economic system, environment/territorial context settle the quality of our living
place in which the predominance of a factor over the other is harmful to the whole system.

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1.3
Systemic/interdisciplinary innovation
In our society we face situations, analyse cause-effect phenomena, solve technical problems, study strategies
"per spot", using a linear approach. This is not innovation.
We need to attempt a change in the usual way we think. We will need to let our eyes, our intellect lead us in
the most appropriate way if we wish to face the problem from different perspectives.
Innovation does not reside in the on-going technological update, but in the way we look at problems. We
feel it is time to activate an interdisciplinary culture, to create a network of know-how, to outline a dialogue
between different disciplinary fields, one strictly connected to the other.
When we founded the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche (the University of Gastronomic

Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy) and set its course of study, our main goal was to create a course as
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary as possible. A structured program of internships and
territory tours are organized both regarding the “usual” subjects like economics, chemistry,
biology, etc. and regarding traditional knowledge, in order to study more thoroughly integrated
productive systems that go beyond the single product and take into consideration a much more
complex local reality. The heart of this interdisciplinary point of view, that we could define both
diachronic and synchronic, (because it uses everyday subjects and ancient subjects, connected
to traditional knowledge), is the concept of tradition, meant as a “constantly developing
innovation”.
The knowledge to be spread does not exclusively refer to the process of putting up a product where the only
aesthetic features is the enhanced one, but it is the awareness we are working within a system where special
planning care needs to be devoted not only to the products but also to the system they relate to and where
they have been generated; a system made of social, cultural and ethical values.
Guests sitting at a round table have to dine with traditional know-how and flavours, where local biodiversities
are protected and natural cyclicality is respected, where information and education become ―food for thought‖.
By now, it is widespread knowledge that human beings‘ nourishment is closely connected to the natural cycle
and of how modern industrialization has slashed these bonds, making food production timeless.
Consumerist culture takes a leading role in the political and economic choices of a Country and affects the
value system civil society has as a reference.
On an industrial level, the logical linear process and development affect the perception of reality, as they are
based merely upon cause-effect relationships, which generate huge quantities of waste, starting with the
manufacturing process until the product ―end of life‖.
| 18SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Fundamental guidelines of Systemic Design (Design, Politecnico di Torino and ZERI).
With such an on-growing complexity as the one we are currently experiencing, it is necessary to withdraw from
the exclusive focus given on the product and its life cycle, moving toward achieving greater competence in the
context of the complex relationships which spring from the production process.
Planning only the product, although this also implies its coordination and integration of all factors (functional,
symbolic, cultural, technical and productive) is an approach to surpass.
We need to bring back within the total planning equation, the variable represented by those resources
(generated as a result product or waste), that would otherwise be unused.
We need to regain the cultural and practical skill to outline and plan the flow of matter, running from one
system to another, in an on-going metabolizing process which diminishes the ecological imprint and generates
a remarkable economic flow. Currently rejects generated during the manufacturing process, are only a cost.
This model draws heavily on the fundamentals of the Generative Science, based upon the assumption that,
following any transformation of resource, all the sub products are conceived to obtain a generative added
value, and a carefully studied object.
We are facing not only an environmental issue, but also a new economic model, which may also lead to new
opportunity, if we please to look at the glass as half full, rather than half empty.
| 19SYSTEMIC DESIGN
The approach of Systemic Design, a necessary cultural baggage conferred to the new operators, is likely to
trigger a new economic model, based upon the planning of open industrial cycles7. Its focus is on the Man,
placed within the system where he lives and has his relationships. In this model the different life and
production activities are on equal grounds and each one is functional to the whole relational system, with each
one not infringing on the other but owing its existence to the others.
The harmonious relationships between community and society, production and economic system, environmental and territorial
contexts are essential to our life. Predominance may only result in the alteration of the system.
When one speaks about productive activity, one does not mean only industrial but, on the same level and with
equal dignity, also agricultural activity. Furthermore, one should not make the mistake of putting the natural
system on the same par as that of agriculture. Agriculture, essential for our survival, goes hand in hand with
industrial production activity and together co-exist in the natural system.
Ensuring that farming, industry and community are in line with the Natural System, within the same territory,
is the fundamental key towards the achievement of a production model of sustainable development.
The first necessary step to put this innovative strategic plan into action, is to systematise the know-how
deriving from research and material culture. This allows for smoother interaction among the players of the
context and enables them to meet their functional requirements.
If we analyze the linear and systemic production models more closely, we will see how different they are. A
linear model is organised and finds its own raisons d'être only within the continuous flow, taking place during
the product creation phase. In addition, the relationship between one process phase and the other are only
consequential. All resource, recycle and economy related choices, despite being based upon efficiency
criteria, only aim to create a product endowed with marketable qualities, without taking the environment and
the territory into account. The only real location seems to be the dump, at the end of life, but then nobody is
willing to be near one of those. This is commonly called the NIMBY phenomenon (NIMBY - Not In My Back
Yard).
7 industrial cycles formed with a systemic approach are open in that they are generated and self-determined in compliance with the
output/input they receive.
| 20SYSTEMIC DESIGN
This market logic aims to exploit the consumer‗s unsaid wishes and weaknesses in order to make him lose his
uniqueness. As a result, he will feel fulfilled only when playing a pre-packed role that he has chosen without
awareness.
A systemic production model exploits the resources in the vicinity, rather than the ones that are distant and promotes, through the
output of a system that becomes the input of another one, a more effective relationship among farming and industrial production
processes, the system of the natural kingdom, the territory and the communities. This is conducive to the creation of an open
relational network that revitalises and defines the territory with its peculiar features.
Within a systemic model, every point is cooperatively connected one with the other, both in the input and
output sections, and it is strongly related to the territory where actions are performed. This scenario enables
the several players to be deeply aware of their choices and to how they affect the territory, in that they are
personally involved. There is a strong feeling to be part of a system of relationships whose interwoven
structure provides us with all the necessary resources.
The first system shows how the parts need to compete in order to survive, whereas the second approach is
based on the cooperative principle.
| 21SYSTEMIC DESIGN
1.4
Systemic Design, project related plans
Systemic Design is the ability to:

outline and plan the flow (throughput) of matter running from one system to another, within on-
going metabolization processes which reduce the ecological footprint and generate a
remarkable economic flow;
plan and optimize all the constituent parts of an ecosystem allowing for their coherent and
mutual evolution;
manage and encourage reciprocity in dialogue among the several players throughout the
development phases of the project, in this new cultural sector.
The previous scheme regarding the guidelines of Systemic Design shows that the basic principles are fairly
easy:
the outputs of a system become the inputs of another one;
the relationships developed generate the same open system (the currently adopted linear systems are
closed);
the activated open systems are self-supported and reproduced, and they evolve together;
the operational context is prioritised;
The relationship occurring between the man and his context, is the heart of the project.
These principles engender an extremely dynamic and complex relational system which, as the connections
among the parts proceed, becomes more and more cohesive and aware. As a result of all the actions put into
being, this system acquires self-generating strength (autopoietic).
By keeping an open cultural and scientific mind on the different disciplines, the outputs become pivotal to the creation of a new
production process aiming at zero emissions.

| 22SYSTEMIC DESIGN
In order to avoid talking about abstract and utopian notions, there are some experimental projects developed
during the past few years and involving different meaningful production sectors, that can be found at
www.systemsdesign.polito.it:
- of mechanics
with NN Europe S.p.A. where production outputs (oily mud) of the ball bearings
have led toward planning a rethinking of the manufacturing process, focusing on the superficial tension
of water, on its relapsing economic use and on its final launch, after being purified, on the
environment;
The comparison between the two production systems shows how the current one pays little attention to the outputs, responsible for
polluted waste. An open system and feedback on production, enables use of the outputs and produces a positive economic
outcome, by triggering natural production processes and allowing for the final introduction of purified waters in the environment
(project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).

| 23SYSTEMIC DESIGN
- of energy
with Agrindustria which finds the material to be used to produce energy for its own manufacture,
within 40 km, selling surplus and activating a number of positive economic outcomes, due to an
optimized exploitation of outputs as inputs of other production systems. The different new products put
on the market in highly profitable sectors (e.g. cosmetics, pets and mechanic products) they all stem
from the clever use of waste deriving from different manufacturing processes;
The enhancement and exploitation of resources based upon their quality features has fostered the creation of new products and
services boosting the economic growth and development, both within the firm and its own operational context, sparking
collaborations aiming to stimulate a development integrated with the territory (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).

| 24SYSTEMIC DESIGN
- on trade fairs
with the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre (starting from the 2008 edition) where the project, rather
than concentrating exclusively on the immediate message to send to the visitor, has concretely
triggered a new economic development, converging all the considerations on the outputs generated by
the exposition, planning again the way available resources (waste) can be replaced within the system;
The chart in red shows the situation of the flow of matter and energy involved in the production and management of the Salone
Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006. The project proposal aims to turn the problems highlighted in blue into positive
responses. This is feasible by encouraging the people involved in the different fields such as exhibition management, waste disposal,
etc., to adopt a different approach and to be aware of the importance of reducing the environmental impact caused by the fair
industry, and to get as close as possible to zero emissions (progetto: Design, Politecnico di Torino with Slow Food).

| 25SYSTEMIC DESIGN
- of the industrial farming activities
with the production of the Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan cheese) all the outputs generated by the
Reggiana Red Cow cattle breeding trigger a new production system
that has proved to be much more economically profitable than dairy products, and that diversifies food
farming speciality food of the land.
The Reggiana Red Cow cattle breeding is no longer pivotal to the project. The main focus is on the accomplishment of a network of
interconnected production activities fostering the economy of the territory, as clearly shown by the products listed below, which stand
side by side with Parmesan cheese (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).
It is surprising to notice how, only by changing our observation and survey point, it is possible to kick off new
production processes, starting from the previously existing ones. What is even more astounding is how
changing our outlook on waste, no longer deemed as trash to get rid of but as a veritable raw material, may
lead to new innovative businesses.
The current production obviously focuses only on the products that are being made and, as a result, a great
deal of resources is wasted, just because they simply do not consider them and/or do not know them.
There is a new huge demand for a change within the monosectorial specialist culture which needs to be fit
into wider communication insights among different types of knowledge woven one to the other, where they all
benefit from reciprocal dialogue.
It is a simple and trivial consideration, yet a revolutionary one.
Projects can no longer be an end in themselves, but will need to be placed within an appropriate context
where they become alive and where all the outcomes they generate may be taken into account. Such an on-
going flow of analysis and retroaction of processes will not only allow for ―zero emissions‖, but it will also
make each activity form an integral and positive part of the land, preserving with extreme simplicity all the
local environmental features together with their material culture, and carrying on looking for better ways to

| 26SYSTEMIC DESIGN
use the outputs generated within open production systems. As you can see, it is possible indeed to conceive
a positive and dynamic vision of our life and of the environment which surrounds us.
This innovative perspective, which focuses on the surrounding territory, tends to place a high value on what
can be found ―nearby‖ (locally) rather than in ―remote areas‖ (globally). By means of sophisticated and efficient
logistics (whose downside is to be extremely energy consuming) this scenario enables us to modify the flow of
products coming from all over the world, in favour of local goods, that have better quality and price. The idea of
an economy based on globalisation is put aside in favour of local development, in that it allows us to find the
necessary resources in the surrounding territory. With this new perspective the logistic sector aspires to meet
the requirement of goods in the surrounding area, with shorter distances and smaller vehicles. Social
connections on the territory are strengthened and both autochthonous and the patrimony of material cultures
are preserved.
We hope to enhance the evolution of industrial production processes and to encourage the shift from linear to
systemic model so as to provide a different economic approach, no longer based upon fierce competition
among the parties, but also on constructive and pacific cooperation.
Reverting to the local economy does not mean reverting to archaic or autarchic economies. The
possibilities of relating old and new knowledge and technologies, of putting all these local
economies in a global network, make them be the most suitable economic ways for the world’s
needs. Local economy allows a better control over “open” processes that develop on the territory
and exploit all its possibilities, in a dimension that doesn’t slip away but, on the contrary, is
attentive to the great need of participatory democracy we need nowadays. The citizen is an active
part, the real leading actor of the process of rebirth and feels like he can control the territory and
his life.
Visualisation of the shift from linear to systemic model.

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Product or service design
A Systemic Design approach affects, as a consequence, all the different planning phases and their
complementary Product, where services and products relating to the systemic approach are defined. This
new outlook alters the current linear production system and leads to wide and totally unexpected planning
fields.
Product or service Design, when compliant with the output/input principles, becomes itself one of the main actors of the production
system, interweaving its own specific competences with the open multidisciplinary vision.
The scheme synthesises the basic lines of the new systemic approach and points out how outputs (as
previously explained) can go from being a problem to becoming a resource (input). This is to be deemed as a
concrete possibility rather than a hypothetical situation, provided that its sine qua non condition is to have a
multidisciplinary open-minded approach that guarantee the establishment of low emission productions and
positive outcomes in our daily lives (the community).
These simple but essential requirements are the basis of the performance specifications for the new product or
service projects which, by exploiting the specific competences of the diverse sectors, are related to the
interdisciplinary open vision, contributing, most of all, to the development of a ―zero emission‖ point of view.
The example shown at the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2008 gives clear insights into the
new planning approach.
Every single time a designer is faced with the issue of presenting and arranging an exhibition, a short-term
project, or a fair, his attention is on the user or his target audience. The subject to seduce, to appeal to, to
charm with evocative and captivating settings is the visitor.
With this purpose the best planning and performance related choices are put into being, but only for a very
short time. An exhibition stand or a fair is not only limited to the above activities, but it goes far beyond this
short and intense moment.
At the end of an event, just like a house of cards blown away by the builder, all the scaffolding falls down and
the evocative qualities one may have previously admired, immediately turn into worthless rejects.

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We need to ponder this hasty shift in value of the whole, from strong to almost non existing. We too often
depreciate values and destroy potential.
A fair or an exhibition aims to have an impact on the audience, hence we need and we must raise awareness
that we are exploiting the resources available as best as we can.
The tendency towards the sustainable management of an event such as the Salone Internazionale del Gusto
and Terra Madre has made it necessary to assess the impact that such an amazing ―theatre stage‖ like this
one may have on the environment, and to propose new possible sustainable scenarios for output use and
management (waste) on a territorial level.
The outcomes of the research will be put into action starting from the 2008 fair edition, the line of departure of
an evolutionary path to be travelled for many years to come, gearing at placing container and content within a
coherent reciprocal relation, as well as promoting a Piedmontese exhibition model which has low
environmental impact. This would confirm once again the innovative and educational role the kermesse has
born since its first fair edition in 1996 (see chapter 2, paragraph energy).
Accordingly, the systemic approach deemed as the ―engine‖ of a sustainable fair development makes
consumers, producers and designers muse over issues such as territorial and local identity, reduced
environmental impact of the whole life cycle of a product, output-input connection starting from waste
enhanced exploitation.
It is the activation of a ―behavioural innovation‖ process whose aim is not to devalue the characteristic features
of the exhibition product that is being analysed, but conversely to boost its promotion, exposition and trade
flows, by adapting them to the local territorial qualities, aiming to educate, protect and promote a widespread,
shared environmental culture.
With this purpose specific projects have been started, making reference to the individual problems arising in
the outputs (see the red writing on the scheme), with regards to the 2006 fair edition. Problems have opened a
dialogue with suppliers and partners, paving the way to several new projects within the many sectors
(exhibition stands, waste and packaging, water, supply chain emissions, logistics, catering, visitors‘ mobility,
energy, etc.). Back in the 2008 event it was possible to notice that the decisions and the tested solutions had
actually been put into practice (see annexes). The result was a 45% reduction of the environmental impact,
compared to 2006.
Sharing new choices has already yielded new trade liaisons, and produced interesting economic outcomes,
within diverse realities that have never managed to interact. This positive incipit allows to have a more
optimistic outlook on the 2012 fair edition, whose target is to have zero-like impact.
Another interesting application devised for the health system, is the one of a technological innovation, Radio
Frequency Identification – RFId, no longer deemed as a mere technological exchange in a specific vertical
domain, but rather as a tool generating systemic interaction scenarios, where technology is the means used to
reach the objective, and not the goal. The solution goes from real-time ascertainment of the conformity
between blood bag/patient, to computerised management of blood banks, to automated assessment of a
correct provision of medicines, but its application is especially extended to:
garbage collection system
collection on demand whenever necessary (medicines or hospital rejects);
pharmaceutical system
managing and monitoring all the main subjects of the system (e.g. industry, pharmacies,
health facilities);
transportation system
tickets for needier customers, integrated management of traffic flows according to the needs of
each individual urban area;
public administration
sharing data respecting privacy laws, in order to hasten customised services and procedures
for weaker consumer brackets.

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A positive multiplier effect can be achieved only if the technological innovation developed within the hospital is integrated with its
other connected systems (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).
Over the past few years the varied and complex planning research within the electrical household appliances
sector, has been mainly focusing on very specific fields, such as energy exploitation, innovative materials,
improved performance. What we currently dispose of is actually a mix of results, making up a very
sophisticated and intricate patchwork, which is yet lacking unity.
Procedures such as investigating and defining new concepts, applying them on prototypes or real objects, are
still carried out in a fragmented way. Although new investigation fields are being developed and issues that
have been engaging designers, industrialists and researchers, have now been partially solved, all these
phases are dealt one at a time, in an individual way.
What we lack today is the awareness that we must and we can act within a system. Each existing serial
product may actually be perceived as an interrelated and complex system of parts and components.
Each object-system may, in turn, be discerned as an element that is an integral part (therefore a component)
of another and more complex system and the final object-system may become an ensemble of all the
subsystems that are part of it.8
In this way, in fact, each product is no longer analysed individually, but as a portion of a much more complex
chain, whose aim is to put requirements into being and to perform in connection with a scenario of
relationships. Being aware that all electrical appliances are part of an integrated system (with the land, the
society, the environment, with the residential areas and so on) and not of the individual production chain, will
entails a new conception of product. Accordingly systems relating to functions such as washing, cooking, food
consuming and preserving will need to be dealt upon as a whole, steering away from exclusive attention given
to individual objects (e.g. washing and dish washing machine, cooker, fridge, etc.).
8 see Luigi Bistagnino, The outside shell seen from the inside, CEA, Milano (Italy), 2008; the Conference “Changing Rules” held in
Torino (Italy) on May 13th 2008 and organised by Design, Politecnico di Torino and CECED (www.eldomsystem.polito.it).

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The first scheme shows the actions in relation to fabrics, whereas the second one highlights actions as well as electrical household
appliances and space inside the house.
These systems are strictly connected to the notion of daily life (buying food, preserving and consuming it,
dirtying dishes and garments, and so on) and they may be, in turns, integrated one with the other as previously
shown.

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As a consequence, if we take into account the interrelated actions (see scheme of actions connected to the
centrality of fabrics) performed by the products they are associated with, as well as the spatial habitat
(expanded scheme with the products) where the activities are carried out, we will generate a totally different
scenario of reference, to consider when planning new electrical appliances.
To begin with, we emphasise the relationships which may occur between the washing machine and the other products, during the
wash cycle. Subsequently we enhance the relationships taking place with the other electrical appliances and the house, when the
washing machine is placed within the general system of activities connected to it (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).

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In this context we will not only be able to turn product outputs into inputs of other systems, but we may also
start a different dialogue with various industries. Producers, no longer hooked up with their own specific
turnover, will be able to conceive joint developmental strategies so as to become more dynamic and
competitive and enjoy positive outcomes, generated by the system.
Visualisation of the outputs generated by laundry and dishwashing cycles (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).
Considering the consumer as no longer a user but a proper subject, entails producing, in every sector, new
product and service diffusion strategies, based upon our skills rather than our weaknesses or forecast errors.
As subjects, we all take an active part in the society and revitalise the local culture, with our relationships. The
awareness of being men as well as our social interactions lay the foundations for the planning process. On the
other hand the communication of the specific features of an object or a service, serves the purpose of making
more aware and useful choices. Such a dramatic change in the paradigm cannot possibly take place at once,
but only through a gradual transformation, with more adequate means of communication and more ethical
messages. Raising awareness of the skills of the subjects rather than their weaknesses is the core of this
radical change in the paradigm, allowing for the shift from user to subject perspectives.

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The production network needs to evolve by being in a relationship with the different territorial contexts and with their subjects. The
current approach, by offering a unified electrical appliance, limits its functions and proves to be expensive for the environment.

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It is interesting to notice how the recent cooperation agreement reached between with CECED Italia9/Slow
Food/Design, Politecnico di Torino/Università di Scienze Gastronomiche of Pollenzo fits with the new project.
The goal we wish to pursue is to provide a systemic vision of the individual players‘ know-how, so as to nurture
new planning and production relationships and to go beyond the current situation with each sector only aiming
to optimise its own field (core business).
The focus of the first project is on the cooking system altogether, paying specific attention to food quality and
preparation, and getting advice from a nutrition expert. Food containers are going to be re-examined in order
to find better thermal insulators and great care will be taken over the full range of kitchenware, air quality and
treatment. However, the core of the project is to identify and manage the planning of the outputs of the whole
system in order to make sure they are used in a positive way, as inputs for other systems within the house.
The research carried out all along the filed expects several positive outcomes, such as improving the overall
energy efficiency, reducing gas consumption during the process of cooking, optimising raw materials used for
food containers manufacturing, improving food quality and cooking. The findings of the research 10 will be
communicated at the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre.
Scheme of the relationships connected to food in the house context.
9Italian National Association which is part of CECED, the European Committee of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers.
10the work team is constituted by Design, Politecnico di Torino (coordinator), Università di Scienze Gastronomiche, Slow Food,
CECED Italia, INDESIT company.

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Subject/user in the work context
The work context is a vast scenario studded with private practice studies, small businesses, large corporate
firms and administrative agencies, whose planning sectors appear to be saturated with tools and equipment
devised to carry out the duties but scarcely explored from the point of view of their relationship with the
context. By nature, organisations have always generated strong relational networks. Whether it be people,
processes, materials or structures, there is no such thing like people or firms that are independent one
another. Besides, every day new agreements are reached, old organisations are dismissed and new ones are
set up, causing this ever- growing number of operations to make the network more and more intricated.
However, deals and alliances often seem to arise from personal interests, with an ulterior motive based on
utilitarian principles. In the work context, the contact network, with its supplier list, customers, staff,
competitors, political connections, is taken care of, since it is an integral part of the company organization.
On the other hand the spin-offs produced by our actions, and other issues such as non-monetary labour costs,
the global systems of which the organization is consciously or unconsciously part of, seem to be neglected
both on a global and local scale.
Hierarchical organization flow chart showing how relationships are strictly connected to their functions.
A work-context oriented systems approach singles out the relationships between the subject and the
environment and enhances every individual‘s needs and expectations, as well as its capability to generate
positive cultural spin-offs. Today‘s office environment appears to be designed in compliance with the old
fashioned logic that was a typical feature of the factories of the past, therefore we should not be surprised if
cinema and literature provide a plentiful supply of examples of gloomy, claustrophobic and alienating offices.
Analysing the dynamics of teamwork versus individual work is extremely complex and its boundaries are often
blurred, due to the presence of the most diverse disciplines and know-how which affect, in turn, the whole
social and natural system. Over the years the work environment has been thoroughly examined and
fragmented in order to find different theories and solutions for a variety of situations and specific contexts
calling for the mediation addressed to parties with contrasting interests. However work contexts have always
been planned in compliance with the prevailing logic of the hierarchical organisational system, which has
affected aspects such as settings, timetabling and company policies. This approach resulted in an extremely
controlled and centralised context gearing at efficiency and competition. In this scenario people (users) live in
homologised and codified times and spaces which demand the relationship between men and the environment
to be planned in a controlled way: time and areas devoted to coffee breaks, to meetings and private work.
This formal structure made of rigid roles and hierarchies, affects its users and lead to unproductive behaviours
stemming, on the one hand, from evasion needs nurtured by lack of interest and fulfilment at work and, on the
other hand, from a pyramidal organisation where control and seniority statuses are still highly valued and
achieved by means of exacerbated competition and envy. In addition, flexibility and precariousness within
social networking give a feeling of insecurity, instability and unpredictability.

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The starting point when applying the systemic approach to the work context, is to realise there is a self-
generative and extremely dynamic aspect in the relationship occurring between the firm and the territory.
Organisations should be run according to the same principles existing in nature. For instance, if we look at
what birds do when looking for food, we will see that their response to external stimuli is autonomous and
dictated by the need to adapt to the surrounding environment, rather than been triggered by centralised
control. The rules which dominate the behaviour of flocks of birds (as well as swarms of insects or a school of
fish) act at a local level but affect the form and direction the whole group takes in relation to external factors.
Scheme or a flock of birds or a school of fish hunting for food: each fish is strictly related to the one next to it and, despite the lack of
a single leader, the whole group is compact as it is lead by a collective will.
This implies that, although each individual depends upon the other, it can enjoy a certain degree of autonomy,
so much so that it can actively affect the surrounding world and has its own share of involvement in global
change. This kind of interaction, performed on a different scale, determines the value of each subject in
relation with the other group members, whether they are work mates, friends or relatives. Little by little the
context becomes wider and wider, made of more complex choices, such as those related to consumption and
life-style. The boundaries between private life and work become remarkably relevant and are based upon a
strong sense of responsibilty and awareness, rather than the prevailing of an aspect on the other. This is why
informal relationships and external influences deriving from different types of know-how are much more useful
than the ones organised by formal structures, because, despite their rather complex management, their
effectiveness goes alongside the basic and at times unstable difference existing between stimulus and
imposition.
How can a designer interfere with the system and raise awareness both of being part of an extended network
and of the direct influence his work has on the context? Obviously this cannot possibly be understood by
simply carrying out a new project. The problem is to be solved by analysing the role and the meaning of work
in its entirety, not just the individual tools, so as to meet the needs of individual people who work to seek
wealth, not just a wage, managing, at the same time, the relational system to enhance the context.
To begin with we need to analyse the local context, a universe of varied meanings, habits, and myths that
change within the many geographical areas and the different work teams. The solutions will obviously bear
different features, according to tasks and roles (as it already happens in many situations) but they will share
the element of openness and will be in symbiotic relationship with the users. It will be necessary to find how to
foster confrontation and contamination with aspects that are not closely related to work, in order to keep a
critical eye on our actions and on their covert impact on the context. In this perspective, it may be interesting to
explore the opportunities offered by Internet not only as a connecting tool, but also as a virtual place that
substitutes the geographical one in an on-growing way, without being a copy of reality.
The same principles are applicable also to other contexts, apart from the office, such as schools, universities
and libraries, in that they share the same need to confront and produce different types of know-how.

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Territorial design
Territorial Design can take from systemic approach objective elements of development and connotation of the environment where it
performs.
Choices made when operating within a systemic approach involve, as well as for products and services, a
strict connection to the territory , therefore it is possible to easily see how they affect it.
Experimental works performed in the sector of agro-industry exemplify in a clear and exhaustive way the real
and often astounding opportunities that one can obtain.
But let us go back, once again, to the previously analysed scheme referring to Agrindustria. Here one can see
how resources and wood cleaning in a radius of 40 kilometres have been used as raw materials to produce
energy. The positive transformation and outcomes that are steadily generated on the territory are clearly
perceived. They are the following ones:
- revitalisation, care and safeguard of the forest heritage;
- development of agro-forestry cooperatives in charge of cleaning and making the wood active;
- better safeguard of the territory;
- tourist attractions (excursions) and development of appropriate facilities (accommodation and
catering);
- return of productive population.
All these activities or outcomes cannot be focusing merely on an on-growing quantitative production, if one
wishes to get immediate economic results, instead they ought to be balanced with the resources available, and
need to be planned cyclically on the land they relate to. In this way the synergistic relationship with the
biomass power plant producing energy will continue, resulting in advanced vivification of woods and of all the
above mentioned opportunities.
This is a simple but essential consideration, which makes reference both to the present and the recent past
where territorial resources were unconditionally used.
Another project developed jointly with the technological/scientific park of Tecnogranda (Cuneo, Italy), is the
one about the small and medium farms of the county of Cuneo that are the heart of the economy of the
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province. An analysis of the current state of the food and agricultural industry has highlighted the linearity of
the production systems, where focus is given to quantity, rather than to what and how something is being
produced. During this evolutionary stage the region loses its nexus with history, with its peculiarity and cultural
know-how, all this in the name of globalisation, a process affecting in a convulsive way any sector
indistinguishably.
As a result one may see South American cereals being grown the province of Cuneo to feed English pigs,
which are bound to become Italy‘s pride, a distinctive gastronomic product, that has become the Country‘s
symbol, enriching the tables of the whole world, namely Parma ham!
The project is developed through the analysis and assessment of the area in question and of its cultivation, in
relation to the altimetric and geographic setting. Evaluating the environment leads towards further analysis of
territorial design, not only from a mere entrepreneurial, social and cultural point of view.
The current production activities are always independent one from the other and their income is generated by increasing the
individual productions. This results in a rise of, both quantities of individual products and waste.
To synthesise the current situation of the different production chains (see scheme), it stands out how each of
them comes across as close, linear and self-centred, uncommunicative with its surrounding. Focus is given
exclusively to quantity and self-referred growth.
Some productions have even replaced the local typical ones, especially in the field of swine breeds and dairy
cattle (such as the Frisona cow which is imported for its bountiful milk production) and some types of apples
such as Golden. With regards to these choices, the production of cereals is not enough to fulfil the demand
which is suitable to satisfy the high number of animals. Consequently they need to be fed with imported
livestock feed and cereals. This generates in a lack of balance between territorial production and demand of
the same, as a result all the production chains generate output that is deemed as waste to be disposed, rather
than resource to be used. To reverse this tendency that will bring impoverishing effects over the years, it is
necessary for all the agricultural food production chains, coexisting on the same land, to dialogue one with the
others, to look around and realise to be part of a unique system. This new condition opens the way for new
Territorial design
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common developmental opportunities, enabling both individual members and communities to make
improvements and to enjoy its beneficial effects, bringing more wealth and economic resources, giving the hills
around Cuneo some economic outcomes.
The ―Systemic Consortium‖ simply resolves to show how small production realities can summon up their
strengths, know-how, as well as their own products and outputs to pursue common goals and to create new
businesses, sharing costs and benefits. A network of exchanges, of product flows is therefore outlined, so as
to liven up the environment.
The output/input exchange network among the different production activities, triggers production processes that improve the
economy globally.
These new interconnections account for a 40% increase in the income produced by local activities (even
though they are responsible for a reduction in the number of the heads of livestock bred in relation with local
production of cereals), and of a 50% increase of workforce (see paragraph economic assessments). Besides
they have an impact on the territory in that they determine the planning guidelines of its natural evolution, not
the artificial one such as that one related to the industrial production which its main goal is the economic
development focused on single products.
The coloured surfaces clearly show the characteristics of the landscape and the new proxemics of the
activities carried out in a way that they can belong to a short or ―0 km‖ chain, but more easily interrelated for
the production.
The first environmental outcome generating from a short production line is the reduction of emissions
connected to the transport of goods. In addition we need to be aware of the importance of a one-kind of
production which is no longer based on a linear and one-crop system, but opens the way for biodiversity and
typical local productions
Drawing the connections developed within a system is just as important as organising the junctions so as to
avoid useless shifts of matter from one chain to the other which would ultimately result in a rise in emissions.
By doing so, the codigestor and the water cycle will have, within the system, a central role, compared to all the
other production chains, in that they share outputs and final products. Dairy and butchering factories will be
placed near the cattle breeding whereas pruning output transformation companies and mushroom beds will be
close to arboreal cultures and vineyards.
The ―Systemic Consortium‖ does not wish to provide a final solution but to show some of the options that such
a rich, varied territory, like the one in the county of Cuneo, can actually choose from. The fact that only certain
Territorial design
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kinds of production chains and the hills have been taken into account, opens the way to many new analysis
that go hand-in-hand with the evolving personality of systemic design.
A systemic work is never really concluded because it can always be analysed more in depth, rejected or
adopted in many different ways.
The scheme highlight the naturally engendered proxemics that are the guidelines for the design of the territory, of its architecture, its
culture and the peculiarities of its landscape.
The “Systemic Consortium” proposal points out the potentialities of what I call “local economy”.
The industrialism (or consumerism or productivism) fault is to expect that the same linear and
serial principles can be applied everywhere. In this way, industrialism expects to reach certain
efficiency, but we have to ask ourselves what is actually efficient. Homogenization leads to
efficiency for an industry that wants to be invasive, leads simply to more profits for the industry
and to a concentration of them. Under the territory point of view, though, this efficiency is
distributed to every citizen being part of the local system, and allows the community to be richer.
Not only in terms of money, but also under every point of view concerning the concept of wellness
and quality of life.
Local economies can make maximum use of the potentialities of the systemic approach and
make diversity be a resource, not like industry, that considers diversity an obstacle to be
overcome with homogenization and so with the cultural, ecologic, productive and natural
impoverishment..
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The planning indications sprouted from the study of the Red Cow breeding (Parmesan cheese), seem to be
even more specific: they set
in the first proximal area
livestock farming related activities linked to dairy and cattle butchering factories where they are
connected to phytodepuration with algae, the buffer forest and the new fish farming activity.
in the second proximal area
all activities aiming to use outputs produced in the first area, such as the biodigestor, worms and quails
farming, mushroom growing, as well as swine production chain strictly linked to the biodigestor.
Besides the two previously mentioned proximal territories, there is the urban area which exists thanks to its
connection with rural and transformation activities.
One can imagine how a small number of systemically interconnected firms, when placed within a wider
territory, can actually characterise it, throughout its production process evolution.
In this case the scheme highlights the proximal areas which give spontaneous connotation to the environment.
This work shows that, every time the territory is endowed with a strong connotation, not only from a cultural
point of view, it is important to analyse both space and logistic, in that the new activities, placed alongside the
existing ones, will take up a geographical space to be shared and organised systemically.
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Food / Health / Territory
The food we eat on a day-to-day basis has serious repercussions on our health and the nature of the territory.
Food gives energy to our metabolic process and makes it function. It boosts our immune system and protects
us from pathogenic attacks. Just like in all the 5 kingdoms on the planet, nature provides the nutrients that we
need to survive and through them we absorb some micro bacteria which strengthen our immune system and
prevent autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis and many others, from entering our body.
This is a very complex process that our body triggers automatically. Recent medical research has proved that
the commonly called autoimmune diseases, as well as allergies, are becoming widespread and affect young
people. Food seems to be the main cause of these pathologies. If we look into our eating habits we will realise
that far too often we eat food deriving from industrial processes where each product (milk, drinks, take-away
pasta with different fillings, 4th range vegetables such as ready-made salads) comes from a sterile certified
production chain, which means with no bacteria, or from crops sprayed with synthetic pesticides preventing
insects, fungi or bacteria from attacking the plant, and that, once absorbed into the soil, make it sterile. It is
obvious that industrial processes need to ensure the safety of the food they produce, as it is targeted at mass
consumption, however it is just as obvious that if our diet includes sterile industrial/modified food, we are
bound to have a weak or impaired immune defence. We all know that the wrong fuel clogs the fuel tank but we
have little awareness of what blocks our own engine.
Connection between producer and consumer: a mutual and positive influenced relationship.
How can we make territory and food relate with one another?
On the one hand, the large quantity of meat that we consume calls for intensified breeding programs (see
chapter 2) and on the other, it requires that the quantity of imported soy or cereals to increase remarkably, in
that the surrounding territory cannot produce them extensively. Animals, cereals and consumers are located in
completely separate geographical areas. We cannot clearly perceive both the links between the ones with the
others, and the effects they have on their own different contexts. By putting these links back into place we can
take possession of our cultural roots, assess our actions with relation to the environment where we live and to
Territorial design
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shift from the current linear culture, whose only focus is on products, to a systemic approach, which has
proved to be open to other subjects and the territory. It is important to be aware of the link between food and
land so as to have a clear insight into their reality (see case study New consumption model, chapter 2,
paragraph agro-industry).
For this reason, we are currently carrying out research on the different cultural and environmental contexts as
they meld the cultural, perceptive and relational connections with the farming world and give the different
territories their natural identity, in a way that they can enhance their natural resources and start up a new
economic flow strictly connected with them.
The territorial characterization is the synthesis of resources, know-how and material culture networks.
A grassroots movement taking place in the town of Chieri (Torino, Italy) is encouraging the citizens to face the
issue of the link existing between food quality and production chains, paying attention to the interdependence
between city and country and on their mutual positive integration. In a village near Bucharest, in Romania,
farm land has been devoted to production activities, so as to allow for the delocalization of industries and
generate lower labour costs and taxes. This has required paying greater attention to the integration of
systemic architecture into the territory, and its potential to produce all the necessary resources. Chongming
island, near Shanghai, in China, has been treated as a separate country, detached from the continent and, as
a result, it has been able to keep its natural features unchanged over time. However the island is being linked
to the mainland and this entails exposing the sleepy island to the hustle and bustle and the booming economy
of the contiguous metropolis, causing the loss of its natural characteristic. Hence a coherent development with
the territory and its resources is essential. The rural villages of Rajasthan, in India, are wasting their water and
energy resources and polluting the whole territory with the waste produced. They need to learn how to
manage flows of matter and energy for domestic and industrial use, in an autonomous way, consistently with
their culture, so that they do not generate waste and may preserve desert water supply and resources, over
time.
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ChierEAT, Chieri (Italy)
In the city of Chieri, about 20 kilometres from Torino, an important initiative has been recently put into action.
Arising from the cooperation between citizens and professionals from the most diverse sectors, such as
farming, education, health and politics, ―ChierEAT, la filiera del benessere‖ (―ChierEAT, the production chain of
well being‖) is rooted in the territory and interweaves a relational network with the deep awareness of each
individual member, with the purpose of putting on the tables of the people of Chieri, good quality, natural,
healthy and ethically produced food (which means with respect to the environmental resources and, more in
general, to the food market). We have been committed wholeheartedly to this project 11, since the very
beginning, and our proposals, addressed to all the citizens, but more specifically designed to target children,
farmers and cattle herders, intend to encourage the development of community networking. The first Collective
Purchasing Group, within the Ospedale Maggiore di Chieri (the Chieri main city hospital) was created with a
view to this goal, in compliance with ―the production chain of well being‖. Its objective is to gather groups of
citizens and to put them directly in touch with the producers. This non-mediated relationship offers the
consumer affordable premium products, chosen and selected according to criteria of quality and controlled
designation of origin. In addition, farmers are rewarded with fairer remuneration and encouraged to keep on
improving their quality produce. The Purchasing Group offers the chance to put people in contact with each
other and to give each individual member and the whole group, a sense of responsibility, developing around
itself, a fine weave of social fabric that shows how to be aware of the specific needs of the territory and of the
interdependence between health, food and the quality of the environment where it is produced. The research
carried out on the territory around Chieri fits with this relational dynamic and aims at testing the application of
the systemic approach within an area characterised by medium-sized towns that, despite being in a farming
area, have lost touch with the territory where they were born. Here, just as everywhere else, the Large Retail
Trade is, preposterously, the only junction point between distant cultures and countries. Some of us may deem
this globalisation process positive. In reality it is extremely detrimental as it only generates superficial
relationships among the individuals, it offers speculative opportunities to the Big Groups and does not take the
environment into consideration, in that everything is timeless and decontextualised.
Large Retail Trade mediated relationship between producer and consumer in which it is apparent both the industrial transformation
of agricultural producers and the loss of awareness from consumers who are enticed by advertising.
11through the Innovation and Project Management Course (Professor Patrizia Belluzzo) with the Design graduate students who have
developed projects going from creative games, social awareness campaign to objects produced with recycled materials and other
incentives to plant and grow products.
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Saftica, Bucharest (Romania)
Over the past fifty years a small municipality on the outskirts of Bucharest has undergone remarkable
development, as a result of Nicolae Ceauşescu's urban policy, the entry of the country in the EU12 and other
factors. The Club of Rome and the National Centre for Sustainable Development (UNEP National Committee
for Romania, Bucharest) have conceived a project targeted at the municipality of Saftica aiming at devising a
strategic plan for territory development whose main objective is to enhance the local resources and to limit the
effects of the proximity to the capital and damage to the environment. For two weeks all the natural,
economical, cultural and social resources, as well as the condition of the infrastructures in loco, were
assessed, using a holistic approach. Over this period an integrated work team shared Systemic Design
theories (Design, Politecnico di Torino) and the experiences of past activities already carried out on the
territory in question (UNEP - Bucharest).
Scheme of the synthetic holistic survey for the municipality of Saftica.
This survey has highlighted some issues connected to Saftica and to its county, with regards to:
- its environmental aspects, with a lack of protection of biodiversity in local flora and fauna and self-
production of food;
- its economic aspects, due to the presence of a stagnating market, focussing only on building and
trade activities;
- its social aspects, in the light of inadequate work specialisation and a gap in the communication of
their own cultural resources;
- its water, energy and transport infrastructures, linking the county to the capital and the villages in the
rural areas.
12during the dictatorship regime, the systematization program provided for the demolishing, restructuring and building of the farm
lands. Many villages were razed in order to move the farmers into big city apartment blocks. Towards the end of the eighties, nearly
eighteen villages around the capital were demolished. After many years of transition towards democracy, on the 1st January 2007,
Romania is finally part of the EU. However the pre-existing economic and social programmes are aggravated by the world financial
and economic crisis. Hardship and social tension may be perceived through the care people take of their houses and the city in
general. It is the city itself that shows the signs of the problems and priorities a community has during its management and
development phases.
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The project provides for three integrated intervention lines devised to solve the critical factors previously
mentioned.
The first project proposal consists of actions geared at simplifying the creation of complex systemic buildings
which do not use the resources of the territory and produce energy, clean water and food on the premises.
This intervention may solve the following problems:
- the stagnation of a building market that has not developed for many years and has impoverished a
territory that would have, otherwise, been excellent for farming;
- widespread unclean water;
- electricity supply monopolised by the big, international power stations;
- inadequate protection of biodiversity;
- inadequate farming production, decreased to make room for what proved to be a speculative bubble;
- insufficient bonding and dignity at work.
The second project proposal wishes to emphasize and develop the public transport system as an alternative
type of mobility, so as to encourage citizens to limit the use of cars and to increase road safety.
The third project proposal concerns the improvement in communication between public institutions and
citizens. Debates and meetings about environmental cultural topics, broadly speaking, are arranged with the
purpose of boosting people‘s confidence in the State.
To sum up, the project involves the whole community in a complex way and will lead towards multiple changes
to be noticed in the very structure of the citizenship. Local authorities, as well as internationally renowned
organisations are involved in making sure the project is accomplished, regardless of the political situation of
the individual town or country. This is a very important feature of this kind of activity which needs medium or
long-term strategies.
Chart of the complex project proposals for the solution of specific problems.
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XianQiao, Chongming Island13, Shanghai (China)
Chongming island, which lies at the mouth of the Yangtze river, in the county of Shanghai, has just been until
recently, only marginally affected by the economic boom that has turned the rest of the country upside down.
As a result of this phenomenon, the flow of people, material and information has been limited and the area has
been preserved from deep change. However, the construction of a bridge, of facilities for the forthcoming
installation of an underground system, and of a road tunnel beneath the Yangtze river, linking the island with
Shanghai‘s bustling downtown area, has changed both the environment and the ecosystem in a radical way.
Hence the Chinese Government has taken measures to restrict people‘s accessibility to the island. The
challenge is to create a new model for urban growth that can generate enough water, energy and food to
support its inhabitants, without compromising the natural habitat. This island will be strategic for the
assessment of sustainable development, both on the island and Shanghai. The Chinese government is willing
to invest money to boost the local economy, develop organic farming, create new jobs, improve the quality of
the environment and protect the natural ecosystem, and to consequently improve the quality of its residents‘
life.
Plan showing the sectors of Master Development Plan for Chongming Island (MDPCI).
With a view to intergovernmental cooperation, the Tongji University of Shanghai and Politecnico di Torino have
developed a joint systemic-oriented project14 to face the current environmental development with the aim to
13 Chongming Island is at the mouth of the Yangtze river, situated in the county of Shanghai. It is one of the largest Chinese islands,
with extensive forests, fertile farm land and water channels. It covers an area of 1,267 km² with a population of 650,000 and a
density of 496 inhabitants per km². it is nearly 40 kilometres away from Shanghai and can be easily accessed by the new tunnel and
bridge and, in the future, by underground, connecting from the island to Shanghai downtown. It is situated in the north subtropical
region where the climate is mild and wet and the average annual temperature is 15,2° C.
14 the proposal submitted by ECODESIGN Politecnico di Torino, jointly with studio Tao of Tektao (founded by Professor Lou Yonggi)
has aroused interest at “Next Design: Salone Internazionale del Design per l'innovazione sociale e la sostenibilità" (the international
exhibition of Design for social innovation and sustainability) organised jointly with the College of Design& Innovation of Tongii
University, DEISIS China and Shanghai international Creative Industry, from 15th to 21st October 2009.
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encourage interaction between the rural areas of Chongming and the city of Shanghai, in a way that both of
them may preserve and improve their characteristics.
In agreement with our Chinese partners we have summarised the Government request in compliance with a
symbolic Yin/Yang metaphysical vision based on complementary qualities and interdependence.
Complementary and interdependence symbolic Yin/Yang vision of the urban and rural areas of Shanghai and Chongming Island.
The Master Development Plan for Chongming Island (MDPCI), drawn up by the Studio Tao of Tektao has split
the island in five sectors, according to their predominant strategic function in the development of the area and
has identified three important areas, namely organic farming, tourism, research and innovation, that are pivotal
to the development of the village of Xian Quiao15 which, situated in a central position between the northern and
the western area, is likely to become a noticeable tourist area devoted to systemic architectural experiments
and farming.
The Hub of research and innovation is going to contribute to the creation of new jobs and the improvement of
the quality of life of its residents, by means of technical, scientific and humanistic competences. It will
constantly coordinate and monitor the system, as well as carry out tasks related to different sectors, such as
logistics, information, research, innovation and administration.
Organic farming (Bioming) will link rural and urban areas, leading to a reciprocal improvement of the quality of
life. Bioming is geared at raising people‘s awareness of organic farming, so as to develop it on the island.
Fruit, vegetables, pulses and wheat will be grown in Xian Qiao and on the outskirts, then stocked in Bioming
warehouses and sold on the island and in Shanghai, all within a short distance. In Shanghai these products
will be sold through three distribution channels:
―Element Fresh― restaurants (specialised in fresh, home-made dishes);
specialised organic shops;
despatch and delivery of products ordered by e-mail.
Tourism will sprout from the connections between the mainland and the island, generating a fulfilling exchange
of experiences. Firstly, the students of Shanghai will be enabled to apply their studies on the field and the
students of Chongming will have the chance to go sightseeing, to go to the museums and to have lessons in
technologically advanced laboratories. Secondly, the island will offer wellness facilities and forms of
entertainment for Shanghai residents, desiring to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, to enjoy full,
15 the village, a naturally protected, fertile zone situated in the central part of the northern area, has 1,683 inhabitants linked by family
or neighborhood ties. It is a harmonious community and every family owns a field of 1 mu (666 m²) where subsistence farming is
performed.
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reinvigorating health treatments, do sport and outdoor activities in a pollution free area. The Chongming
residents, instead, will benefit from some time out in the city, offering stimulating recreational opportunities as
well as advanced medical facilities that cannot be found on the island.
Chart of the needs, values and lifestyle of the two areas in question.
The last program concerns a one-way flow of tourists going to the island to undergo revitalizing health, beauty
and fitness treatments, that are an essential part of physical and mental health. They will learn to rely on
nature to find their own psycho-physical balance.
The current state of affairs in the village of Xian Qiao shows inadequate management of water and energy
resources, and waste. Hence actions for change need to be conceived with the purpose of improving these
areas of weakness. Home energy demands from the network have been decreased by 50% by installing
photovoltaic panels in the houses, whereas with regards to organic produce warehouse activities (Bioming) a
trigeneration plant will supply electric, thermal and refrigeration power by using energy produced in a
biodigestor, treating animal and human excrement produced in the village as well as organic farm and
butchery activity waste. Bioming will to be totally self-sufficient from an energy supply point of view, so much
so that it may actually be able to meet the energy requirements of the Hub and part of the Village.
Refrigeration power produced by trigeneration will be used to preserve farm produce (fruit, vegetables and
wheat) and for Hub climatisation and heat required by the transformation processes.
Water is a vital resource, even more so on an island where it serves the vehicular purpose of connecting it to
the mainland. Throughout its different channels, it represents the natural habitat of many species of animals
and vegetables. The public aqueduct is currently supplying non-drinkable water that needs to be boiled before
drinking or, furthermore, that can be used for cleaning, cooking, irrigating and for personal hygiene. Black and
grey water from the toilet, which is designated sewage, is channelled into a sewage pit placed in the garden;
water from the kitchen, instead, goes straight into the canals and pollutes them, damaging flora and fauna. In
order to stop impoverishing the environment, we have proposed to channel this water into a cesspool,
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separating solid from liquid waste. The former is to be matured and ultimately turned into compost, the latter is
to be sent to a phytodepuration basin, that can be walked across, without visible surface water. In this way the
landscape becomes more pleasant and appealing to the residents, the tourists and the schools, and can be
used as a place for new recreational and educational activities. This water, jointly with rainwater and water
regularly used to wash fruit and vegetables, will be suitable for farming and irrigation uses in Bioming.
Phytopurified water is also destined to fish farming, and a small lake will host a variety of fish for breeding
(such as carp), to be sold locally or to restaurants in the village. Moreover, water purification processes are
likely to encourage the inhabitants to use organic soaps or washing liquids, without polluting tensioactive
substances which create a superficial film on the water and hinder the respiratory system in plants.
Chart of the systemic project using the local resources and generating a flow of jobs and economy for the residents.
It is essential to raise people‘s awareness of the value of waste. When composting organic waste, every single
element of matter can, in turn, produce a natural, free fertilizer, providing a valuable benefit to the farmland,
and it generates vermicompost (worm composting), a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer used for hen and chicken
farming. Surplus compost could be sold In Bioming for organic farming and flower growing which, together with
poplar trees, will account for the production of different types of honey, propolis, royal jelly, wax and many
more. Poplar woods, used as buffer forest, may be a valid substrate for mushroom growing. All these
activities, from energy production to water purification make the village autonomous from a resource point of
view and enhance the local territory and its biodiversity, being an educational and cognitive roadmap for
tourists and schools.
Finally, an economic assessment, as simple as it may be, proves to be useful as it is an indication of the
economic wealth generated by the local systems. Waste used for production purposes brings more income
and jobs.
The estimates are just a starting point in the measurement of production that, we hope, is going to increase
over time with a systemic approach affecting the activities of the neighboring villages of the whole island.
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Local economies are not only the best way to manage environmental issues, to exploit new kinds of clean
energies, maintain biodiversities, arouse interest in the residents and increase their engagement, preserve
memory and respect of local cultures, but they can also help the economy improve.
Chart of the economic assessment of the annual economic outcome produced, to begin with, by the realisation of concepts (Hub,
Bioming, Tourism) and, finally with the utilisation of the systemic approach.
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Typical rural village in Rajasthan (India)
Rajasthan is an incredibly rich land, renowned for its majestic palaces, impressive fortresses and breathtaking
treasures. These architectural gems show an outstanding contrast between the opulence of the country and
the day-to-day reality of most of the population who lives, poverty stricken, in dingy rural villages surrounded
by the great Thar desert. The people have managed to keep an autochthonous culture, sustained by a sense
of pride in their glorious past. The people have managed to keep an autochthonous culture, sustained by a
sense of pride in their glorious past. Rajasthan, one of India‘s most visited countries, has an economy primarily
based on agriculture and sheep farming. It boasts its own craft tradition rich in sumptuous and beautifully
embroidered fabrics, leatherwear, pottery, jewellery, woodcraft and puppets. The climate is typical of Northern
India, with hot season temperatures from 25° to 45°C (February-June), alternating with the wet monsoon
season, accounting for 90% of the yearly rainfall and a 70% humidity rate, with temperatures oscillating from
35° to 40°C (July-September), up until the cool season, where the average temperature can drop from 35° C
to 0°C in January (October-January).
The prosperity of the ancient villages was due to their complete autonomy from the rest of the world, which
came to an end with the intensive and indiscriminate exploitation of soil and water resources, carried out with
no respect for the relationship between man and nature. This caused a rupture in the balance that ensured the
permanence of this ecosystem.
Rajasthan‘s natural water sources are a precious and rare patrimony. Thousand-year old ground water have
been progressively drained away due to the installation of hand pumps and wells, encouraged by the central
government, involving drilling work deep into the soil, which caused the life of the inhabitants of the village to
be severely endangered. In addition, on-going sewage drainage has led towards uncontrolled pollution and a
deterioration of the water quality of the springs which, with their high bacteriological content, cannot be
deemed drinkable, despite the residents‘ obliviousness of the situation and the fact that they go on drinking the
same water as if nothing had happened.
The typology of the village16, analysed in the project, has 2,000 inhabitants and they all use water coming from
the ground to carry out their main chores. Handicraft accounts for the consumption of 12,000 litres per year,
whereas 880,000 litres of water, deriving directly from natural sources, is used for drinking, even though
rainwater is being collected and used in order to fulfill their day-to-day needs. Uncontrolled exploitation and
poor sewage drainage are responsible not only for the endangerment of the natural balance, but also for
severe sanitary problems, arising from the high pathogenic content of the water. Cattle and sheep breeding
(315,000 litres) and cereal and legumes crops (300,000 litres) obtain their water intake directly from the natural
reservoirs, exploiting the inclination of the soil, however irrigation is feasible only in the fields around the basin.
Following the assessment of the water flow, the individual artisan activities have been analysed (through the
quantity and quality of the flows of matter, energy and the outputs generated), carrying out a global holistic
survey which has highlighted different problems concerning:
- health-care risk waste
no use of outhouses as toilets for waste, but resorting randomly to the surrounding land, indiscriminate
drainage of processing waste waters straight into the soil, especially the ones related to butchery and
leather work activities;
- waste that has not been processed properly
pottery, weaving and tannery work produces non-hazardous waters, which could be useful for present
and future activities;
- quality and quantity of essential water
the difficult supply conditions cause the quantity of water to always be inadequately determined, with
regards to the process it is used for.
The village, characterised by fairly simple flows and ancestral lifestyles, may give rise to an autopoietic
system, and regain its own balance with the surrounding territory, that has allowed for its survival in these
16 all the data is obtained through studies and research carried out by Barefoot College, a non-governmental organisation providing
basic service and solution for problems affecting rural communities, with the aim to make them self-sufficient and sustainable.
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places of hardship. It is fundamental to solve the issue of human waste, that is why, in order to prevent the
disuse of toilet blocks built in the village by the Government, we have opted for a solution, where usable
outputs are generated and individuals‘ active management of outputs is encouraged.
Chart of the holistic survey of the activities of the village and of the resources adopted nowadays.
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Latrines can produce farm compost, in approximately 12 months, useful to increase soil fertility. This purpose
can be achieved also by means of a phytodepuration system, collecting and, subsequently, purifying both
handicraft and water waste, to be devoted to the same activities. Natural fertilisers and manure may be
obtained from the composting of animal and vegetable substances, hence leather work and livestock breeding
provide an essential source of nutrients for soil productivity improvement.
In addition, it is also worthy of mention that buttermilk, copiously produced by the bountiful cheese factories,
and currently disposed of by being put straight into the soil, like regular waste, is a valuable resource. In fact,
when evaporated at low temperatures, it produces a dry substance rich in valuable substances, that are highly
coveted by the food and pharmaceutical industry.
The redefinition of the flows, in compliance with the different levels of optimization, has re-established balance
and harmony within the activities carried out in the village. At present, the quantity of unseparated waste is
steadily increasing, whereas the project proposal provides for a total neutralisation process where waste is
purposefully deployed as input in other production activities, carried out to meet the needs of the village.
However, the most outstanding result would be to have a new source of drinkable water, obtained through the
SODIS method17, a treatment where water is disinfected naturally.
Chart of the periodical actions and their relationships with the other activities.
Operating within the complex system of a village, does not entail a radical change but only simple and
periodical alterations, performed in respect of the context. Systemic design aims to boost a new economy,
based on different activities that stand on equal grounds and co-exist thanks to their own individual function
within the global relational system. It is necessary to perform a progressive advancement of the objectives,
17 SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection) is a water disinfection system, carried out using the rays of the sun. Clear PET or PE bottles are
filled with water and set out in the sun, for at least six hours. The UV-A rays in sunlight kill germs such as viruses, bacteria and
parasites and make water totally harmless.
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optimizing them step by step, and to assess them by means of probationary feedback. The gradual and
periodical analysis of the phases, develops people‘s cognitive assimilation and knowledge of such processes,
in a progressive way, and increases their awareness of the global system. Observing and applying the
individual techniques of the process generates a deeper understanding of the new material culture in action,
and of the ancestral culture. It also allows us to go back over the flows of output and input of the whole system
and perceive the interdependence existing between human activities and the surrounding territory.
Comparison of the water cycle in the present situation with the systemic one.
This gradual change is the direct expression of the systemic approach. The centralization of the subject/man
and the socio-cultural respect for his community suggest that the system where he is contextualised should
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not be changed immediately but, on the contrary, it should be evolving taking account of the time this new
scenario will require, before it is acknowledged, accepted and trusted. This attitude does not jeopardize uses
and traditions of the individual subject, in that it integrates and mediates between them, raising people‘s
awareness of the opportunities for improvement, necessary for a more harmonious and sustainable life. This
system is not targeted only at environments as drastic as the one in analysis, but rather it is a privilege granted
to those who wish to live in tune with the territory and preserve one‘s own and everyone else‘s future.
Synthesis of the current and systemic activities.
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Synthetic visualisation of the village activities in compliance with the systemic approach.
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1.5
Rationale
Charts of Systemic Design, showing the complex relationships occurring between production and territory and aiming towards a new
project culture.
This scheme, which puts together the three project levels about
Systemic Design,
Product or Service Design,
Territorial Design,
is not meant as an invasion or a demand that one should take their own responsibilities; on the contrary it aims
to make us think about all the chances that we may have if we change the cultural approach, and look at
problems from different angles of observation.
The actions to undertake as far as the outputs and which are put into being by everyone, trigger a heated
scientific debate that helps one define the new roads to be travelled.
Architecture, transport system, products, installation and developmental actions, called for by the different
territories, at political and entrepreneurial levels, should not be accomplished only with reference to their own
individual and limited fields of competence (core business), with a view to globalisation, as done at present
time. Instead, they ought to be developed by a strong interdisciplinary conception, and encouraged to
interrelate closely with their territory, resources and requirements, so as to generate open systems able to
produce the positive outcomes that we have previously noticed on site.
Development criteria are no longer to be found by looking at the outside (global view), but at the inside (local
view).
The wonderful peculiarity of our planet lies in the combination of the specifics of the most diverse
environments, which exist one in relation with the other and manage to retain their own identification features.
This intertwined ensemble allows for the global development of the world. Persisting with a linear simplification
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of global vision will result in the inevitable downfall of the whole, in that every specific, accounting for all the
characteristics of life, is trivialised and destroyed.
The small food farming realities of the sole province of Cuneo (Italy), offer a wise heterogeneity of contexts
where systemic design projects may be activated.
Example of the different productive realities, existing in the county of Cuneo (Italy), representing the pillar of the territory and a
possible field of application of Systemic Design.
It is important to underline the value of diversity. The case histories analyzed in this book are
applied to very specific single realities. They cannot be generalized: that is their value. It is
important the difference of approach and, above all, the dimension in which we have to work: the
local scale. Naturally, this is not a receding, but, instead, it is a way of making different branches
of learning (even those very different from each other like ancient knowledge and more modern
technologies) and productive activities interact.
The fact that these systems combine with diversity must not scare; it gives the opportunity to
carry out a really “glocal” approach, and what seems chaotic is, actually, a set of infinite
resources at our disposal. It is like having the whole set of Internet sites at our disposal. Thinking
about them as a whole can scare, but with a good search engine, everything we need it is
immediately available. Local communities are like this, the systemic approach is the search
engine. But we are not talking about a virtual search engine, it is a search engine of new realities
with great possibilities to test.
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1.6
Economic assessments
Whilst changing the viewpoint in order to face a new production system, it would also be appropriate to deal
with the news economic model that such system puts into being, and that has yielded outstanding results.
It is obvious that while planning flows of matter and energy, an economic flaw is concretely and consequently
stirred. By finalizing outputs that become input of another system, we bring forth a remarkable added value as
a result of starting activities that were never previously taken into account, as the only goal was quantitative
production.
On the other hand, however, we need to think that outputs can only be used only if bearing the right
characteristics that are necessary to become raw materials.
Focusing obsessively on products makes us take very little care of the quality of what we reject during the
production process, unless the quality of the very same product is at stake. We forget altogether that there
comes a time when we have to come to terms with quality and quantity of rejects. The whole world is currently
afflicted by the problem of industrial rejects and by the consequences of the careless use of pesticides in
farming.
The systemic approach, due to its vision of natural metabolisation of matter, is able to intervene on processes.
This course of actions switches on non-stop operations of retroactions which are to eliminate obstacles and
reset the almost spontaneous fluidity of positive metabolising among diverse systems.
Perhaps the harmful effects of the massive use of agricultural pesticides on our health are sufficiently clear or
obvious. The fruit we eat contains poisonous substances that contaminate the water that goes into these
crops. More importantly, the soil progressively loses its humus, which provides nutrients for plants and
increases the fertility of the land. Sooner or later these actions are going to affect us, through the food we eat
or the air we breathe.
It is necessary to face these problems, keeping a positive attitude. Hence if we work on the outputs, polluted
during the production phase, and change the causes responsible for altering the processes, we may able to
keep using the matter without any economic loss and obstruction of its metabolization process.
This result represents a huge economic advantage as the society does not have to cover all the purification
processes costs.
It should not be so surprising that local systems can produce more richness. Using waste for
productive aims produces other profits and works. Local economies are not only the best way to
handle environmental problems, to exploit new clean energies, to maintain biodiversity, to make
citizens happier and active, to remember and respect the local culture, but are also a way to
improve economy. You can wonder, then, why we’ve always been producing in an inefficient way,
why the linear productive style succeeded so much. I think it is because the generated richness is
less controllable and consequently more widespread. Briefly, many people have a profit, not a
few. This is a sign of a new approach to things, too, of a new “humanism”. Local economies will
be the engine of this desirable change.
Here below you will find a short description of a few projects, briefly outlining all these interesting economic
outcomes.
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Systemic Consortium18
At the moment each farm is closed and only interested in growing. It looks at its own profit with a linear
approach, forgetting to communicate with the territory land which is deemed as a place to be exploited, rather
than to be made richer and developed. The outputs of an individual production chain are looked at as rejects
to be disposed of, and not a resource. As a result they burden the economic balance in a negative way.
The systemic approach aims to use the qualities existing on the territory land and to make the different
production chains communicate one another. Consequently the total EBT (Earning Before Tax) goes from
nearly 3,900,000 € to almost 5,600,000 €. If we wish to make these changes it is necessary to invest both on
our own production chain and on common businesses, making a total investment of nearly 3,100,000 € to be
paid off within 10 years.
From a socio-economic point of view, output sharing may boost the development of new activities, such as:
- dairy farms;
- abattoirs;
- mushroom bed;
- codigestor;
- water-cycle related activities.
The table showing the quantity of waste, according to their own specific qualities, highlights the resources that are not presently
taken into account by the production systems.
New activities result in the demand for new jobs. This has the merit of increasing the value of the areas that
are at risk of being depopulated.
For instance, we could imagine pursuing a study project, focussing on productions that are even more "local"
and typical, and drawing up a detailed map of the activities carried out on the territory, or of the Slow Food
Presidiums, in order to study the possible interactions and connections with the neighbouring production
chains.
18 the description of the whole project can be found among case studies in chapter 2, paragraph agro-industry.
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The economic outcomes produced by the current situation have been compared with the ones generated with a systemic approach,
taking the number of workers in the two different scenarios into consideration.
Chart of the investments necessary for the starting of the activities connected with the Systemic Consortium.
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Red Cow
The systemic approach has enabled to identify new production chains which can be wonderfully integrated
with other pre-existing activities, such as the breeding of the Reggiana Red Cow and the dairy factory of
Parmesan cheese, as well as the conformation of the territory land.
Al this has happened because the main goal has been to look at the system as a global entity enhancing, at
the same time, its peculiarities. Consequently, an accurate assessment of inputs and outputs in the area in
question, is asked for, without neglecting the products and sub-products deriving from it. The problems arisen
within the whole current production chains have been divided into three main macro-categories:
- underuse of outputs such as manure, buttermilk and carcasses of the dead cattle;
- pollution caused by the use of detergents and disinfectants;
- loss of value of the meat of cows at the end of the ―milking career‖ which are force feed in external
uncontrolled livestock holdings.
This case study can be transposed but only if we take into account the different realities in each Presidium and
in the whole Consortium. The goal may be to shift from the currently bred 270,000 heads of livestock, down to
140,000 so as to enable the land to nourish and sustain the whole system on its own, without having to import
grass and fodder externally.
Besides, as the volume of the products and sub-products is higher, in addition to the previously mentioned
chains, other businesses may be developed, those being beekeeping, wood processing (buffer forests),
installation of several biodigestors, in order to support and sustain the energy demand of the land.
Accordingly the number of products fit for human consumption increase and become diversified, leading to an
enhancement of the land biodiversity. More businesses mean more work places and a decrease of the social
cost. All this can be achieved but only if we follow a sustainable logic.
Chart of the economic comparison between the two approaches, showing profit and income before taxes, and workers.
| 64SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Comparison of the economic assessment of the linear and systemic production models, shows figures which
provide incontrovertible evidence that the outcome of the first system is always lower than that produced in the
second one, both as far as economic flow and job creation are concerned. In addition, one should not forget
that a linear model never includes social costs generated by waste, in other words the ones that the
community is unaware of and not covered through taxes (see linear model scheme). Such phenomenon does
not occur in the systemic approach, in that the relational network of the different systems/subjects enable the
surrounding environment to be thoroughly monitored. Besides, as the outputs cannot be deemed useless
waste, bearing non-monetary costs for their disposal, they may be turned into resources to be used within new
production processes, with new jobs and decreased environmental impact.
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2
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2.1
Design Methodology
Before dealing with a project using systemic design, it is necessary to have a very detailed picture of the
situation we need to work on.
The "holistic survey"19 of the current state of affairs should clearly outline all the steps and the actions
undertaken or undergone by the context in question. In order to do so, we require the descriptions and the
quantities of what enters the system (input), its origins, what happens inside it and, finally, the description and
the quantities of what comes out of it, its destination and possible use (output). In addition, one needs to
identify the players involved in the system, their nature, know-how and the technologies they have at their
Present situation of intensive swine breeding. The upper part shows the inputs that are necessary to raise the animals, the central
part shows the pigs referred to as industrial products, whilst the lower part is devoted to all the outputs generated by the breeding
activity. The red triangles indicate criticalities or negativities arising from it.
19 see annex 1 for its wider description.
Design Methodology
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disposal and that they use on a day-to-day basis. In addition to the aforementioned aspects, we need to
understand the relationship occurring between the parties and the context, as well as the proxemic
communication they have, one with the others and with the production, transformation and marketing sites of
the product or service of reference.
All the components that enable a system to live, have to be thoroughly acknowledged.
The analysis of these inputs and outputs will have to be of two different kinds:
quantitative so as to know the quantities that we move around and we avail of;
qualitative to know exactly what we have at our disposal.
This simple step enables us to have a clear idea of:
- the resources we need, of their features and origins;
- rejects or processing waste, of their specific qualities and their final destination;
- what occurs throughout the processes, comparing the specific differences of inputs and outputs.
Data on incoming and outgoing flows of materials and energy are provided, including information about their
nature, their origin and their future use or destination, at the end of a process where they have undergone
different transformation phases, some of them with a higher quantity of energy consumption, some more
sustainable and some others more consistent with the resources of the context where the process takes place.
The chart of the current state of affairs is meant to provide an example of what happens within the production
system of the swine supply chain. In the middle, one can see the focus of the system, that being the quantity
of pigs reared and the ultimate goal of all the operations.
The upper part of the table shows what happens prior to the breeding, paying specific attention to the
procedures and the quantities of the elements that support the production activity from the outside. The lower
part shows the generated outcomes.
As a result, we obtain a global vision of the process and of the overall relationships that characterize and make
the system work.
The left hand table shows the current food intake of the pigs, in comparison with the varied and nourishing food supply, shown on the
right hand side, that is obtained with a systemic approach resorting to the resources of the territory, jointly with the nutritious outputs
of the local productions.
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By focusing only on one product, the swine, some economic results can be achieved, by means of an exponential increase in the
number. On the contrary, planning the flows of matter, of output/input and energy within an open system, will result in a diversified
production, an increased economic outcome and a decreased number of livestock, in balance with the resources provided by the
territory.
At this point one can notice how ―useless‖ and contradictory it is to focus merely on the individual parts,
ignoring the links with the elements existing inside, outside and all around the process. Moreover, an approach
by single parts has proved to be in contrast with the dynamism of the whole and with the "traditional" efficiency
of the natural systems we can purposefully take as an example.
One can perceive to shift from a simple interest in the product, such as pigs, in this particular case, to a more
global view of flows of matter and energy.
A change in the trend allows us to highlight the flaws of the current cultural and productive approach. Our
society, attending only to the material aspects of the product or the solution of specific problems, tends to
neglect the relationships built between the players. For this reason it cannot take an active part in the process,
and manage all the consequences adequately, which is effect of paying too much attention on partial or final
outcomes, rather than the global system.
At the state of affairs, one can ascertain that, within the current intensive productions, many choices are made
uncritically, sometimes according to a customary fashion, or simply to maintain a linear-oriented tradition which
has proved, at present, to be rather defective. One may even discover that many effective and fruitful deep-
rooted habits, provided for and tested by local ―know-how‖ over the years, have been neglected to sustain
false innovation.
The safeguard of this global vision, beneficial to the sustainable transformation of the processes, can be
attained by drawing a graphic chart, allowing us to retrace both with eyes and mind, the flows of matter and
energy, their use, the knowledge capitals, the relationships between the actors, and the contextualization of
the system in analysis. These graphic schemes allows for simultaneous synoptic views of the values at stake,
and for the overall number of criticalities we may need to work on. Particularly the latter are represented within
a process and are to be taken into account in comparison with it. The causes of a problem can be ascertained
when they occur, or in the light of previous choices or phases, or because of their misinterpretation, or even
within the ―value‖ generated in the course of the following steps.
Every problem is assessed according to different parameters, such as advantages and economic value,
environmental sustainability, correlation with the territory and production flexibility. Each of these parameters is
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evaluated both from a quality and quantity point of view. In turn, the study of the quantity allows us to outline
an economic scheme of the whole, giving conclusive evidence of the fact that the entire process, besides
being based only on the production focus, (being the swine, in this particular case, but it could be any other
product on the market), can only be improved by increasing the number of products considerably.
This peculiarity of the present economic/productive system, and the consequential on-going increase in the
quantity of waste, are real issues to be dealt with in the forthcoming future, if we wish to develop our society in
a positive and satisfactory way.
Identifying the problems and trying to understand them leads to a clearer perception of the phenomena they
have arisen from. Physics, biology, chemistry, mathematical sciences, history and economy, are the
indispensable tools for this analysis. A designer is only asked to coordinate, enhance and harmonize their
contributions and to change the faults in the dynamic flow of the production. As a consequence, he may be
better equipped to delve into the problems, to understand causality relationships between phenomena and to
discern the priorities of the planning process, in compliance with the information provided by nature, an
unquestioned and unparalleled model of efficiency.
Nature is the SYSTEM par excellence in that the natural processes take place at ambient temperature and
pressure. They occur within a relational system based upon principles of reciprocity, complementarity and
supplementarity, interwoven among the different species, throughout an on-going autopoietic generation of
optimization. In fact these processes are able to adapt their own ―behaviours‖ to the specific context,
enhancing its peculiarities and metabolizing surplus, waste and harmful substances, by means of multiple
interactions developed among the different Kingdoms (animals, plants, fungi, algae, bacteria).
Following in nature‘s footsteps may help the designer reorganize the starting point of the current situation, to
identify less energy-consuming processes and productions, and to emphasize the neglected qualities of the
outputs as much as possible. By doing so, all kinds of matter may be turned into input for other productions or
systems, via connections that may be entwined with the productive realities carried out on the territory (albeit
very different), and prompted to ―dialogue‖ with each other, constructively and consistently with the production
in analysis. Consequently we need to act in conformity with the traditional approach adopted by industrial
design, without looking for answers exclusively within the original technical-cultural contexts, instead, within
other fields of application, making use of the know-how of natural processes.
A systemic project prevents focalisation only on one product and tends to privilege complexity, local dimension
and flexibility. This enables us to revitalize and resume the normal links between each firm and its own
context, based on the outputs it has produced, and to prioritise the decrease in the number of items that have
not been adequately enhanced (waste).
Thinking by connections is the only applicable solution when attempting to solve the problem of the
environmental impact, a burden placed on the territory, on account of intensive productions. In conformity with
the consistency between outputs available and required inputs, a designer may conceive useful connections
and interactions, and think of more innovative ways to employ matter. This will enable one to arrive at new
productions and forms of energy generation, and will commit the many players of a territory to modern, flexible
and multipolar economic models.
The heart of the project is set on very specific assumptions. The presence of pollution and disposable waste,
implies that human and material resources are being misused. A more adequate employ of the same may
result in new production processes, new opportunities to make profits and new forms of coexistence between
production and reproduction activities, in compliance with the new parameters for a modern and sustainable
balance within the ecosystem.
The graphic table of the systemic view, related to the swine production chain, shows a remarkable increase
both in the flows of the energy production and metabolized materials which, as different systems are being
developed, show that the generated relational network is undoubtedly much wider than the sum of the
individual parts. In fact, this planning methodology has different types of positive outcomes: a decrease in the
number of individual products (swine, in this case) focussing on building a balanced relationship with the
resources of the territory; an exponential growth of production capacity of the territory; new and more useful
material assets; better quality services, administered to the community; increased productivity; more job
opportunities. These outcomes, which are not detrimental to the quality of life, should also prove that, a
positive dialogue with the territory, involves taking notice of the material culture and enhancing knowledge that
one needs to place within the historical context of reference.
Design Methodology
| 70SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Swine breeding is one of the development factors and the relationships outlined, generate the metabolic flow of output/input of
matter
Design Methodology
| 71SYSTEMIC DESIGN
This methodological approach is often blamed for decreasing the need of new productions, in that external
imports and resources are already being used. This is the problem! One has to find externally what is needed
to meet the demands internally, no matter how far one has to go.
Data show that major levels of overproduction, waste, surplus and underutilization are consequential to
intensive productions, in addition to its core business. Turning these features into resources for the territory,
means giving new opportunities to all those who are more likely to incur the costs of their disposal (albeit
directly or indirectly).
If we exploit the sense of territorial belonging of the resources we may boost a type of development that
favours the local dimension and allows the sprouting of self-sufficient realities, able to produce, supply and
generate energy autonomously, and there will be a dramatic decrease in the number of long haul
transportation.
The field of research regards multidisciplinarity, which provides the foundation for the systemic approach, as
the only way to go for future development. Sustainable development, ecological education and systemic
thinking are all feasible approaches only if we all consider ourselves as part of a network where relationships
have greater importance than single parts. Passing these concepts to research, if specializing in a determined
field is fundamental, it is equally important to be able to comprehend the various relationships that exist among
different fields of study, which also imply a universal grounding: only from the hidden connections among
these different fields can originate new research areas and innovation gets to be possible, if we intend it not as
technological obstinacy but as different perspective from where to observe problems, in order to find non-
conventional solutions.
The possibility of observing real examples of systemic integration on the ground, starting new scientific,
economic, sociologic and politic research partnerships with the other actors from the territory, leads towards
an open dialogue among the players, a strong sense of collective sharing and triggers a highly innovative
territorial development that takes its components into account.
We must address the whole entrepreneurial world of agriculture and industry. Systems design opens up the
possibility of innovative and virtuous business models in which the waste, that is today a burden, tomorrow can
become a resource for new industrial systems offering numerous opportunities of development in the region, in
productive areas and in connected services.
It is important not to make the mistake of considering a systemic productive reality as a cluster. The latter only
share geographical location and type of production, concepts in contradiction to the notion of territorial
integration, analysed in the broadest sense of resource provision and innovative development. In Italy there
are a lot of clusters that have been developing around a specific production (machine tools, jewels, shoes,
furniture, etc.) but unfortunately none of them has an internal systemic management.
Any enterprise wishing to be competitive, sustainable and looking at the future in the optic of meeting the
needs of the society and the current market requests, must relate to needs like innovation capacity,
introduction of new technologies and action in always evolving areas right as the systemic approach proposes.
Thus it is essential to develop multiple and simultaneous actions, able to consider both profitability and
sustainability: from this point on, it is necessary to create new learning models and professionals, and it is also
useful to deeply analyze the entrepreneurial activity of people that believed in the development of this model.
We have noticed that, little by little, greater entrepreneurship awareness is being raised. We hope these
changes will spread rapidly, marking the end of the present economic crisis, that cannot be tackled by re-
starting consumptions, as many of us may hope, but only by changing problem-solving strategies, as clearly
evidenced in the book.
Design Methodology
| 72SYSTEMIC DESIGN
2.2
Experimental projects – case studies
Waste
case studies: Output/input Systemic Software, NN Europe, Lanzi, Coffee dregs, Polylaminates/multilayered
materials, Mr. PET quality waste separation, Waste waters of an abattoir, Security Gallery of
Frejus Highway Tunnel, International Network of Producers who realize objects with scraps or
cast-off products (―Le Sedute del Torchio‖, Papili factory), Systemic qualities of materials.
(Industrial) development has always been based on the intensive exploitation of natural resources; this violent
aggression against Nature has jeopardized precious resources that often are unrecoverable.
During the past half-century man has changed the ecosystems, more rapidly and extensively compared with
any other period of humanity, in an attempt to face the rapid growth in demands for food, water, timber, fibres
and fuel.
Water, air, soil, from which most of the indispensable resources for human survival derive, until not too long
ago seemed to have no value and were exploited in the conviction and presumption that they would never be
depleted.
As a result, the downgraded ecosystems deprived of their biodiversity by man, have proved to be less stable
and efficient in stress conditions: for this reason they tend to undergo any transformation process
unfavourably. Now we must acknowledge the scarcity of these resources and plan ways to manage them
more rationally.
In a similar context in the past few years two questions of social, economic and environmental significance
have become ever more problematic:
on the one hand we are witnessing the continuous rise in the price of raw materials and a strong
demand on international markets for recoverable materials,
while, on the other hand, we are producing more waste.
If on the one hand in daily life we make an effort to eliminate solid urban waste (about 30-40% of the whole) by
differentiating collection, on the other hand we are paying less attention to industrial waste (which, instead,
add up to about 60-70% of the whole). The latter is perceived as being far from our personal sphere, though
the mass media reminds us of the growing importance of its impact and the proportions of the phenomena.
And this does affect our daily life. We could go so far as to consider waste an indicator of lifestyles or
consumption habits of the society in which we live. It tells us what we consume, how much we consume, the
way in which we consume it. This statement derives from a careful observation of the power of persuasion we
are all subjected to everyday, through various media that exalt the equation according to which greater
consumption favours a rise in one's well-being and social prestige. We must wake up to the fact that the
growing mass of waste generated by industrial activities is becoming increasing critical as much as it causes
serious damage to human health and the environment.
Humans have recognized the problem too late and have tried to solve it downstream of the process of using
the product. These actions that later proved to be inefficient.
This occurred because we have always thought of production processes as a sequence of actions,
independent from one another, implemented to produce a commodity. Along with said commodity a huge
amount of waste is produced. Said waste is considered an obvious result, along with the finished product of
the manufacturing process. And as such it is accepted. We must change this approach. In a world that is ever
more complex, like the world we inhabit today and will inhabit in the future, we must extend our gaze to the
entire production process and see it in its entirety, not by single phases. We must deal with everything
produced, products and waste, to start implementing targeted actions to achieve a substantial harmonization
of the relationship between the environment and context. Production must be seen as a support to society and
not as an end in itself. Therefore we need to seek out new ways of producing that guarantee remarkable
results in social, ethical and environmental terms and lead to an improvement in the quality of life.

Waste | 73SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Output/input Systemic Software
in collaboration with Neosidea Group, Torino (Italy)
The purpose of this study is to propose an instrument for study and analysis based on the concept of an open
system that would allow the configuration and realization of a new network of connections among different
companies in geographic proximity. This would allow the establishment of relations for the purpose of
achieving zero emissions by implementing a sustainable management of the waste products of said
companies. This would also earn them revenue from the sale of their outputs (waste).
We are sadly aware that our current production activities discard most of the resources found in nature. This is
what happens, for example, every time we extract cellulose from trees to make paper and we fell a high
number of forests, when we only use 20-25% of the trees. The remaining 70-80% is unfortunately wasted. At
this point using and realizing a Systemic Software is absolutely essential, in that it aims at using specific
marketing strategies, to build a network of knowledge, with an eye on waste reduction and enhancement of the
remaining outputs, endowing them with new economic, environmental and legislative value.
As a consequence, waste becomes a productive resource and the new links, built among local/geographically
closed firms, will limit the use of external resources, will allow greater clarity on traceability of sectors involved
and will help to identify strategies for further territorial development tools.
Owing to the fact that things are assessed from completely different angles, it is possible to conceive new
productive scenarios where costly and useless waste to be disposed of, may be reemployed to the benefit of
other realities with similar interests or simply placed in contiguous areas. These new production contexts may
convert this waste into raw materials and create something of added value.
New flows of material create relationships between different companies that come together to reach a
condition of reciprocal advantage by reusing the outputs of their production processes.
Within the system, the flows of matter and energy generate internal links and relationships according to which
it is possible to define the individual local systems. This interwoven structure enables different systems to
connect with one another, both on a regional and global level.
We are faced not only with an environmental issue, but also with the opportunity to frame a marketing network
for our own outputs.
Graphic map of the site structure.

In the case at hand the study area is Piedmont Region, and specifically each of its provinces where the major
activities are associated with the sector of metalworking and textiles as well as agriculture and animal
husbandry.
In this study area it was essential to determine which activities can be connected in an open production
system with the goal of completely re-utilizing the waste and achieve a ―zero emissions‖ production system.
Along with this identification process, we also carefully analyzed the data on the MUD (the Italian
Environmental Declaration Form) which reports the waste produced by economic activities, along with the
waste collected by the municipalities and the waste treated and eliminated, sent to be recycled or transported
during the year previous to the declaration. On this form the waste is divided according to industrial output,
activity and category of waste, and the waste management activities conducted for each:
waste management activities grouped by region;
detailed data regarding the recycling activities of the aggregated waste by category;
detailed data regarding the waste treatment activities grouped by waste category.
The study of this information in relation to the activities for managing the waste produced by the major sectors
on the Piedmontese territory shows that currently there is a large quantity (tens of thousands of tons per year)
of material with abundant potentialities brought to the dump or destined to biological or chemical-physical
treatments. Said treatments produce compounds or mixtures that are eliminated by scattering them on the soil
or storing them in permanent storage locations. This not only prevents the possibility of exploiting the intrinsic
richness of these materials more effectively but also squanders resources that can be used in other areas.
Last but not least, this approach is potentially dangerous to the environment.
All of this is further demonstrated by the comparative data between the types of waste and the operations they
undergo currently to recuperate material. The result is a huge amount of material, today seen as waste and
not as a resource, used mainly as fuel or scattered on the soil to benefit agriculture or the environment.
However, this method fails to take into account that if the waste is contaminated it will contaminate the soil on
which it is scattered.
Subsequently research is focusing on the study of the current use of manufacturing waste and in particular the
different types of waste to identify which ones are already being recovered and which are being sent to the
dump. This is being done to determine and categorize the different types of waste to be studied.
To prefigure the use of outputs as resources in a new process, the quantity and quality of the waste produced
currently on the regional territory of Piedmont are carefully examined. Then they are categorized according to
their chemical-physical and biological properties and their potential applications.
The results show the differences between the current production process having a linear structure and the new
process that proposes an open industrial system based on the sequence:
output quantity/quality > output reutilization > resources > profits.
Specifically we are dealing with the design and establishment of a software that leads to the management of a
databank that can be consulted. Initially the information about the outputs produced and the inputs required as
resources is acquired and organized in terms of quantity, type, quality and geographical location on the
territory, and connect them with one another by means of a complex logic.
The logic and the algorithms that interpose with the information acquired, make the structures normal and
interconnected, easily assessable with technologically advanced tools, serving the purpose of making
information intelligible and accessible to the people who need to interface with the Systemic Software.
Web 2.0 technologies have enabled us to devise an interactive internet portal20, designed for the operators, for
consulting and interacting.
The system has two interfaces allowing for two different access points:
the back-end interface for authorised users. Used for data and information management purposes
(outputs, inputs, geographical coordinates, etc);
the front-end interface for regular users who utilise the Software to collect information about newly
applied systemic solutions and unexplored business opportunities.
20 www.polito.it/design/softwaresistemico

A new function has been added to the processing system. A geolocation feature will permit the tracking down
of activities and materials, and to provide information on new output application fields, as well as the exact
geographical location of the flows of matter within a local network whose nodes are the companies on the
territory. The result will be the one to boost and enhance the local economies and to accurately assess market
opportunities within those areas that are yet to be explored with a systemic approach.
Table of the short-range interconnections of the outputs/inputs, that can be activated on the territory.
The software tool meets the following requirements:

it projects information and processed data, by means of standard and interactive broadcast media;
interconnection with the players, on the territory;
compliance between production processes and materials, according to dynamic logics and criteria that
competent people can easily identify;
interface with geolocation tools for logics enhancement, on a variable territorial scale;
external database acquisition for the management of different types of participants and production
activities;
abstraction and aggregation of processed data, that are consistent with dynamic logics aiming for new
flows of matter and economic opportunities addressed to the players of the relational network.
Hence the Systemic Software can provide additional information to be used when building new production
chains, flows of matter and service in favour of all the activities who have joined. This is possible by means of
a systematic update and comparison of the systemic logics for reusing materials with the local production

activities and the territory. We are geared to short production chains where the operators can turn to the local
firms whenever they need resources or to set operations for outputs reuse, in order to help them bond with the
territory. Transactions of materials will need to be carried out within an operating area not exceeding 50-60
kilometres, so as to reduce times and impacts.
An all-round view of the facts allows us to identify new useful destinations and uses for the outputs.
The data we have gathered is precious to environmental experts, researchers, ecologists, public authorities,
local governments and, of course, the entrepreneurs, whenever they need to work on a growing number of
concrete areas, be they biotypes or ecotypes of the local system, in compliance with sustainability. This
invaluable tool allows for: better usability; easy use and satisfaction; an increased potential of the market
segment; more adequate exploitation of technological and local resource; improved lifestyle for the society
whose quality depends upon its relationship with the surrounding environment; enhanced local and economic
potentials. The demand for this technological support stems from the awareness that a ―virtual‖ network allows
for more rapid reactions towards the environmental issues and involvement of different market segments. In
addition it may affect both the decisions and the actions performed by the public authorities and the producing
firms, in a more constructive way. it is an essential tool that enables us to grasp the true nature of our territory
and to discover and enhance its potential, thanks to different types of shared knowledge and the collaboration
of all the participants. It is a tailor-made, people-friendly "ecological and systemic web‖, that triggers a positive,
developmental relationship among the users.
It is truly innovative in that it raises the producers‘ awareness of how the waste issue can be solved by setting
up a complex relationship, where the outputs of a productive processes connect the nodes of a network, build
by the local firms, which convey knowledge, wellbeing, matter and energy.
The advantages of such an approach are both environmental and economic. Among them the most significant
is the reduction of waste disposal costs and the consequent increase in profits a company earns from selling
its own outputs. This also reduces environmental costs (such as energy consumption, pollution and traffic

caused by the transportation of materials because it uses materials already existing locally) and avoids
exploiting virgin raw materials.
The Systemic Software would have four functions:
producers of waste would be able to determine which local companies could use their outputs as
resources in their production process;
the software could tell them which companies produce outputs that they can use as resources;
new and unexplored territorial opportunities may be shown to different producers;
the software could also be an effective instrument for evaluating the entire production process and
become an instrument for providing feedback.
This process can provide useful and effective information regarding the company‘s current production process.
If you enter the type of waste produced by your company as a search criterion, and the database gives no
results for possible reutilization of your outputs, this means your current production process makes waste that
cannot be reused or recycled. It means your company produces items by using inputs and processes that do
not comply with the view of an open system.
This sheds light on the need to make certain changes within the production chain or to reconsider the current
inputs in favour of other ones that are more environmentally sustainable.
The Systemic Software can help both assess the application of systemic approach within a territorial area, and
identify those interactions, aiming to create a network, ergo a system capable of self-sufficiency and support.
Among the benefits gained by the territory, are the ones related to the development of matter and energy
relationships, of self-sufficient production systems, able to generate and supply energy autonomously, in close
connection with the local know-how. What is more, these new links between the companies, lead to a
decreased use of external resources, enhance traceability of the production chains concerned and help
identify strategies for further development of the territory.

Production of ball bearings
in collaboration with NN Europe S.p.A., part of the American group NN Inc.
The problem of waste is linked to decisions made prior to production, as well as to the cultural attitude to them.
Choices concern non-renewable synthesis raw materials, inefficient energy-consuming processes that involve
an unreasonable amount of waste and focus their core business solely on one individual element of the
production. Moreover, at the end of the process, waste is considered in a negative and superficial manner,
most of the time beforehand, without exploring its inner qualities.
The problem is not the lack of "users" but the inability to find them, as the matter has been tainted. It is obvious
that we need to get to the bottom of the problem, by delving into the issue of the quality of the inputs and the
productive systems. Unless we do so, waste cannot possibly be tackled without resorting to expensive and
ostentatious procedures.
View of the phases regarding the production process and fields of use for ball bearings: energy, industry, automotive sector.
NN Europe S.p.A. is a firm that is part of the American group NN Inc., a world leader in the production of high-
quality steel ball-bearing systems. This company is an emblematic case in that it is faced with the
aforementioned problems on a day-to-day basis.
An assessment of the current production system has identified, among the most pressing matters, those
concerning the use of non-renewable resources as inputs and highly energy-consuming processes:
bakelite abrasive wheels for high quality finishing. During the production phase, this thermo-hardening
resin generates formaldehyde, a substance that, once inhaled, can be carcinogenic;
non-renewable and non-disposable mineral oils and hydrocarbon solvents are used during processing
activities. Throughout this phase, such auxiliary liquids tend to emit harmful vapours and entail specific
(and expensive!) air-treatment processes;
traditional temper processes prove to be inadequate. Ball bearings are heated in an oven, causing
heat and energy dispersal. Cooling off is done in mineral oil baths with washing processes.

The current process uses non-renewable resources. Some production phases are highly energy consuming and the outputs are
polluted and inadequate for use.
This ―preliminary remark‖ engenders negative outcomes on the output quality, which become an economic
burden and an environmental problem:
solidified viscous matter and processing waters are polluted with mineral oils;
corncob, used for drying the ball bearings, absorbs mineral oil so that it cannot be reused;
hydrocarbon kerosene is harmful and polluting;
bakelite is detrimental, also during post-use phases, in that it produces formaldehyde.
These problems cannot be solved with systematic and increasing improvements, consistent with the ―current‖
productive situation, but only through deep revisions and a radical change in attitude that the company has
promptly developed.
The systemic approach has revolutionised the whole production system, starting from the inputs of matter,
their flows, techniques, processing and subsequent energy charge.
The new milestone for the NN Europe plant of Pinerolo (Torino, Italy) has been the production of 16,000 tons
of ball bearings without using auxiliary pollutant liquids.
The use of manufacturing inputs that are highly biodegradability, surface-active agents deriving from
cornstarch and fatty acid from coconut, in a solution with water and sodium bicarbonate, perfectly replaced the
hydrocarbon products that today are used in washing and lubricant-coolant processes.
Observing how the surface tension is exploited by nature, allowed us to determine other forms of production
and cleaning of balls by using natural surfactants21.
21to know more about the project, see: Cristian Campagnaro, Five billion of balls. Systemic design and metallurgic production, CEA,
Milano (Italy), 2009.

Seeking alternative natural solutions to the habitual use of raw materials, increases environmental sustainability of the productive
processes.
―Sugar instead of oil‖. This impressive innovation is about to be introduced in production.

Keeping an eye on the natural processes and on the reasons why they are more effective at ambient
temperature and pressure, we have kept on looking for ―natural‖ alternatives to the aforementioned criticalities,
aiming to a further increase in environmental sustainability of the productive process:
the surface-finishing wheels can be produced with wood resins from the Ipè tree, a byproduct of the
woodworking chain, just as strong and effective as bakelite (that pollutes during production and post-
use disposal phases);
the use of plant esters in the pressing phase will make it possible to eliminate the entirely mineral oil
and prefigure new utilization phases downstream from their use in the company;
―new‖ processes for induction hardening that are more efficient than the traditional furnace ones will
use water for cooling instead of mineral oil; this leads to a reduction in the additional washing phases
needed to eliminate the oil from the surface of the ball bearings.
The first goal for NN Europe is to produce 16,000 tons of ball bearings with no use of polluting processing liquids.

The new productive process, whose experimental phases CASTROL BP has actively taken part in, allows the
development of virtuous bonds between the company and its own territorial context, according to the outputs
produced:
processing waters with tensioactivity levels above standard (unacceptable for sewage introduction)
develop algae, water plants and autochthonous fish farming, and subsequently activate a
phytodepuration process;
thanks to the elimination of the mineral oils, the corncob for drying ball bearings will no longer be
contaminated and can be used to cultivate certain mushroom species that are edible and have
pharmaceutical use;
steel shavings derived from surface processing, with no presence of viscous matter, are sold at a
rather considerable price;
surface-finishing wheels made with wood resin have value added applications and have no negative
effects on the environment.
Thinking by connections in conformity with Nature, reinvigorates the bond between industry and territory. It is remarkably helpful
when tackling the problem of process outputs, that enter the natural system effortlessly.
A systemic approach to the problems of industrial production is the ultimate innovation, in that it raises
producers‘ awareness of how the matter of waste can be brought to an end:
by building complex relationships among the producers, so as to turn them into nodes of a network
that conveys knowledge, wellbeing, matter and energy;
by assessing what happens prior to waste, without delegating responsibility to other operators;
by providing adequate cultural and government regulatory instruments for the building of open
production systems.

Personal Coveralls (PC) - work gloves
in collaboration with Lanzi srl
The waste is produced not only in a production process but also through an incorrect or superficial way of
dealing with a product already in its conception. Starting from the ―upstream waste‖ using the experience
gained by the firm in the above mentioned sector, we reworked the entire production process trying to
implement a systemic approach.
In recent years, the production of individual protections prescribed by law to prevent accidents in the handling
of finished parts or components, has mainly been oriented to ―disposable‖ products. At first the devices were
produced locally, but in order to restrain prices the production have moved to countries with low labour cost
(―Made in LCC‖ - Low Cost Countries) until they were completely relocated in the Far East, particularly in
China or India. This choice has produced positive results in the short term by developing working places in
those countries and allowing Western companies to be able to develop a renewed economic competitiveness.
But soon the competition to cover the high costs due to the logistic has focused on manufacturing prices which
lead to reduced quality of both raw materials and products. The life of the protection devices has been
therefore reduced but it increased upstream the volume of raw materials and downstream, in the place of use,
the waste volume that these products produce being often painted with oils or fats. The initial economic
advantage of low prices has now become a higher final cost to the customer.
Scheme of the linear production model with economic/production indications.
The present economic situation has increased the need to find new economically efficient solutions and
simultaneously improve the gloves‘ protection, dexterity and comfort for medium to high risks. In collaboration
with Lanzi srl, it started an analysis of the problem concerning hazardous waste in order to deal the entire
process from raw materials to processing, use and disposal according to sustainability criteria shared with the
customers. This retroactive feedback to the source can be seen in a concrete application concerning the use
of protective gloves, which highlights interesting possibilities of reprocessing procedures through cleaning and
repair. The adoption of such procedures ensure the conformity of regenerated gloves standards of
certification, health and comfort, allowing the reuse of devices and reducing the volumes of products to be

disposed as hazardous waste. The gloves regeneration also allows to lower costs per use to lower levels than
those of ―disposable‖ devices, of less protection and comfort features.
The reviewed process has lead to new products with better quality and higher value; although still "Made in
LCC‖, they are now "Re-Made in Italy" and the use of resources and manpower on national territory and the
reduction of the volumes of generated waste, grants the satisfaction of everyone involved. The conformity of
regenerated products is ensured by a technical structure inside Lanzi company through a laboratory equipped
and approved by an important European Notified Body, for conformity assessment and the simulation of field
use conditions of working gloves and clothing.
The feedback process has also improved the products for higher cut protection, higher grip on the palm and fingers, higher
resistance to sharp metal burrs as well as the forearm protection.
The new systemic approach is complemented by an automated distribution system dispenser online linked to
the plant LAN that allows all authorized users, using their company ID badge, to withdraw the assigned PCs
only, in the quantity allocated to each user profile monitoring consumption in real time.
Outline of the new systemic production model.

Workers can withdraw at any time only the PCs assigned to their user profile, in the quantities required,
ensuring conformity with company safety plan and eliminating waste and risks caused by the use of improper
protection.
Economic outcomes and environmental benefits of the new system.

Coffee dregs
in collaboration with Lavazza S.p.A.
This recent experiment, is a wonderful example of the application of systemic approach in a production system
and highlights the amount of resources wasted by the present consumerist culture.
Coffee, despite being grown and cropped in distant countries, has become a symbolic and unmatched ritual of
the Italian tradition, giving birth to a product without equal: espresso coffee. Nowhere else in the world one
may find such a frothy, creamy liquid, with its distinctive aroma, like the one served in Italian coffee shops. It is
the result of a skilful recipe where carefully selected coffee beans are finely ground and brewed by means of
hot water and steam pressure, and then blended with a well-established know-how to produce a magical treat
for our palates.
Unfortunately research has stopped at this stage. In fact, after you‘ve made an espresso, all you need to do is
shake the portafilter down the basket and you dispose of the unwanted dregs, soon classified as compost, or
worse, unseparated waste, ready for the dump.
The fairy tale of "gusto" is over.
At present coffee dregs are not emphasised as something valuable, but are dumped with organic, unseparated waste.
We think we have exploited the matter and made the best of it; as a consequence, we have lost our refined
knowledge ingloriously. But this story of ancient know-how can actually have a happy ending if only we
stopped wasting coffee dregs.
A view of the continuous flow of output qualities, within a systemic approach and starting from roasted coffee beans. These qualities
are turned into inputs for other production systems and create new products, before they are used as fertilizers in the natural farming
cycle.

Part of the nutrients contained in coffee beans are now the beverage. Yet the dregs are still usable, as they
have beneficial resources, such as lipids, nitrogen and polyphenols, as well as water absorbed during the
brewing phase. In fact, 100 grams of ground coffee have 1 gram of caffeine, 15 grams of lipids, 2 grams of
nitrogen and 9 grams of polyphenols (tannins).
In Italy, the overall consumption of coffee accounts for nearly 250,000 tons per year of coffee22 (35% in coffee
shops, 65% at home). If we consider that lipids, used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sector are worth
about 152 €/kg one may want to ponder before throwing things in the rubbish bin. The same applies to
mushroom farming and earthworm breeding, used to produce a premium fertilizer for agricultural cultivation.
In collaboration with Lavazza we have set up an experimental mushroom cultivation programme aimed at
exploring the opportunities offered by this activity and to check the feasibility of these passages. The results
obtained will be displayed at the international exhibitions Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre
2008.
The Città dei Ragazzi di Torino (the City of the Youth of Torino) has put bales of nearly 3 kg of cultivation
substrate in greenhouses. They are made of 0.4 kg of coffee dregs, 2.5 kg of straw and 0.1 kg of chalk, mixed
with mycelium. Different cultivation sections have been organised in order to have, at the end of the process, a
crop to be dried (for 120 days with 3 fructification yields).
Each bale has yielded nearly 1.5 kg of fresh edible mushrooms (the Pleurotus ostreatus type) with a biological
efficiency of 1:2.
Photograph of the cultivation process and exposition at the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2008.
At the end of the experiment the commonly called exhaust substrate was used as fertilizer within the
agricultural activities carried out by the same farm.
A team of young designers carried out the whole cultivation project to show the concrete potential to yield
result, without specialist staff.
22 Databank source, data referring to 2007.

Planning chart regarding the use of coffee dregs, after enjoying an espresso.
At this point, the fairy tale of ―gusto‖ can continue.

Coffee dregs can be sent to the plants for the extraction of lipids. They are the very same factories23 where
caffeine is extracted from the beans to make decaffeinated coffee. Dregs are mixed with straw, chalk and
mycelium, to form the mushroom substrate. The mixture can be used in earthworm breeding and become,
eventually, a substitute for synthesised chemical products in farming activities.
This fairy tale has now a very traditional happy ending, with economic values for each individual product
accounting for:
lipids 152 €/kg;
exsiccated mushrooms 60 €/kg;
vermicompost 90 €/t;
earthworms 0.10 € each (every ton of vermicompost produces 5,000 earthworms).
23 by making small changes.

Polylaminates/multilayered materials
Polylaminates are semi-finished products made of layers of different high-quality materials, such as paper,
aluminium and polyethylene. They are mostly used by packaging, computer and health industries, to produce
snack packets, vacuum-packed coffee, cartons for long-life drinks (called Tetrapak after the manufacturing
firm), CDs, DVDs, nappies and sanitary pads. These products originate from different raw materials that are
blended together to form a single agglomerate.
The socio-cultural changes, occurred during the past few years, have led to an increase in the exponential
number of scraps, derived from multilayered materials. However, despite the presence of excellent
technologies for integrating materials, no adequate processes have been devised for their separation.
Food and information industries have brought about many innovations, based on the blending of different
materials. A revolutionary invention turned into an ecological nightmare by the lack of recycle opportunities.
Waste may be transformed into a resource, but only by means of adequate technologies and developed
communication systems, used to engage and raise awareness of the people involved in the process. Waste is
currently burned within incinerators in order to obtain energy. If we used its raw materials, we would arrive at
an economic outcome, much higher than the corresponding energetic amount.
One of the problems highlighted by the present day analysis of this matter, is the huge economic loss
experienced, both by waste management consortiums and urban waste collection companies. Separate waste
collection is, at present, a huge economic burden, weighting on the citizens. This cost may be turned into an
advantage if we reanalysed management systems carefully and assessed the economic opportunities,
stemming from suitable waste separation processes.
The present situation shows that polylaminates produced in Italy, in a year, are just an environmental ―burden‖
to be thrown in the dump. On the contrary, if we change our attitude and start looking at them as new
resources as well as sources of renewed raw materials, we may arrive at quantifying the value wasted every
year.

We find out how to solve this problem, in biology.
Enzymes extracted from algae, plants and fungi, contain an acid compound suitable for separating packaging,
CDs and DVDs, and enabling to arrive at the original materials.
The technological innovation, allowing for the polylaminates to be used as raw materials, is a special
enzymatic liquid24, debuted at the Politecnico di Torino, that enables the separation of materials but does not
alter their intrinsic properties, since it works at ambient temperature and pressure.
Photographs of the experiment carried out at Design, Politecnico di Torino.
Once we have seen and tested the feasibility of separating polylaminates, we have outlined a project to
identify automatic processes, used to carry out mechanical operations, that were previously dealt with
manually.
24 developed by a research team of the University of Bogotà leaded by Gloria Gonzales, Carlos Bernal and patented by ZERI.

Polylaminated packaging are disposed of with undifferentiated waste.
The system proposed shows supermarket as the point for collection, management and distribution of the resources yielded both to
agriculture and local industry.

A remarkable decrease in mechanical impact, conducive to material degradation and consumption of energy
and resources, was obtained by involving the consumer in operations of waste separation and enhancement
as well as by combining, within the production process, operative lines of delamination and separation for
flotation apparatus and simple machinery, in lieu of shearing machines, washing machines or decomposers,
as currently used in recycling.
This very attitude laid the foundation for the proposal of many small plants, spread throughout the territory,
rather than a central one that would, otherwise, have a huge environmental impact caused by its own logistic.
These plants would be placed within supermarkets, in that, using points of sale as separation platforms may
lead to multiple economic, environmental and social benefits, those being: widespread distribution on the
territory; use of already existing infrastructures; elimination of the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) phenomena;
generation of new marketing opportunities (as they become producers of raw materials) and modern local
economic activities; polylaminates collection may be connected to the reward cards, provided by the different
supermarkets. Customer loyalty is boosted, by allowing shoppers to earn rewards according to the quantity of
returned materials.
Advantages and disadvantages of collecting polylaminated packaging at the supermarket.
In Piedmont, the potential earnings generated by the sale of separated materials would be nearly 10,036,000 €
per year with an EBT (Earnings Before Tax) of 4,778,020 € per year. The initial fund for investment required
would be 17,000,000 € amortised in four years.
This project of waste employment is likely to yield interesting and repeatable outcomes in other regions.

Table of the factory plant showing the existing machinery and the overall surface.
Raw materials do not need to come from natural repositories. All we have to do is to use adequately what we already have.

Mr. PET quality solid waste separation/collection
in collaboration with Re Academy
From the recycle of PET water bottles, to shopping trolleys in supermarkets, plastic fittings for stationery,
domestic tools and yarn for clothing, furnishing, bags/suitcases.
Solid waste separation/collection, usually carried out by Municipal Entities, is entrusted to the good will of
citizens and to their own public spirit. This simple consideration explains the low percentage of quantity
gathered, which will later have to be selected prevalently by hand.
Instead, Mr. PET25 is the first system with a real effectiveness to the controlled and waste separation of PET
bottles (polyethylene terephthalate), since it involves the citizen directly, offering him a personal motivation.
Indeed, an interactive box has been built: it reads the bar-code on the labels of the bottles introduced, it
compresses them and, in exchange, it provides ―fidelity-points‖.
The consumer is remunerated by charging these points on a magnetic card; through this card there will be
discounts in the supermarket where the waste collection machine is situated (usually in the car park), and, at
the same time, there is a collection of PET quality avoiding the selection by hand.
This collection is carried to the factory where it will be washed and granulated. Eventually, post consumption,
we get a material of great value, the Keorex, directly exploitable for the production in different sectors of
market.
The scheme shows effectively the difference of the environmental impact among the three ways of yarn production, starting from raw
virgin materials, or from solid waste separation/collection, or still from diversified collections of quality.
The positive welcoming of consumers, who become active and essential actors of this system of collection,
has generated a great production of this granule which has the peculiar feature of conserving the original
quality of PET; as well as avoiding to turn directly and constantly to oil, and allowing to use just the 20% of the
power that would be necessary to synthesize from the virgin plastic.
The environmental impact is halved, but still it could improve, almost exponentially, if the granule Keorex
would be introduced in different production sectors.
25 www.mrpet-recycling.com

After several meetings among industries working in different fields, but which are united for the possible use of
Keorex, eventually, now, there is a relational system of production that has the features written above: this
system brought to a table of discussion and widening before, and of production cooperation later, the water
and drinks ―bottlers‖, the shopping trolleys producers, the producers of fittings for stationery, the producers of
domestic tools, of gift and fancy goods, of yarns for clothing, furnishing and trunk manufactories. The amount
of production that can be obtained is considerable, but it is considerable as well the drastic reduction of virgin
plastic obtained with this new relational system of production. The new different products are going to create
specific direct collections: the recycled material will be used for a longer period before turning to extract virgin
material. In this way, on the one hand consumers acquire the awareness of the function of an object and, on
the other hand, the knowledge of the strong economical value that the material of a product – no longer used
or broken – owns concretely and, above all, the economical advantage that could be realized by recycling it.
This is possible only if we involve the consumers actively, making them the real protagonists and not only
simple puppets to manipulate.
Scheme of the complete system of quality solid waste separation/collection with the indication of the producers involved, obtained
products and the following quality solid waste separation/collection that supplies the granulation from different channels.

Water
“… designing means making, creating, manipulating and placing objects; objects themselves transform,
improve, define and assert. Here one has to let things happen, pass, come and go. The challenge is
specularly turned upside down: the project is drawing from the world codes turned into experiences; now
designing means (or could mean) creating positive conditions for letting things run, that is to make a world …”
Paolo Fossati
In the logic of natural processes there are no phenomena comparable to the production fallout or the threat of
inassimilable rests because the continuous biological and physical re-production of the planet is structured in
the form of cyclically-open development, in which each element represents a ring of a unitary course of events.
In the industrial culture the proposal of new qualities happened in a framework of accelerated changes, which
did not pay attention to the difficulty of reproducing resources. Even today the productive cycles aim more for
continual generation of new forms and images than at evolutionary perfection of the living species.
In the case in point water, as matter/resource, encapsulates some of the most important pulsations which form
the symbolic/cultural imagination of man. Its flowing recalls the flow of time, but at the same time its cycle is
one of the greatest metaphors to express the continual possibility for regeneration. The pure spring water is an
image of life itself, whereas dirty water evokes the mare tenebrum, with which the matter of death has been
connected for centuries. Because of these connotations, purification of water tends to acquire a significance
which transcends a simple technical process: hope of purification but also recall of what is toxic and rejected.
Even if water has ever been perceived as a transparent element, without smell or taste, it has in reality a very
strong presence/memory. Not only does it often have its own smell, be it sweet or salty, it can also transform
itself into sound, even noise, regenerative force and driving force. Even when it is not immediately visible it
appears equally tangible because of its profound capability to gather essences, plants and animals in its
sphere. Consequently doing design which deals with water, means to think about its significance and to
rediscover it as matter and, above all, as a resource.
The water cycle in nature
The water cycle, whose technical name is hydrologic cycle, consists of water flowing inside the earth‘s hydrosphere, as well as the
changes in the physical state of water, occurring between the liquid, solid and gaseous state. The hydrologic cycle lies upon the on-
going exchanges of water mass between the atmosphere, the earth, surface and ground waters, and the organisms.

The quality of water in the natural system and the influence of the man
The quality of water is determined by its source of origin and the iterations it performs with substances which may not be absorbed
naturally. Most of the times human beings tend to have a negative influence (about 80% of cases) on many of the factors that
account for the water drinkability. The polluting substance may, however, bear features of biodegradability, and therefore be
absorbed over the years by the Earth‘s system (algae or bacteria which are non-toxic to humans). Alternatively it may not be
biodegradable, hence highly toxic and impacting. Besides the excessive use of water in sectors such as industry and agriculture, do
not allow for the time the natural system needs to regenerate its sources.
Relationships of proximity and the opportunities of the territory
In the attempt to rationalize the man‘s use of freshwater, it is evident that we need to redesign the supply
system of raw materials and to foresee with greater sensibility its end of life use. The man needs to return the
Earth a non-polluted product and this entails working on the local development of adequate technologies.
The concept of localization highlights how determinant it is, for a society, to draw on natural models of
coexistence among different species. There are locally occurring synergies among several natural kingdoms.
They allow the nature itself to be a self-generating autopoietic system, which is kept constant over the years,
by its feature of sustainability. Commerce and industry ought to have this outcome as a goal, that is the
enhancement of the ―local good‖ by means of a correct dialogue among the different kingdoms existing on the
Earth. Economy may continue to develop on a local level, limiting the exploitation of raw materials and
respecting the times of natural regeneration.
In Piedmont, for instance, one may observe that a lot of industries would actually be able to ―dialogue‖ with
regards to the raw materials entering in their own processes, INPUT, and the ones which are dismissed,
OUTPUT.
Localised economy is conducive to great benefits in the time and in the place where it is developed; it is,
therefore, necessary to analyse the economic development of the territory if we wish to design a system of
local commercial relationships.
This approach has made it possible to outline areas where remarkable amounts of water are used by
production companies, resulting in a heavy impact on the territory.
Some fields have been singled out according to the quantity of water used in the production processes and to
the economic impact these industrial sectors have on the territory where they perform (Piedmont area):
- metalworking processes in the district of Verbania,
- rice cultivation in the areas of Novara and Vercelli,

- the industry of cattle slaughtering in the county of Asti,
- water used in the production process of a food company near Alessandria,
- paper production in the county of Cuneo,
- the water flow in the population areas of Val Susa (Mompantero).
In each sector we have tried to understand the type of technologies and the means used in the production
process. In fact taking part to a consolidated and long-tested production cycle entails a perfect knowledge of
its production stages.
The systemic analysis of an industrial sector may emphasise the need for technological changes within the
observed process, yet this usually require a mind-changing attitude where both the means used and the
consolidated relationships among the different actors of the system are called into question.
Design of open systems clearly shows how rebalancing policies put into being within the local synergies may
consolidate liaisons with neighbouring sectors, reducing as a consequence, the environmental impact caused
by the development of many sectors on the same territory. From this point of view, see below the case of the
waters produced by butchering activities.

Waste waters of an abattoir (in a city of 100,000 inhabitants)
Slaughtering process is currently linearly structured and provide for the use of clean water (INPUT) which
becomes polluted, once the meat has been transformed and put on the market (OUTPUT). This water needs
to be processed and purified, in order to rid of the material waste, mainly consisting of blood and small
fragments of meat, which is going to be thrown in the landfill. The European legislation provides for the
chemical treatment of these waters prior to their disposal. However, during this process their properties are not
exploited, on the contrary they are dealt with as if they were low quality waste.
The system has been calculated on nearly 1,500 heads of cattle and the water consumption adds up to almost 10,500 m3/year.
90% of cattle food comes from the cultivation of fodder (1,000 hectares) which is kept at high production levels, by means of
chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Synthesised feeds and dietary supplements are 10% of the cattle food and make sure that the
meat is in compliance with the parameters imposed by butchering and marketing processes (minimum weight, fat quantity, age of the
cow). Each year nearly 750 heads are slaughtered. This process requires 1,125 m3/year of water, used to clean the premises and
the rejects (75%), the tools and the surfaces that have been in contact with the carcass (15%). The water that comes from it is to be
purified through chemical and mechanical procedures, in order to separate the sludge (fragments of meat and blood) from the
purified but still non-drinkable water. The sludge is thrown in the landfill whereas the water is channelled in the sewerage plant.
Yet this system involves the use of other 30,000 m3/year of water for cleaning the stables. However, due to presence of chemical
agents, used for sterilizing the premises, and manure, the produced sludge must be further taken to the landfill. In addition, part of
the urines go directly into the sewerage plant, whereas solid organic waste can be used as fertilizers for cultivation, provided that it is
not industrial (EEC regulations).

The aim is the one to create an open system able to relate with other productive realities as well as with the
local social and cultural context.
The analysis of outputs produced in the abattoir, shows the presence both of solid and liquid parts.
Solid waste from butchery processes may be used to feed fly grubs that became, then, quality food to nourish
quails and fish, such as Rock Bass, Roach and Scardinius (commonly called Rudd). This way, they are
enhanced and placed within two types of business, such as fish breeding (sale and game fishing) and the one
of quails (meat and egg sale).
On the contrary, the residue liquid parts from the slaughtering processes need to be purified.
The project is geared towards a shift from the original mechanical/chemical system, to an equally effective
organic one.
Biological treatment, thanks to the presence of aerobic bacteria, helps the substances contained in the water
be absorbed, reducing in this way the risk of bacterial infections. The product obtained has the following
composition:
sludge containing organic waste;
liquid made of purified, non-drinkable water.
The sludge, mixed with solid cattle manure can be used in a biodigestor for biogas production, for a volume of
nearly 6,000,000 m3/year.
The methane obtained with this process will be needed to generate heat, optimize the physical-biological
purification phase and hasten the process. In addition, it will develop biogas production and improve climate
conditions for growing algae (see liquid part)
The remaining solid part is inert and may be used in farming as a crop fertilizer or as a substrate for growing
algae, due to its high number of minerals which are fundamental to the fertility of the land (e.g. potassium,
calcium and magnesium). It differs from the currently used chemical products as it does not alter the pH of
land and water, it does not destroy the ecosystems based upon these parameters and, as a consequence, it
does not compromise the balance of the natural system where the activity takes place. In addition, this new
fertiliser is particularly suitable for hydroponic cultivation, allowing the growth of specimens of small flowers or
algae.
The liquid component, obtained from the purification process, may be used in the cultivation of algae,
performed in the same place as fish breeding. Algae, not only they purify water, but they also enrich it with
minerals and small bits of leaves, destined to become fish food.
Three different kinds of algae will be produced:
- Blue-Green, used as fertilizer in fodder cultivation;
- Chlorella, a dietary supplement for cattle (it improves meat quality);
- Spirulina, dietary supplement for the man (used in the pharmaceutical sector and in organic diets).
The analysis of the current system confronted with the one that has been planned, shows how relationships
occurring among different sectors have been implemented, and how waste can be conducive to a systemic
process of outputs management where the input necessary for the system itself, is rationalised and reduced.
New earnings have been yielded, as shown in the economic framework comparing the present system and the
projected one.
In fact, the estimated yearly profit, net of investments, would account for nearly 400,000 €. These figures
would not take account of an increased market value of meat. New jobs and, more importantly, non-polluting,
environmentally friendly processes that enhance the quality of the territory would be other important benefits of
this project.

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Waste | 101
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A systemic productive model, applied to waste waters and slaughtering processes, triggers an on-going metabolization flow, jointly
with remarkable economic outcomes (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).

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Interrelation of problems: muck extraction, waste separation of glass and soil impoverishment
The building of a big infrastructure deeply modifies the surrounding environment, not only because of its
invasive presence, but also for the consequent alterations in the use of that territory. For ten years now, the
topic of infrastructures and their environmental effects has been faced by the Ministero dell‘Ambiente (the
Italian Department of Natural Resources) with the help of different tools, as the procedures of VIA (Valutazione
dell‘Impatto Ambientale – Environmental Impact Assessment), the VAS (Valutazione Ambientale Strategica –
Environmental Strategic Assessment ) and the drafting of a new General Plan of Transportation steered
towards methods of environmental sustainability. These range of precautions try to face and prevent the pure
environmental problems, whereas, at the moment, there are no legislative bodies to refer to for the problems
related to the social aspect. The creation of infrastructures, especially in Italy, often occurs with protests and
march of citizens which see their territory and habits modified without enjoying the real advantage of the
project.
Scheme of the present situation.

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The great amount of material drawn by the excavation applies as material for fillings, although this solution
does not underline the potential linked to its physical quality. Despite Italian law does not consider this kind of
material as garbage, its effective use is comparable to a waste settled in a place because of its physical
consistency. In the new design proposal we searched the best valorization of the muck, starting from its
chemical composition: calcareous schist, landslide and alluvial deposits.
For a similar intervention, it is necessary to take into consideration a wider working area compared to the
territory where the excavations are settled, because the consequences of such an activity regard at least a
regional scale. The areas involved in the project are gathered in the centre of Piedmont region: Val Susa,
provinces of Torino, Novara/Vercelli. These three areas present some environmental problems which through
a systemic and integrated vision show several solutions which are worth one to each other with spin-offs with
chain reaction on the whole territory.
The muck problem is put beside these two problems linked with contingent territory because there was no
solution if it would be considered as a single concern; but in this way, a resolving and integrated project for all
the areas has been realized.
Scheme of the systemic project with new resources used and the products spin-offs.

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The building of a security gallery in Val Susa produces a considerable amount of rocky material
(260,000 tons just considering the Italian side) which must be disposed of for about 50 € per ton and
for an environmental cost so much high.
In the area of Torino, the collection of glass shows great responses, but, as far as recycling is
concerned, still there is a part of material (10%) which cannot be treated because it is contaminated by
impurities which would cause damages to the oven and low quality of the glass recycled. The material
produced by the process is not compatible with glass intended for recycling but it owns such qualities
and features that cannot be considered as garbage.
The impoverishment of soil, in the Novara/Vercelli area, is caused by the intensity of rice monoculture.
The increasing exploitation of soil in order to achieve the best economic responses led to a reduction
of soil fertility, solved with the use of pesticides; in a long term prospect, this is not a solution, but it
simply postpones the problem, making it worse, because besides the impoverishment there will be the
necessity of facing a soil and water pollution as well.
Security Gallery of Frejus Highway Tunnel, in collaboration with Tecnositaf, Torino (Italy)
The infrastructure considered for the project is the security gallery of Frejus highway tunnel, Val Susa, which is
now being built; it shows many common features with other big infrastructures of this kind: the excavation of a
rocky material (muck), the influence on the territory logistics and the presence of social and economic
problems.
The designed project arouse by the will of finding a solution to the problems linked to the territory in a
systemic, integrated and complex way: this approach creates exponential and lasting results.
The crucial point of this project consists in increasing the value of muck qualities which is the current scrap in
the building of the highway security tunnel. The presence of a great amount of calcareous schist in its physical
composition allows to employ it in the rice fields to cover the soil, after having minced it into little granulates.
The material used has a potential of 230,000 tons of calcite and 150,000 tons of mica, which compensate for
the lacking of silicon caused by an intensive rice cultivation.
This design solution leads to a series of considerable benefits:
- best use of material qualities,
- support to an impoverished soil;
- less use of pesticides;
- consequent improvement of soil fluid retention (with a reduction of flood risks).
The solution of two important problems, like the muck placement and the impoverishment of soil in the
Novara/Vercelli area, at the same time, produces other territory potentials:
- increasing value of the whole rice biomass.
Generally, the intensive cultivations are focussed on the maximum output of the plant as far as the production
quantity is concerned; but, actually, the whole plant, not only the grain, can produce profit. The analysis of the
cycle referred to the rice production shows two undervalued products: the chaff and the straw, the former rich
in silicon and germanium, the latter rich in cellulose and lignin. Through a process like ―steam explosion‖, still
being tested, the materials written above can be obtained and they have a high economic value.
Germanium is used in electric and electronic equipments thanks to its semi-conductor qualities (half conductor
and half insulator). Lignin is a great combustible material which produces clean energy because it comes from
season crops and because the combustion process produces an amount of carbon dioxide equal to the
amount absorbed by the plant during its whole life.
The qualities of cellulose could be optimized by using it as a raw material in the production of ―non oil‖ plastic
material26. Finally, silicon obtained through the process of chaff steam explosion, has a high quality and
pureness and it could be also used as semi-conductor in the production of photovoltaic panels. As well as that,
26 Novamont is a multinational company expert in the bio-plastic field and it is well connected to the territory, since its head office is in
Novara. This cooperation could lead to the creation of new products (environmentally friendly plastic that comes from cellulose)
which would ensure a great communication within the system: from stones to plastic.

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it could be useful in the production of a new environmentally friendly abrasive paste because it is produced
through a mixture of natural materials (silicon) and recycled materials (non recyclable glass that comes from
the waste separation).
The relation chain from the extraction of muck to new products.
Summing up, chaff and straw, first considered as a waste, useful only for the combustion, are now considered
as raw materials in order to obtain resources that are available for several application fields, both technical and
specialized.
The same is for the muck: from simple filling material it has become useful to cover and care soil, rich in
natural substances, in order to avoid the excessive use of pesticides and the irreversible placer mining of
territory.
The glass that cannot be recycled is usually considered as waste to send to the dump; but here it finds its
collocation in the fulfillment of an innovating product such as the environmentally friendly abrasive paste, since
it contains natural (silicon) and recycled (glass) materials.

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From this point of view, all the materials are brought out not only for their inner qualities, but also for the
several applications through which these qualities are given value.
The applied methodological principle changes the usual perspective of things: waste becomes resource and
resources are used to produce new products, closely connected to the local ―know how‖. Since there are
several new resources, the research aims at finding new application fields, appropriated to the territory system
considered.
The research of new products to put on the market is also due to the fact that they are an instrument to show a
complex system and let a wide audience know it. The two new products proposed are highly environmentally
friendly and they can focus on themselves the communication strength of the whole system, from muck to bio-
plastic or to abrasive paste.
The incomes obtained by selling products originating from glass, chaff and straw allow to amortize in a short
time the initial costs of the equipment for working the muck and other materials. Part of these economic
benefits returns to Val Susa, where the muck is drawn and so where the origin of the whole system is, so that
it would be possible to put into practice actions of spur and development of the territory. As written above, the
mountain community focuses its attention on the disadvantages that the building of Frejus security gallery
could bring and, furthermore, the exportation of muck material towards an area of the region far from Val Susa
could make this perception worse; for these reasons, loans and tax relieves for the local improvement of
territory could support the acceptance of the inconveniences caused by the building of such an infrastructure.
A general compared description about the economic valuation of the outcomes and incomes caused by the two systems.

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The new resources valued by the output and the possible local production of the new products.

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International Network of Producers who realize objects with scraps or cast-off products (“Le
Sedute del Torchio”, Papili factory)
The acquired awareness that many associations or companies are being founded or are already operative all
over the world, producing new products that come from scraps or cast-off products, urged us to show and to
interconnect the outputs that each company is achieving.
The geographical, social and cultural fields where people are working are several and, as well as that, there
are many products which come from this positive close relation with the territory. In order to make these efforts
useful or to avoid that they remain closed in their own context, through the cooperation with the International
Labour Organization27, we are trying to present an international research project which could put in a
conversational relation these realities also through a web site where everyone can check the several products
realized. The goal is to create a debate among different operators, so that they do not feel isolated for what
they are doing, they acquire the awareness of working in a shared field, they perceive that their work has a
tangible meaning for everybody and has a great dignity. As a matter of fact, many operators use and take the
materials to work from public dumps. Sharing the design culture and the efforts made, can improve the quality
of life; it is a reason of being proud for the products realized and, moreover, it could provide the opportunity to
sell the products beyond a narrow working sector.
Following, we show two significant examples of redesigning, starting from waste or cast-off products, the
former producing great products already entered in the local culture, and the latter producing new objects
through simple works that can also be managed by people not really qualified.
The philosophy followed by ―Le Sedute del Torchio‖, Racconigi (Torino, Italy), believes in the re-use
considered as respect of history and of an object essence and the will of providing it a new reality, once
finished its own real function. The ―barriques‖ are vintage barrel for wine made of a particular kind of oak wood
called ―rovere‖ which in short period lose their peculiarity of conveying particular flavorings to wine or to
liquors. Therefore, they last not more than two years and then they lay unused. But new objects are produced
by recycling the ―barriques‖ from wine cellars, dismantling them and then assembling creatively the staves
from different barrels. Each of them tells the history of the barrel it comes from. The working method allows
only a craft assemblage without changing the material. Therefore, the object presents wine stains, wood
flavour, manufacture sign and the whole history of the material. Then, the raw material is not altered, but it is
respected and it is given a new function. The object fascination lays in its intrinsic peculiarities, in its history, in
its magnificence, hidden but perceived instinctively at first by the designer who has given it a new function, and
then by the person who uses it. The reuse is not only the procrastination of function, but also the celebration
and the recognition of the job done by the designer, whoever he is (time, artisan, history, perception,
blacksmith or vine-dresser). Each product, each ―work of art‖, is the result of a particular place, the reflection of
a social and cultural context. The proposal of ―Le Sedute del Torchio‖ is a project founded on a particular
territory, the ―Langhe‖ hills, where there is a strong wine culture and, above all, the peasant mentality of
―throwing away nothing‖. In this belonging awareness there is the real surplus value of the project.
27 the International Labour Organization (ILO) is the tripartite UN agency that brings together governments, employers and workers
of its member states in common action to promote decent work throughout the world.

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Some examples of products by ―Le Sedute del Torchio‖.
This approach is also shared by the company Papili factory Onlus, from Torino, which builds new products
using advertising banners from events and demonstrations, weave scraps such as negatives or die-cuts from
felt products, or other objects which otherwise would be send to the pulping mill ( for instance, military blankets
of the Army and the Navy). As in the previous case study, the fascination of the new objects lays in the
creation of the product, modified in its function, but that keeps the perception of the previous material culture.
Some examples of products by Papili factory.

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Packaging: relation system between producer and consumer
In Brazil, the term ―embalar‖ has a double meaning: ―wrap up a baby to put him to sleep‖ or ―prepare a
package‖. In both cases it means looking after someone or something and, broadly speaking, getting ready for
a journey.
In our culture we usually consider the term packaging, especially referred to foodstuff, in two different ways:
technical meaning for an object of sophisticated engineering with the function of protecting the
product;
aesthetical meaning, considered as surplus value and artistic creation.
In particular, this latter means also the complex communication system that lays ―behind‖ every protective
artifact.
Therefore, the first function of the ―packaging‖ is the protection of the products, since without it we would lose
the first element of the market, that is the goods circulation.
These functions are the essence itself of the packing action.
Nowadays, the reality is in constant evolution.
With supermarkets, products are well protected by an informative, functional and protective ―skin‖ system
which turns them more and more independent one from the others. However, these features of packaging are
not so clear in the consumers‘ minds, since they are always receiving different information. This spread feeling
of confusion is the result of an indiscriminate use of communication which does not allow to clearly identify
the distinction between content and container,
a function and a message,
a real meaning and an advertisement.
The packaging has lost its function of protection from the outside becoming an instrument of persuasiveness.
The iconic container plays a seductive role, able to increase the attraction power of goods, as a ―skin‖, a cloth
dressed by a person to cover himself up and feel protected and which can (or cannot) give importance to
some aspects of his personality. Therefore, clothe, as a semiotic wrapping, rarely neutral, hides and protect
the contents ensuring the integrity and it is the head of a complex system of communication in order to guide
the consumer choice.
The packaging shape is the first element which qualifies a product, giving it identity and value: its attraction
strength, that is the feature which makes it successful on a shelf among a lot of other similar products.
The package of a solid product usually follows the shape of the content, whereas there is much freedom as far
as fluid product is concerned. Actually, its shape depends on the materials and technologies available in the
firm to produce it, whereas the dimension of the container faithfully follows the volume of the product. The
wrong perception of a container compared to the real volume of the product could lead to different and
opposite meanings:
if it is too large it could mean material waste and lack of environmental sensibility;
if it is small and essential could hide a devious attempt of saving money, at the expense of the consumer.
Therefore, the study of a foodstuff packaging could determinate the success of a company and express, even
through seduction, the choices of a firm as far as the environmental sustainability (as, in the extreme case,
when the product is finished the choice of a total reusing of the packaging).
For several products the packaging is a further technical/expressive quality that cannot be renounced at: it is a
―service quality‖ developed both on a communication level and on a performance of use and duration level. If
we consider that the goals of foodstuff consumption are convenience, freshness/quality and environmental
protection, at present, the industrial product aims to propose an artificial supernaturalness ―better‖ than the
natural one (for example the modified atmosphere packaging).
Certainly, the concept of being environmentally friendly in the production of a protective package also involves
the choice of the material to use: from materials made of cellulose (such as paper and paperboard), very often
used in the agro-industrial sector, to glass, aluminum, wood, plastic materials and polypropylene sheets, one
of the most spread material in the foodstuff packaging (from packs of pasta to oven products), that can be
recycled only if it is separated from others polymers. On the other hand, there is no a determinate method to
use the material correctly from the environmental point of view; everything is connected to the interested field,

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the product and to its distribution, above all. The ecosystem protection must be considered the result of
changed life styles which demand not only food produced through environmentally friendly technologies, but
also that they had been packed according to principles of environmental quality. Furthermore, the protections
must be strictly necessary in order to avoid that, just after the purchase, the consumer would throw away what
it is not indispensable, making dumps bigger and at the same time reducing the available resources. Small
amounts multiplied for high numbers related to the distribution lead to the production of huge values.
Finally, there is the colour choice which can affect moods, even at subconscious level.
The consumer, in fact, is inclined to make a first choice starting only from the colour perception of the product.
If the colour is suitable, the consumer would be interested to know the other qualities of the product, otherwise,
it is likely he chooses other products with different and more attractive colours.
Different colours can evoke different feelings, and a great role is also played by the calibration of the shades
and by their combination with the materials used in the product pack.
Therefore, packaging means taking care of a complex relational system constituted by the product, the
consumer, the environment, the production, the distribution and the sale.
Scheme of the linear vision referred to materials at present.

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Systemic qualities of materials
Thanks to the previous case studies we have seen, the idea of turning the output of a system into input of
another one, avoiding to use, as the present production system usually does, raw materials, is becoming clear.
The banal cultural approach of the moment, which does not give any importance to the waste, is gradually
changing, since the waste disposal in normal or special dumps has high costs. Besides, the current production
system does not calculate, both in term of raw materials and finished products prices, the real environmental
cost related to non-renewable resources extraction and to negative social and environmental externalities. In
fact, the natural and human capitals have, at present, very little value if compared to the final product.
In the research we are carrying out together with the Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità (Slow Food
Foundation for Biodiversity), on the systemic packaging of products for Presidia, to-be-used materials play an
important role in the creation of the environmental sustainability. These materials are considered for the
important functional responses they offer and their environmental impact is calculated on the upstream and
downstream spin-offs generated quantitatively. This research, in course of study, wants to go beyond this
perception.
Scheme of the systemic vision applied to materials.

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If we go on considering materials only for their functional quality, we will not be able to study other
improvement that are not concerned with their function. Indeed, materials are something else: they have a
considerable articulated complex of parts, and their chemical and physical bonds are not known and studied
enough. It is important to focus on them.
Processes and methods which forbid the continuity of the stream we talked about before are often used and
so it is necessary a spur to search for new possibilities of methods more coherent with the natural system we
are connected to. In nature, transformation processes take place mainly at ambient temperature and pressure,
with water-based solvent and all the outputs generated by processes become inputs for other uses. Hence,
the systemic approach does not exclusively explore the functional aspect of the material in comparison with
the product but, through a multidisciplinary in-depth examination, it can also allow the identification of new
chemical and physical qualities of the very same material to be enhanced as inputs for further use.
It is a waste of possibilities not considering that, for example, after having made an espresso, coffee still has
inner qualities unexploited, such as lipids; or that the warm adhesions of different materials to obtain
polylaminates for food, at present irreversible, could be undone by enzymes that come from plants, seaweeds
and mushrooms. Furthermore, it is a huge waste too considering muck, drawn by a mountain to build a tunnel,
just as inactive and not as a mineral which could be nutrition for rice fields, or not thinking that the cleaning of
the balls for the ball bearings could be done by a natural surface-active agent rather than the oil, as the
sugared water, which could produce seaweeds or bringing up eatable fishes. In this way, once purified, it could
be put again in the environment. Moreover, it is absurd to consider the output coming from butchering just as
special refusal and not useful for vermiculture, natural fertilizers and so on. The linear vision does not see this
stream of materials which burdens the environment as a waste, instead of being usefully exploited.
The research on systemic qualities of materials gives an opportunity for a new relation among different
branches of knowledge and it could provide a constant flux among production processes aiming at a
considerable reduction of the environmental impact linked to the creation of an interesting cash flow.
The new ―Systemic Policies‖ edited along with the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche of Pollenzo (Italy) and
the firm Palm, which produces wood pallets28, puts into practice what we have written above. The directions to
follow have the goal of reusing pallets and wood as much as possible.
28 the whole text of the document can be consulted in the annexes.

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Agro-industry
case studies: Systemic Consortium of Small and Medium Farms, Reggiana Red Cow, Culatello of
Zibello and Antique Piedmontese Apples (Slow Food Presidia), New consumption model
(Ortofruit Italia).
During the course of their existence, farming and cattle breeding activities have become closer and closer to
the natural systems, because of their strict life relationship with them. However, the past two decades have
witnessed a growing demand for food and greater availability of synthesised products (pesticides and
fertilizers). They have accounted for the transformation of seasonal, territorial activities into processes that
have totally been uprooted from space and time, placed over a territory by reason of mere economic or logistic
factors (such as low cost of labour or proximity to motorways). Such obliviousness has eradicated peasant
knowledge from its traditional cultural context and has caused a steady impoverishment of the soil, leading to
frequent mutations of traditional cultivations and the severe depletion of the superficial layer of the earth‘s
crust. This attitude has paved the way to land desertification.
We will go through this topic smoothly and gradually by showing the small and medium agricultural firms
operating on a specific territory, then a more specific and virtuous field represented by some Italian Slow Food
Presidia and, finally, a global view of the matter, going from the land to the end consumer, arriving at a new
consumption model.
Systemic Consortium of Small and Medium Farms in the province of Cuneo (Italy)
in collaboration with Tecnogranda29
The focus of research is the territory of the province of Cuneo and its agricultural panoramic situation, paying
specific attention to the small and medium firms, the heart of the provincial economy, which, by their very
nature, are more receptive to change.
A survey on the current state of agro-food industry has highlighted the linearity of production systems, where
the focal point is how much we produce, rather then what and how we do it.
Throughout this evolution the territory loses the link with its history and typicality, the culture of know-how, in
order to run after the myth of globalisation, affecting all sectors.
It often happens that South American cereals are imported or grown in the province of Cuneo, to feed English
swine, to become the pride of Italian products on the tables around the world, namely Parma Ham!
29 Tecnogranda, a joint-stock company with private and state-controlled share capital, is a centre delivering technological and
innovation service for firms. It was born in 2002 and became operational in 2006. It works within the network of science and
technology parks in Piedmont (Enzima P) and cooperates with Universities, Politecnico di Torino and other research centres on the
territory. The main activity fields include Research and Development, technological transfer and services to companies and
laboratory tests.

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The project is developed around the analysis of the territory, its cultivation, taking both geographical location
and altitude into account. The territory becomes, in this way, the starting point for the analysis of its produced
goods logistics, as well as from an entrepreneurial and socio-cultural perspective.
From the analysis of the territory of Cuneo, one can clearly deduce that many different social, economic and
cultural situations may be identified, according to its morphological characteristics.
Most production companies converge in the plain area, where there is a high number of fruit and cereal firms,
as well as the ones working on intensive livestock farming.
The biggest agricultural sector appears to be the one of cereals (farmed agricultural surface: 57,118 hectares;
number of firms: 8,909), whose typical standard firm owns 10 hectares which, as we will see in the next
analysis, are considered as mixed cultivation, mainly consisting of corn, wheat and barley, with a small part of
minor cereals, namely sorghum, rye and oats.
Great significance is given to arboriculture, especially peach and nectarine, apple, pear and actinidia (farmed
agricultural surface: 7,680 hectares; number if firms: 9,000) whose individual average cultivation goes from 0.5
to 2 hectares. Generally arboricultural firms have different types of fruit trees, so it has been considered an
average size of 5 hectares.
Cattle breeding accounts for the biggest number of heads and firms (number of heads: 270,830; number of
firms: 8,909), where the typical standard herd consists of 350 heads with 87.5 hectares of pasture. The sector
of swine breeding (number of heads: 523,521; number of firms: 651) is typically characterised by a firm of 800
heads with 40 hectares of pasture; the number of sheep and goats are increasing (number of heads: 270,830;
number of firms: 8,909) and the typical firm owns 90 heads of adult animals and 6 hectares of pasture.
Around the hilly area, with an altimetric range going from 300 to 600 metres, great importance is deservedly
given to grape growing, the pride of the hills of Langhe and Roero (farmed agricultural surface: 16,500
hectares; number of firms: 11,800).
A standard wine firm is 5 hectares, followed by arboriculture where, the hazelnut tree takes over all the other
ones (farmed agricultural surface: 8,300 hectares; number of firms: 6,300) which, given its importance in the
hilly territory, deserves to be analysed separately from the other fruit trees, taking into account that a typical
firm is 2 hectares.
As far as all the other fruit trees (farmed agricultural surface: 5,120 hectares; number of firms: 4,400), we can
apply what previously said about the plain, also to the hills: a typical firm is 5 hectares with a mix of peach,
nectarine, apple, actinidia and pear trees.

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A standard cereal firm (farmed agricultural surface: 19,316 hectares; number of firms: 7,933) is 5 hectares,
with mixed cultivation (according to the data gathered from the percentages of production of each individual
cereal), with prevalence of corn, wheat and barley and with a smaller quantity of minor cereals, such as rye,
oat and sorghum.
Even in the hills most of the land is occupied by pastures (farmed agricultural surface: 25,662 hectares).
Here cattle breeding (number of heads: 92,231; number of firms: 2,356) takes a much smaller share compared
to the plain area and consists of 80 heads and 20 hectares of pasture. The swine sector (number of heads:
73,982; number of firms: 486) is characterised by a standard firm of 150 heads and 7.5 hectares of land.
Goats and sheep breeding (number of heads: 8,384; number of firms: 620) outnumber the one of pigs,
although it is smaller. In fact a typical firm owns just 30 adult heads and 2 hectares of pasture.
In the southern and western parts of the province of Cuneo, precisely the highlands with an altitude ranging
from 600 to 900 metres, the only widespread crop is the cultivation of chestnut trees, whereas sheep and goat
breeding are remarkably present especially in the area of Demonte and in the Alte Langhe, where mainly
autochthonous breeds are raised, such as Sambucana, Frabosana and Langhe.
The diverse conformation of the territory of the province of Cuneo accounts for the existence of highly
diversified production contexts, depending on the three altimetric ranges of plain, hill and highland.
Mountain areas are experiencing a sharp reduction both in the number of firms and the surfaces, whereas
around the hills and plains the progressive decrease in the number of firms is featured by a smaller contraction
of farmed agricultural surface. The highlands are, therefore, going through phenomena of progressive
abandonment, whereas in plain the restructuring works in progress lead to an increase in the average size of
the businesses.
Following this detailed account of the current situations involving cultivation and breeding in plain, hill and half
mountain, it is necessary to ponder what and where one needs to intervene.
The choice has fallen upon the hill since:
- there are different types of production and, consequently, greater opportunities for integration among
the very production chains;

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- these types include the grapevine and the hazelnut tree, the pride of the economy of the province of
Cuneo;
- there is a majority of small-medium sized companies which are, supposedly, more open, receptive and
willing to change;
- these small business realities need to learn how to look around and understand the economic
advantages of sticking together and gathering up the individual outputs so as to generate something
new and great, without losing their own oneness and their individual know-how;
- the hills enjoy a rosier situation compared to the mountains and the plains where the first are
experiencing abandonment and the latter exploitation, characterised by big numbers.
For these reasons the analysis has focussed on studying and smoothing the criticalities singled out in the
current situation of small and medium sized hill firms.
The summary of the current situation of the production chains highlights their linearity, closeness and self-
centredness, as well as their unwillingness to dialogue with the territory.
Producers self-centredly focus only on their own quantity and development. Some productions have replaced
the ones which were typical of the territory, especially those of swine and dairy cattle breeds, such as Frisona,
renowned for its high production of milk, including some specific types of apples, like the Golden ones.
Other kinds of productions, such as cereals, are not enough to meet the demand of fodder that is required to
feed the high number of heads. This is why, in order to feed the cattle, we have to resort to import food, often
from South America.
This leads to an unbalance between territorial production and demand of the same.
Products of some chains, especially those ones coming from the breeding sector and produced in small
entrepreneurial realities (such as heads of cattle and milk), are ―depreciated‖ due to the fact they are
processed inside external abattoirs and cheese factories, together with other products coming from different
breeding sectors whose habits and approaches we are not familiar with. Meat and dairy products are
processed and sold with no merit being granted to the farmers.
In this way the intrinsic features and characteristics of the individual raw material become nil and everything is
uniformed in order to privilege an anonymous type of production, which is disconnected from its place of origin.

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In addition all the production chains produce output which is deemed waste to dispose of, rather than a
resource to reuse. Often the quantity of the output generated in each chain is irrelevant, if compared to the
expenses incurring to enhance it. Sharing outputs of different firms can tackle this problem, and only
communication and collaboration among the several companies on the territory may be conducive to a correct
development.
Creating something concrete and innovative entails communication among all the agro-food chains co-existing
on the same territory, where they are asked to look around and realise to be part of a unique system. It would
be sensible to use this condition to achieve a common development, improve the existence of individual
beings, enrich the community, generate new economic resources with positive outcomes on the hilly territory
of the province of Cuneo.
This asks for each individual chain to change its current state of things, as until now it has been closed, linear
and associated to companies of its own kind, by the use of shared machinery, as it happens in consortium
companies. This change demands chains to evolve until a wider dimension, named SYSTEMIC
CONSORTIUM, is arrived at.

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The name ―consortium‖ is not hereafter used to label a veritable consortium company, but rather to convey the
idea that small entities can stick together and join forces, know-how, products and, most of all, their own
outputs, to achieve common goals and generate new businesses sharing, in such a way, costs and benefits.
A network of exchanges, flows, products and outputs is, in this way, materialized, where they all come back in
the form of input, making the territory alive and vibrant.
The pivotal elements of the ―Systemic Consortium‖ we suggest, are as follows:
- focusing, inside each firm, on the quality of the products which are taken care of, throughout their
production and processing stages, until they are sold. This explains the setting up of a butchery and a
dairy farm inside the consortium, only processing meat and milk produced by the consortium farmers,
aiming to grant the consumer a high quality end product;
- fostering biodiversity, thanks to the coexistence of many integrated productions, which do not take
over one another and preventing one-crop exploitation of the territory;
- aiming at typical productions of the territory and encouraging restocking of autochthonous species;
- reducing pollution as, by centralising productions and putting together chains and processing
businesses, intermediary transports can be limited;
- transforming outputs, from wastes to be disposed of into new resources to be used, after careful
analysis of their qualities, so that new businesses may be launched;
- collecting and using the revalued outputs to generate energy which can be used by the production
chains;
- creating new jobs and arousing the interest of young generations in agriculture.
Present companies are closed and linear, only interested in their own profits and not in dialoguing with other
firms on the territory, in that expansion is their main concern.
This approach sees the territory as a place to exploit, rather than one with potential for enrichment. The
outputs of each individual production chain are deemed to be disposable waste, rather than a resource, and
this outlook imposes a detrimental burden on the monetary balance. The systemic view is aimed at using and

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enhancing all the pre-existing characteristic features of the territory, and reciprocity in dialogue among the
chains.
Therefore, the total EBT30 goes from nearly 4,000,000 € to almost 5,600,000 €.
In order to make this changes possible, one is required to invest both on their own chain and on common
businesses. The total investment is about 3,100,000 € to be paid off within ten years.
The ultimate goal of this new consortium is to give rise to a dense network of interconnections among
production chains so as to join not only outputs but also the individual knowledge and know-how, enabling the
territory to keep alive and balanced.
As far as the products are concerned, the consortium benefits from the opportunity to shorten the chains and
avoiding, in this way, reliance on useless intermediaries between producer and end consumer.
This would be an advantage for both subjects:
- producers profit directly from the sale of their own goods, of which they follow the whole production
process, from the early beginning, throughout the transformation stages until the final sale;
consequently it is their interest to make sure they develop high quality products;
- it is certainly also the consumers‘ interest to adopt this approach, both in terms of assured quality,
identification of the producer and financial saving, resulting from the shorter number of passages.
30 Earnings Before Tax.

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Reggiana Red Cow
Over the past few years, the Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Bovini di Razza Reggiana (Anaborare – the
National Association of Reggiana Race Cows Breeders) has encouraged the implementation of activities
aiming to improve, enhance and spread the race. Working jointly with the Consorzio per la Valorizzazione dei
Prodotti dell'Antica Razza Reggiana (Cvparr – the Consortium for the Valorisation of the Antique Reggiana
Breed Products), has enabled the production, even if a modest one, of Parmesan cheese made only with milk
of Reggiana cows.
The quality of this milk is remarkably higher than the one of other types of cattle (Frisona, Modenese, Bruna),
as it is richer in proteins and fats, and it contains a particular type of casein which allows the production of a
better curd.

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In the province of Reggio Emilia (Italy) there are currently nearly 2,200 heads of Reggiana cows in 26 livestock
holdings, which produce 15 litres of milk a day, at most. The average production of Parmesan cheese, in 10
dairy farms, is nearly 6,000 forms each year, compared with 3,000,000 forms of the del Consorzio del
Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano (the Consortium for Parmesan cheese). This is due to the presence in this
area of 450 dairy farms and 270,000 cows of different breeds, such as Frisona, which are able to produce up
to 40 litres of milk a day.
With regards to cows food (22/25 kg a day), Reggiana race farmers are imposed a regulation forcing them to
produce autonomously 50% of cows food (grass and hay) and at least the 90% needs to be taken at the
Parmesan cheese district. Nutrition is quite diversified and consists of alfalfa, sorghum, barley, wheat, oats
and other food, so as to produce premium quality milk.
In the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano, nearly 75% of food has to come from the consortium
area (35% of which needs to be self-produced), whereas 25% may have industrial origins.
The production of Parmesan cheese uses milk taken in the evening and in the morning. Processing takes
place in boilers which can contain up to 1,000 litres of milk. In order to curdle, milk needs to be added some
rennet, an enzyme that is stored in the stomach of a calf but that can be also reproduced in a laboratory.
Nearly 500 litres of milk are necessary to produce a shape of Parmesan cheese, and the minimum maturing is
about twelve months. With the sub products of the dairy farm (cream and serum), it is also possible to produce
butter and ricotta cheese.
At ―the end of their career‖, occurring in the case of Reggiana cows after 5 lactations, the cows are transferred
to force-fed farming, together with the calves to be slaughtered. Here the amount of food changes going from
22 to 36 kg of food a day, mostly consisting of corn silage.
Later on these cows are sent to the shambles and slaughtered, so as to produce meat, giblets and many other
sub products which, according to the Regulation EC n. 1774/2002 are sent to the incinerator if dangerous or
harmful for humans. Alternatively they are sent to collection companies for the production of biogas, fodder,
fertilizers or animal flours.
The systemic approach has identified new chains which can perfectly integrate with the existing activities,
those being the Reggiana Red Cow breeding, Parmesan cheese dairy factory as well as with the conformation
of the territory.
This happened because the goal was to look at the system as a whole, yet enhancing its particular details.
This entails a careful analysis of the inputs and outputs related to the area of observation, without omitting its
own products and sub products.
There are three main macro-categories of problems detected in the whole chain:
- underused outputs such as manure, serum, carcasses of the dead cows;
- pollution caused by the use of synthesised detergents and disinfectants;
- depreciation of the meat of ―end of their career‖ cows, which are force-fed in external, uncontrolled
breeding farms.
It has been decided to begin with the issue of manure. We have chosen to set up a consortial biodigestor
where different kinds of waste are merged: waste from other breeding of cows, brine water from the cheese
factory of the case study, wet urban waste from the neighbouring city, waste deriving from quail breeding and
the exhausted substrate of mushroom farming. These latter two chains are activated in our project. In the first
place the biodigestor allows us to produce biogas, intended for the methane pipeline. Equally important are its
sub products, such as premium quality compost, which is suitably used as a fertiliser in the territorial
agricultural production, and water to be sent for phytopurification.
The highly polluting serum is difficult to dispose of and is, nowadays, given for free to pig breeders. Within the
systemic vision part of it (25%) will be devoted to the pharmaceutical industry, whereas the rest of it will be
sold at a special price to pig breeders, in order to preserve interrelation among the chains.
Carcasses of animals which died due to an accident, go to the pulping mill to produce worms for quail feeding.

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Systemic project regarding the whole production system.
Furthermore, synthesised detergents and disinfectants used, at present, throughout these processes, will be
substituted with highly biodegradable ones, and this accounts for washing water to be easily disposable.
The traditional processes are no longer required to purify this water; all we need to do is to apply the method
of phytopurification, provided that the dirty waters are firstly put into tubs where they are ridded of the algae.
Secondly, part of this water is used for carp fish farming. Lastly, they go to the buffer forests where they are
made suitable for fertigation.
This process lead towards different outputs, such as algae sold to the pharmaceutical industry, marsh reeds
and poplar timber from buffer forests that are meant to become substrate for mushrooms.
Currently ―end of their career‖ cows are sent to force-fed breeding, outside the district. This means their food is
not controlled, resulting in a remarkable decrease in the meat quality.
The systemic project aims to increase the size of the breeding. In this way the whole life cycle of the Reggiana
Red Cows can be totally managed, providing an added value, both to their milk and meat.
This case study can be transposed onto different realities, at a district level, and within the whole Consortium
area, with an overall aim to increase the current number of heads from 270,000 up to 140,000, so as to enable
the territory to nourish and sustain the whole system autonomously, without relying on import fodder and
foods.
Besides, since the volume of the products and sub products is higher, other businesses, such as beekeeping,
wood processing (buffer forests) and the installation of several more biodigestors may be started, in addition to
the above mentioned chains. This would serve the purpose of meeting the energy demand of the territory.
The number of products intended for the man is increasing and diversifying, leading toward an enhancement
of biodiversity of the territory, an increase in the number of jobs, as well as a decrease in the social cost.

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Outcomes of the systemic project regarding the whole number of activities performed within each firm and as well as the increase of
workers.

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Culatello of Zibello31 (Slow Food Presidium)
in collaboration with Antica Corte Pallavicina
When defining the project, we have taken into account the tight relationships occurring between the different
agents of the system and the territory in which they act in. This is why the local productive and economic
characteristics have been analysed, so as to enable the project to fit within the current situation.
31 Culatello is a fine variety of Italian ham.

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Outline of the systemic project applied to the Presidium of Culatello di Zibello.
The biggest problem related to the current situation, the breeding dump, has been solved by removing
fattening drugs, improving life quality of swine by means of outdoor breeding and increasing the quality of
food.
In addition, solid manure is collected and put into a biodigestor producing only methane gas and sludge for
composting.
Liquid waste, previously sorted from the solid one, is conveyed into a phytopurification plant which feeds a fish
farming system and a sportfishing facility. The exceeding water produced by this system, is flowed into the
poplar wood where the very same pigs stall on a seasonal basis. Poplars are also used as a habitat for bees
producing excellent propolis, as well as timber adopted for the production of biofuel and pallet. Poplar timber
can also be exploited in mushroom cultivation of pleurotus and black poplar mushrooms.
Beekeeping is perceived as being strictly connected with floriculture including camomile and lavender.
Growing camomile is thought as a system to boost recovery of local products, such as ―camomillina‖, a typical
liquor of the county of Parma.
The sludge deriving from the biodigestor is, on the contrary, meant to be adopted for the production of
compost and vermicompost, where the former is re-used to produce pig fodder, and the latter provides food for
poultry farming of species such as turkeys, pheasants and quails of Parma.
The products of this new system are going to be sold in a Farmers Market with the intent to promote the short
chain and decrease the environmental impact generated by the distribution, benefiting in this way the local
produces.

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With the systemic proposal, cattle farmers produce their own swine food, by means of a half-wild breeding
system (based on the model of the Antica Corte Pallavicina Presidium) placed in the area south of Parma,
inside the same presidium.
The final outcome is a premium quality production achieved within the Presidium of Culatello of Zibello, both in
terms of quality and environment. Likewise the different products obtained from the interconnected activities
will bring economic gains as well as territorial and social benefits. These are the new scenarios opened by the
Territorial Design and environmental planning.

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Antique Piedmontese Apples (Slow Food Presidium)
This Presidium was born with the purpose of drawing the attention on a specific territory which has been for
centuries always historically and naturally devoted to apple growing. The area of the Presidium expands
behind the three alpine valleys of Val Pellice (Torino, Italy), Val Maira (Cuneo, Italy) and Val Varaita (Cuneo,
Italy).
It is currently composed of 18 associates, including three agricultural institutes which coordinate and provide
technical and scientific support to the other 15 producers. The analysis has considered the farmers‘
cooperative ―il Frutto Permesso‖ in Bibiana (Torino, Italy) as a case study, as it produces on its own almost a
third of the antique apples and is able to carry out transformations needed by all the associates.
Only 8 varieties of apples, among the miscellany of apples produced on the Piedmontese territory, have been
deemed worth becoming the symbol of this rich tradition. They are as follows:
Buras, Carla, Calvilla bianca, Dominici, Gamba fina, Grigia di Torriana, Magnana, Runsè.
The whole cultivable area includes an extension of land of around 77 hectares (nearly 300 plants per hectare)
where only ecologically correct cultivation techniques are used, such as integrated defence (14 producers) and
biological defence (4 producers).

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Drip irrigation systems are adopted, using water from the channels.
It is estimated that the annual production (2007) is around 150 tons, (50 tons, only at ―il Frutto Permesso‖),
less than in the previous years. This shows the typical irregular pattern of these varieties.
The production is apportioned among the different varieties32, of which
65% of the production goes to the fresh market,
30 % goes to the production of processed food,
and, finally, a remaining 5% consists of dented or inedible fruit (third-rate choice), which nowadays goes to
composting or to cattle feeding.
Fruit transformation is an important development and business activity, in fact nearly 45 tons of the product
are transformed into derivatives, those being:
- juices 16,200 litres (clear juice of Runsè, juice mixture);
- dry apples 1 ton (Buras, Carla, Calvilla bianca, Dominici, Grigia di Torriana, Gamba fina, Magnana);
- cooked wine 2,700 litres (Grigia di Torriana, Buras, mixture);
- acquavite (spirit) 250 litres (Runsè; mixture);
- jam 1.8 ton (Grigia di Torriana, Buras, mixture).
50% of the product (nearly 75 tons) is sold directly at the farms, 30% (45 tons) within local fairs, 10%
(15 tons) at contracted stores, finally 10% (15 tons) is for catering.
A short chain is preferred as it helps bring consumer and producer together disclosing a reality rich in
values and traditions. Preserving biodiversity is a system geared at enhancing those marginal areas that are
still rich in traditions and ancient expertise.
Most of the outputs come from production of processed goods (especially juices) and consist of a single mash
of peels, cores and seeds, still rich in nutrients. Part of these residues are used by the company to feed its
own cattle, while another part is thrown in the compost. The farmers‘ cooperative, although it carries out
transformation processes also on behalf of other farmers within the Presidium, does not have enough waste to
reuse in other ways or to give to third parties. Pruning waste is cut up directly on the ground and is useful both
for the facility and the re-mineralization of the soil. Finally the last problem concerns the company waters,
which are distinguished in two different types: water coming from the houses (sewage) and washing water,
coming from the first transformation phase of the apples. Both of them are flowed into a septic tanks. Washing
water is quite clean and free from chemical residues or any other harmful substances coming from cultivation
or from use of disinfectants. In fact washing water serves the purpose of eliminating dust or dirt on the peels.
Water consumption is equal to 1,600 m3 a year.
The systemic proposal suggests the integration of some activities, stemming from the revaluation of the
existing outputs in the current situation. The main problems concerned the outputs deriving from:
production of processed elements (pulp and core) 15 tons;
pruning 500 tons;
waste water from processing plant and farm 1,600 m3.
The activities outlined are the following ones:

- production of apple and honey-based processed products (using pulp, through self-produced honey);
- mushroom cultivation and vermiculture (employ of pruning waste);
- fish farming (water purification).
The activity regarding honey and apple-pulp processed products was carried out using an extremely
nourishing output, as a raw material, that allowed to obtain a fine quality product: 74,000 snacks with a profit of
90,600 €. The initial investment is rather moderate as we have provided for the employ of machinery already in
use within the farm. The same applies to production costs as we have used the Presidium products as raw
materials. Just like all the other products, the snacks are sold at the farm or the contracted stores.
67.5 tons Grigia di Torriana, 45 tons Runsè, 15 tons Magnana, 6 tons Carla, 6 tons Calvilla bianca, 4.5 tons Dominici, 4.5 tons
32
Gamba fina, 1.5 tons Buras.

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Mushroom cultivation has been conceived taking into account the seasonal aspect of apple growing and
harvesting, allowing the culture of two kinds of mushrooms:
- pleurotus;
- shiitake.
In order to form the substrate which is necessary for the production of mushrooms, we have first decided to
exploit green pruning waste, and afterwards those outputs consisting of third-rate apples (7.5 tons) and other
quantity "which is unsuitable for sale" (1 ton).
Exhaust substrate derived from mushroom cultivation can be used, prior to land fertilization, to grow
earthworms which, in turn, are conducive to fish farming. An example is provided by the ―golden tench‖, a fish
belonging to autochthonous species, whose breeding depends almost solely on earthworm growing.
Visualization of the systemic project applied to the Presidium of the Antique Piedmontese Apples.

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These businesses have been planned pondering the small size of the farm, as well as the peculiarities of the
territory. Our planning has led us towards the outline of three simple correlated businesses which are
contributory to strengthening the business reality and the identity of the Presidium in analysis.
Comparing the current economic outcomes with those of the systemic project.

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New consumption model (Ortofruit Italia), Saluzzo (Italy)
Unlike all the previous cases, the present one begins with the analysis of farm production, then goes on to
treatment of products, until the study of its relationship with the current market where products are put up for
sale. Here, the focus is not just an in-depth survey on an individual production activity, but the global scenario
of relationships built among the players as well as social and environmental outcomes. The reason behind this
particular type of approach is that the analysis of the shift from linear to systemic farm production systems,
within a specific sector, has proved to be incomplete, as solutions and problems can only be identified by
seeing the problem under a wider point of view.
Table showing the current situation. The rose part shows the area of influence of pesticides.

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We carried out a survey on the ―container‖ for the Store33, a topic that makes one ponder over the wide
problem of connections that ought to be natural between building and technical equipments. Alongside, we
started thinking about how the projects regarding the development of farm productions could possibly relate to
a new consumption model. The study cases concerning the farm industry, show systemic changes that
highlight the natural proximity of agricultural production activities and architecture to the territory and their strict
adherence to it. We cannot deal with food products only during these first few steps, we need to take care of
them thoroughly, to make sure they arrive at us bearing their full-round quality, not treated just as meaningless
products that are too easily sent all over the world according to matter-of-fact logistics. The land offers great
farming opportunities, as evidenced by the cash-flow and the number of jobs. Hence, why depriving a
community of such resources and its fruit, and send them to distant countries? After a journey, even a short
one, we do not feel fresh and lively but, rather, tired and worn out, in need of rest and food. The same principle
applies to those products that, after travelling in containers for miles and miles, cannot be fragrant and fresh
once they reach their destination.
The present consumption model is based upon induced needs, created by communication and depriving users of an active role.
The fact that some fruit in season, let us take nectarines, for examples, are sold on the market at 2.5 €
whereas producers are only paid 0.35 € for them, leaves us completely lost for words. There is an impressive
2.15 € difference! This is an awful lot. The reason is that, along the journey to the user, peaches stop being
regarded as fruit and start being given a monetary value. This transformation occurs the moment when large
retail buyers, purchase the existing products and put them on the market. We may not find anything negative
33 see case study Store (Proximity Supermarket) aiming to zero emission, paragraph energy.

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about this simple passage; in reality fruit becomes a good, just like any other industrial product, that is ready
for the market. It is no longer a product with organoleptic, nutritional qualities, but rather an economic value for
all those places where it can be placed. As a result, a perverse supply and demand mechanism is triggered.
The more easily an item is sold, the higher the demand, regardless its limited production. This plea for an
increased production flow prompts one to force the limits of the natural processes and puts a burden on the
fields, in that they are treated like any other manufacturing chain, with no respect for a cycle/process that is
subjected to seasonality and alternated crops, abiding by processes of renovation and maintenance of soil
humus. As a result, a productive strain is put upon the soil, owing to the fact that it is used for crops produced
partly by means of synthetic fertilizers, and partly with pesticides, adopted in order to fight harmful insects,
bacteria or fungi. In other words, we set up a poisonous mechanism on crops, and its outcomes are easy to
guess: depauperated land and depleted natural substances and nourishment, a progressive lack of life and
humus inside the land as well as dried up soil, polluted ground water, intake of toxic substances for the people
who work in the fields or in the market so as then end consumers also eat noxious food that has been grown
under these circumstances.
However, this is not the story of Snow White and the apple poisoned by the evil witch!
An aware consumer makes choices and, through them, he takes care of himself.

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We are thinking, conscious subjects, not just users ready to buy whatever is on offer, with a passive attitude!
Consciousness implies that we make aware choices, whereas the apathetic recourse to an object, just
because we have always used it, represents a mere habitual action, dictated by subliminal stimuli.
As individuals we decide what we wish or need to do, whereas as users we often act by force of habit.
Subjects are individual people connected and related to the environmental context. Users, instead, are these people‘s shadows and
lose their identity as a consequence of being part of a group (target).
In fact, advertising and marketing are directed mainly at regular unaware behaviours, causing the development
of wide groups of reference, that are commonly called ―targets‖. Surrendering to habit and unconsciousness
make a human being lose his distinctive elements and cultural features. Individuals are standardised and,
consequently, aggregated within homogeneous groups that are easy to define and whose tastes, needs and
demands are made strongly similar to one another. Obviously things are much easier this way, but we end up
having products that are totally deprived of cultural specificities and that are the same, wherever we go. We
just have to go to the supermarket, or for a walk around the local markets in the historic town centres (now
regarded as ―shopping‖ centres) to see how they are all gradually, obsessively becoming homologated, full of
products and shops that are all alike, designed to be recognised as belonging to a specific chain, disconnected
from the cultural and territorial contexts where they are placed. The users‘ weaknesses are exploited in order
to induce them to buy products not for their specific qualities but for the lifestyle they covertly suggest.
Why don‘t we focus, instead, on knowledge and development of individuals, respecting their culture and
speaking about the real quality of products, food and territory where they come from?
By enhancing people‘s awareness of being active subjects, users would be enabled to weave positive and
natural relationships with the territory, right in their life context. It would be the birth of a new way to face
reality. Looking at the way things happen in nature could be useful and purposeful. We may realise how within
a community of ants, whose swarming collective activities we used to observe when we were children, each

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action affects the other and the work of a single ant has an impact on the entire colony, in strict connection
with the conditions of the place where it operates.
Similarly, each individual person may preserve his autonomy, even when adapting and relating with the
behaviours of subjects close to him, participating actively to a change in the overall attitude. This relationship
is based on responsibility and awareness, rather than abuse, and consumption and life style are chosen taking
into account the needs of the whole community, not just the mere individual ones.
Besides, we have the mistaken belief that thoughts are aloof from contexts. The culture developed within a
specific area retains all the elements needed for the survival of the same social system, in that it represents
its ―typical product‖. In fact a territory is defined and characterised by its natural resources and by enhancing
the skills needed to use and experiment them, we may promote, over time, the development of a specific
―know-how‖, which allows a ‖material culture‖ to be deeply entrenched into the social environment and to be
shared and commonly regarded as the heritage of a specific community.
Context-free mass culture, on the other hand, destroys the roots human beings belong to, and encourage
them to take part to the collective life of a country that is in ―no man‘s land‖ 34.
Finding the same products wherever we go, may certainly give us a reassuring feeling of home. However this
makes both us and the products lose any link with the original territory, and hinders the building of cultural and
biological relationships with the place where we live. It is interesting to notice how deeply consumers have
changed, during the past few years, owing to a profound economic crisis, caused by financial speculations that
have contributed to the severance of the ties between manufactured products and their effective cost. Families
have lost their purchasing power, hence they have tried reducing the number of mediations that fresh food
products are encumbered with, in order to get directly through to the producers. It is upon this very request
that in 1994 in Fidenza (Italy), the first Gruppo di Acquisto Solidale - G.A.S.35 (Solidal Purchasing Group) was
set up. Up until now, they are over 770 but only three years ago there were only 350 of them. This remarkable
change is self-explanatory: consumers are no longer passive but free to express their own individuality and to
relate with the others, developing a network of free individuals, all sharing the same needs and goals, over the
territory. This is, in other words, the birth of an open and self-determined system of subjects.
This transformation has led to the planning of new systemic scenarios for production and retail of fruit and
vegetables, collected, processed and retailed by the Cooperative Ortofruit Italia. However, even though
distribution over a distance longer than 1,000 kilometres has been disrupted, the final economic account and
the number of new jobs are self-explanatory. These benefits are only the tip of the iceberg as the outcomes
are huge:
better quality of products (in season, naturally ripened, no pesticides);
lower cost for subjects/consumers (-30%);
better remuneration for producers (+40%);
decreased social cost of waste disposal (using outputs as inputs within other productive systems);
new jobs (+25%);
better health;
decreased traffic and pollution (local logistics).
34 further details in Davide Vannoni‘s essay, chapter 3.

35 the Solidal Purchasing Groups stem from the need for a deep change in our lifestyle. Just like every other example of sustainable,
ethical consumption, also this experience wishes to prompt the market to make ―ethical demands‖ and to lead it towards an
economic model where people and relationships play a central role (www.retegas.org). Nowadays, existing Purchasing Group
Collectives are organizing themselves on Italian territory by exploiting the concentration of people working in various public and
private Bodies.

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General layout of the passage from field to consumption, via a systemic approach.

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Comparison between the current linear situation and the new one based on the systemic approach with new jobs and percentage
distribution.

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This modern distribution and relational model allows subject/consumer to make aware choices.
Schematic diagram of the difference between local market and global market and their related goals.
It would be important that large retail chains36 would ponder over this new, fair and urgent demand, in order to
be in compliance with this new perception. The reason is that their supermarkets are not only places where
customers go on a day-to day basis for their regular purchases, but also representative of the strong tie
existing between production and consumption. These chains should be used to support customers in making
The different food values in relation to both a proximity and a globalized market.
36 70% of the food consumed at home, in Italy, comes from these retail chains; in particular, 65% of the market is made up of Coop,
Conad, Selex, Carrefour, Auchan, Esselunga and Despar (Ettore Livini, Le sette sorelle del cibo, in: La Repubblica, 5th August 2010).

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aware choices and showing their individuality, but they could also be the tools used for rewarding and
penalizing producers‘ policies pursued in production processes. Considering the widespread coverage network
of the Large Retail Trade over the territory, they could change their purchasing models by being in a
relationship with the producers operating in their same locations.
The many Stores of the Large Retail Trade could, then, be placed at the centre of a relational, economic and
social network, connecting firms and societies and leading towards an aware consumption model. The core of
this new situation is the buyer replacement, as meant of mere economic relationship intermediary, with new
professionals, gastronomists and systemic designers which can be, instead, real cultural mediators between
producer and consumer so to enhance, thanks to their know-how, the territorial peculiarity and cultures in
which different supermarkets are settled in.
A systemic approach may lay the foundation for better, positive use of resources and, consequentially, for a
macro autopoietic system shaped by all micro territorial systems and developed by new relational networks
that become the messengers of a positive environmental and territorial change.
Schematic diagram of the new consumption model in which conscious consumers and traders act so to get an interesting economic
relapse by developing the environment in a positive way.

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Distribution over the national territory of the Solidal Purchasing Groups.
The current trend is to look at product features that are assessed by norm-referenced tests that regard one
individual unit. Conversely, with the systemic approach, the sense of belonging to the system is deemed to be
the real added value. The interdependence links developed among the parties by the outputs/inputs guarantee
that all the players have positively checked on one another. By doing so, we will have good food/products, as
well as a healthy territory and natural system. Being part of a “system” is to be the only legitimate and
objective future certification!

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Energy
case studies: Agrindustria, Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006/2008/2010,
Store (Proximity Supermarket) aiming to zero emissions.
Energy is one of the basic factors that determine the competitiveness of a Country‘s economy and the quality
of life of its population. In network societies everything is kept together by energy and material flows: air,
water, earth and fire, the four basic elements used by Empedocles to describe the world we live in, are
connected one to the other. Global times and spaces require a permanent availability of energy in its various
forms, especially electricity.
The economic evaluation of energy provides a quantitative index of its importance, one only needs to think of
the fuel price fluctuations, but only when we are faced with emergencies, such as the blackouts occurring
throughout the world in the past few years, do we start to realize the qualitative effects of insufficient energy.
These crises are becoming more frequent due to the growing complexity of our system. By facing these
emergencies, globalized society is becoming aware of its dependency on energy sources and its need to
achieve sustainability for its consumption requirements.
The raw materials that allow us to produce energy take on a crucial supranational role and create worldwide
political and economic scenarios. The situation gets worse when the resources are non-renewable sources or
ones that generate high environmental risks. The greatest energy demand is actually met in two ways: by
increasing exploitation of the Planet's resources and by conducting a more intensive search for energy
efficiency. These solutions, however, create a vicious circle that does not guarantee the long-term
development we are hoping for.
Energy is a human right for self-improvement but it is also a common resource needed by society as a whole.
The legitimate expectations of energy procurement are only valid in conditions of limit or sustainability,
following the ethical principles of responsibility and precaution.
A radically new approach to this issue, which goes beyond specific technological solutions, is therefore
necessary to lead "global civil society‖ to redesign flows of resources and relationships within the local context
so to generate multiple and complex solutions.
Below we have presented two design solutions that suggest possible approaches for sustainable
development:
the first case deals with the production of renewable energy for the self-sustenance of a small-medium
enterprise (SME) in synergy with the resources found on the local territory;
the second case deals with the need to display products at low environmental impact fairs: a fair
regarded as a sign of the environmental commitment made by a company in physical relation with the
user.
Agrindustria, Cuneo (Italy)
The broad reach of the first project proposed, that involves a SME over the territory of Piedmont, generates an
innovative productive and territorial scenario, ensuring that energy supplies are autonomous, by means of ad
hoc solutions that boost development in connection with their own territory.
This study focuses on a production, distribution and consumer context circumscribed and defined in the
province of Cuneo (Italy), and involving active local entities on the territory:
- Design, Politecnico di Torino, has provided theoretical and practical tools for an innovative approach
to the problem, by coordinating the whole project and verifying its feasibility in technological details
and analysing the legal constraints on energy, environment and waste;
- the Science and Technology Park for agro-industry, Tecnogranda of Dronero (Cuneo, Italy), has
contributed to the feasibility of the project in all its operational aspects, with regards to:
- technical suitability of technological details;
- economic suitability, to ensure that necessary resources needed to define the system are
justified by expected returns (expressed in benefits); this also entails the research of financing;

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- the company, Agrindustria of Cuneo, contributed to the project from the following point of view:
- organization, to make sure the proposal could be concretely carried out;
- logistic, to check the necessary flows of matter and energy;
- monitoring, to identify the parameters needed to correctly evaluate the trend of the project;
- motivation, to verify the actual degree of acceptability that users could express regarding the
new system after it was built.
Schematic table of current productive situation of Agrindustria.
These actors helped make the results complete because while solving the same problem they became
involved in a multi-layered collective discussion aiming to jointly find new directions in which to move. This
enabled them to listen to voices from various sectors: design, industry, politics, the environment, social bodies,
economic agencies, etc. None of these is autonomous. Quite the contrary, they are closely related to each
other and together form a unique complex multifaceted system.
Specifically they discussed how to reduce the emissions of Agrindustria production processes by converting
them from a linear industrial system, which produces waste as well as products, into a open system whose
outputs become a resource for the company itself and other local enterprises. The system has been re-
designed, starting from the specific company context, and putting all the inputs and outputs produced in
positive connection with the territory.
The narrow vision of the critical points and single productions of Agrindustria and the broader vision of the
entire Piedmont system enabled us to delineate a complex systemic project and discover the ―hidden
connections‖ that add value to waste. The study thus structured led to the design of a complex system that
broadens the production capabilities of the company and develops new activities on the near-by territory.

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The company achieved energy autonomy, both electricity and heat, by using renewable resources found
directly in-house and on the local territory within a maximum radius of 40 kilometres. The technical and
technological decisions responded well to the company's needs and expertise, deriving from its ten year-
experience in handling and transforming biomass from farming activities. The production of energy from
renewable resources, such as non-food biomass, not only adds value to the company but also to the
surrounding territory because it contributes to preserving the natural heritage of the area. This particular case
involves cleaning out the underbrush of the mountain communities, eliminating manufacturing waste deriving
from the production of pallets and crates. It favours the biodiversity of Cuneo farm products through the
cultivation of mixed associated woodland using the biodynamic method.
Agrindustria currently transforms what it is considered secondary in the farming and industrial processes (e.g.
nut shells and corncobs) to obtain fibres, meal, granules and products used in a myriad of production sectors
(from mechanics to cosmetics). At the same time it obtains by-products flour and sells it at low cost as vegetal
fuel. The specific solution of this industrial waste of plant origin has led to the study of its value-adding
potential in a biomass-fed power plant, the design and construction of which are the key for transforming the
single linear industrial processes of the company into one complex system.
This allows Agrindustria to make a trait-d’union between agriculture (the cultivation of mixed woodland of
autochthonous trees) and industry (adding value to waste products) by taking output from its own
manufacturing process to be used as input and at the same time improving the territory. In fact several
types of dry and wet biomasses, can be recovered from the surrounding area which are currently
unrecognized as valuable, such as the derivatives of local products (poplar bark, wood chips, scraps from the
The company becomes a development engine for the surrounding territory and takes its own energy resources within a 40 kilometres
radius.

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production of crates and pallets) and by cleaning out the woods of mountain communities. The company,
placed at the bottom of the valleys of Gesso-Vermenagna-Pesio, Stura, Grana and Maira, is in a strategic
position for the recycling of virgin timber obtained after the cleaning of the mountain communities forests.
These areas, once they are cleaned up, are ready for new mountain farming activities, and present new
economic prospects, sprouting from renewed tourist opportunities. In fact the residents may be given the
chance to start new farm holiday businesses, available for keen-mountain people.
Enhancing resources according to their qualitative features has sparked the creation of new products and services. This has resulted
in an economic development and growth, both for firm and for the context where it works, spurring collaborations for an integrated
development with the territory (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino).
The project of converting biomass into clean energy (electricity and heat) responds safely and locally to the
problem of energy supply that affects our entire nation. Italy is behind the rest of Europe in its use of
renewable resources.
The European Directive 2006/32/CE on the efficiency of the final use of electrical energy and energy services, sets the goal for
member states to adopt measures for obtaining an energy savings of 9% by the ninth year of application starting in 2008. In addition
to a general energy saving, the EU also establishes targets regarding renewable energy37. Italy has also drafted three important
37 Directive 20001/77/EC, Directive 2003/30/EC and EC Reg. No. 1782/2003.

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program documents to promote and encourage the use of biomass 38, but the ITABIA (Italian Biomass Association)39 statistics show a
steep divide between current trends and expected goals 40. In order to reach these goals, it is vital that we respect the obligations of
the Kyoto Protocol (1992) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and become more independent in our procurement of energy41.
The project for a micro power plant for Agrindustria specifically entails conversion by combustion in an adiabatic oven with an
average capacity of 1.6 MW of biomass such as chipped virgin wood with the addition of flour from nutshells and corncobs derived
from the in-house production of granules. Though this plant is small, it adopts an innovative technology and has an important
feature: it is easy to operate and maintain. Moreover, it required only a small investment. The production project entails the
combustion of chipped virgin wood on a movable flat grill. The chips have 35-40% moisture and the latent heat contained in the
combustible gases is recovered by means of a vapour generator to create electricity and heat. The electric energy is produced by
means of a combined turbine with an alternator. The vapour of the cycle must be condensed by means of a secondary fluid (water)
with a low temperature rise (4°C). The water comes from a phytopurified fire-prevention pond42 having swamp vegetation and water
plants and it is fed to the plant by means of a pump. The heat energy produced by the plant is directly used by the company and its
production processes to desiccate, pasteurize and cook. In particular virgin wood chips are dried for the production of pellets to burn
in household stoves. It also dries legumes and cereals, which are abundant in the Cuneo area. The corn is dehydrated on the cob to
obtain cornmeal for polenta (a traditional Italian dish made with maize) in a controlled productive chain and cob, already used and
processed by Agrindustria.
Cogeneration not only produces energy but also many high-quality products such as corn dried on the cob, which creates high
quality meal and organoleptic value.
Humid biomass, found in the territory in analysis, consists of slurry produced by the many livestock holdings in
the county of Cuneo, silage deriving from farming activities and waste produced by fruit and vegetable
processing. This types of waste have a higher percentage of water compared to the others, that makes them
unsuitable for enhancement through gasification. As a result, they are initially processed to extract starch and
sugar to be used by the chemical industry for the production of bioplastics and, subsequently, they are
channelled into a anaerobic biodigestor for heat and green energy production.
In short the principal products produced by this new complex production scenario are:
- virgin wood pellets from autochthonous trees for domestic stoves;
- chipboards;
- corn granules for polenta controlled in the productive chain; the high quality of the product derives from
the fact that it is dried on the cob, something that is hardly ever done anymore in Italy. Moreover the
importance of this product has been endorsed by the establishment of the Onlus Association ―Antichi
Mais Piemontesi‖ (―Antique Piedmontese Maize‖) whose members are local farmers and factories that
cultivate or use traditional maize varieties (yellow and red Pignoletto; yellow, red and white Ottofile;
Ostenga; Nostrano dell'Isola);
- biodegradable compounds obtained by joining bioplastics and plant fibers to achieve high level
mechanical, physical and environmental services/performances.
Several new services are also provided:

- green electricity, which is more valuable than electricity produced by using fossil fuels because it does
not create the gases responsible for the greenhouse effect or other harmful emissions; what is more, it
is renewable thanks to natural cycles43;
38 the Programma Nazionale Energia Rinnovabile da Biomasse (PNERB), the Programma Nazionale per la Valorizzazione delle
Biomasse Agricole e Forestali (PNVBAF) and Libro Bianco per la Valorizzazione Energetica delle Fonti Rinnovabili.
39 report ―Le biomasse per l‘energia e l‘ambiente‖ (report on biomasses for the energy and the environment).
40 the total primary energy obtained from biomass in 2005 was 5.2 Mtep, which makes up 2.7% of total consumption.
41 based on the current trends, by 2030 the EU will be dependent on imports for 90% of its oil needs and 80% of its gas needs.
42 the same fire-prevention pond was studied in a systemic vision to ensure the multiplicity of advantages to the entire company.
Firstly the water resource on the property of Agrindustria was exploited: the water from a stream was used to irrigate the fields. This
source is phytopurified by authoucthnous plants and is oxygenated by small cascades and fountains. Then it ends up in the pond
with a high level of cleanliness. The water of the pond can be used not only for fire prevention (required by law) but also to cool the
heating system of the power plant and to allow the proliferation of fish and algae (which expands into new business sectors). On the
banks of the stream and the pond it would be possible to start an educational workshop for children from the elementary and middle
schools so that they understand how environmental sustainability is not only an abstract concept but a tangible reality even in
industrial scenarios.
43 green certifications are the new instrument to incentivize the use of renewable sources of energy after the liberalization of the
energy industry governed by Italian D. Lgs. 79/99 (the so-called Bersani Decree). The previous law was based on Law No. 9 and

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- thermal energy, which entails the exploitation of the heat naturally dissipated by the micro-plant;
- education about sustainability, the desire to open the company up to the public to become an
educational workshop is intrinsic to the philosophy of Agrindustria. Creating an educational process
that illustrates the content and potentials of the project creates and reinforces the bond between the
company and the local community; acknowledging the qualities of the project and the company's
way of operating in the territory becomes an instrument for spreading the culture of sustainability and
the community‘s self-identification and recognition of its local excellence.
Comparison between the products in the current linear production cycle and the ones produced in compliance with the systemic
project proposed.
Law No. 10/91 and the CIP 6/92 provision: this legislation has succeeded in raising the awareness of society that the production of
renewable or ―clean‖ energy is not just a slogan, but a focal point of sustainable development, the viaticum of progress which must
not be perpetuated to the detriment of ecosystem.

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The company becomes a development engine for the surrounding territory and takes its own energy resources, within a 40
kilometres radius.
The strong points of the projects are:

- the systemic vision of the entire company, which turns waste from other productions into a resource;
- an appreciation of the local territory and its biodiversity with the cultivation of mixed woods (elm trees,
wild cherry trees, beech trees and cherry plum) in associated 3-5 year cycles;
- adding value to wood by-products from the local SMEs (pallet and crate making companies);
- creating new jobs, in particular for the families who live in the valleys;
- a stimulus to clean out the woods in the surrounding mountain communities;
- using innovative low cost technology compatible with the company's know-how;
- producing clean energy from renewable non-food sources;
- reducing energy used by the production processes of the company thanks to the exploitation of the
heat dissipated by the power plant;
- increasing the number of services offered (electricity and heat);
- producing new high-quality products (maize for polenta, virgin wood pellets, dry nut shells, corn cobs)
with a consequent increase in revenue;

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- devising a plot project that can be taken as an example, even though it may not be entirely exportable.
The project offers a valid alternative for the development of the issue of energy procurement and emissions
from power production worldwide. The ever increasing number of natural catastrophes over the past decade
clearly proves that climatic instability is intensifying. The analysis of the dynamics behind the present natural
disasters shows that environmental tension and social tension are closely related. Poverty, the scarcity of
resources and population growth create vicious circles that lead to the deterioration of ecosystems and local
communities. This global issue finds effective solutions only through local actions that are coordinated in a
complex and all-inclusive way.
Chart for the development of neighbouring areas linked by a cooperative relationship.
In this context it becomes increasingly urgent to implement actions that are sustainable both environmentally
and economically. Agrindustria responds loud and clear to this need, made plain by the European
Community44, with its design and production system having low emissions and high energy efficiency. All the
company's previous outputs are now properly used as inputs for other production processes.
Therefore the research demonstrated the design advantages of the systemic approach, leading Agrindustria to
a change in production activities in relation to the territory. Starting with the critical points closely related to a
44the European Union sets itself the ambitious goal of obtaining 25% of its primary energy from renewable sources by 2020. The
Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and the European Council of 27 September 2001 sets out basic guidelines to
promote the production of electricity from renewable sources; it declares that the national goals indicated must be compatible with
the global goal of 12% of gross domestic consumption by 2010 and, in particular, 22.1% of the total consumption of electricity in the
European Union must be produced by renewable energy sources.

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specific local scenario, we arrived at achieving widespread benefits for the environment, economy and society
in general which have the potential to change local as well as international dynamics and relations that are
both complex and delicate.
Other similar systems, based on the production and consumption of renewable energies, prove that it is
possible to create sustainable infrastructures and streamlined energy systems, which contribute to the
development of territories of greater or smaller size. In summary, we can say that the green energy produced
within small plants, localized and spread over the territory, boosts the development and the prosperity of a
region. An accurate interpretation of the environment enables us to design and choose the appropriate
technology which allows the production of clean energy and to interface with other sources of renewable
energy, leading towards an exponential increase in environmental benefits. Flexible systems as such may
represent a new paradigm both for energy efficiency and for a solid development, both local and nationwide.
The territory is nurtured by a dense network of strongly cooperative activities, which draw all the necessary material and relational
resources from their own roots. This network is intersected by different levels of productive activities, and diverse operating areas
which, together, form the traditional material knowledge of the area.

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Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006/2008/2010, Torino (Italy)
evolution of an exportable model for a low environmental impact trade fair
As a means for development, growth, consumption and as the ―driving force‖ of the market, energy serves
humanity in as much as it feeds our ―industrial‖ muscle as well as our ―artificial stage sets‖, such as the trade
fairs that display so many of the products generated by the economic system in fieri.
Trade fairs, instruments for global exchange, are currently facing the energy issue mainly as they give the
companies the opportunity to exhibit themselves. The stand is a likely reproduction of the enterprise put in
physical touch with customers/consumers: a stage which is set up to make the organization and its products
known by establishing a contact between the company itself and its potential customers.
Energy at trade fairs has a dual purpose: it is an ―object‖ to be promoted45 and presented in its various forms
and it is a ―subject‖ of the exhibition, i.e. the power used to carry out the event. The latter aspect, however,
until now has only been confronted shyly. Some bodies propose forms of certification 46 that demonstrate the
―clean‖ origin of the energy that feeds the event. The renewable resource that supplies the fair does not
necessarily derive from the hosting organization; market strategies allow the input into the network of the
amount required for the trade fair. From this perspective we see a mechanism similar to the one set up with
the credit market for the emissions of CO2: formulas for global balancing that, if not controlled, do not
necessarily favour local ad hoc projects or the development of the economy of the country where the event is
being held.
Table showing the inputs and outputs of the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006.
45 numerous events have been organized to promote the sale of products and services associated with ―more sustainable‖ forms of
energy, amongst which we cite as examples the “Renewable Energy Exhibition 2007” (14-17 February 2007, Lyon, France), “Genera
2007-Energy and Environment International Fair” (28 February-2 March 2007, Madrid, Spain), “Energymed 2007” (Exhibition-
Conference on Renewable Sources and Energy Efficiency in Mediterranean Countries, 8-10 March 2007, Naples, Italy, Mostra
D'Oltremare).
46 for example: 100% Energia Pulita-Multiutility, Energia rinnovabile-Life Gate.

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The major risk is the one of sending visitors an immediate short-lived message that – in a concise and often
simplistic way – summarizes a broad-ranging and delicate issue such as energy production.
For this reason it is absolutely necessary to communicate the adopted strategies to reduce energy needs of
trade fairs by creating a direct and local connection between the source and the event without the mediation of
certifications.
This approach was undertaken in-depth as part of a broader long-term project called “Salone Sistemico: un
modello esportabile di manifestazione fieristica a ridotto impatto ambientale” (―Systemic Exhibition: an
exportable model for a low environmental impact trade fair‖) which, in addition to energy procurement,
considers all the other incoming and outgoing flows of the trade fair system:
- stand construction;
- waste production;
- packaging;
- materials for onsite food consumption;
- logistics for transporting the goods;
- CO2 emissions;
- the mobility of persons;
- water resources.
Every area analyzed presented a comprehensive design scenario that aims to reduce the environmental
impact of the trade fairs in the study: Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre.
The amount of energy needed to carry out and sustain these events must therefore confront a prioritization
process of reduction and rationalization that takes into account the aforesaid factors. Only in this way, then, it
will be possible to adopt energy procurement policies deriving from the use of local renewable energy sources.

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With this objective in mind, Slow Food together with Design, Politecnico di Torino and with the collaboration
of numerous partner companies, had developed, during the 2006 event of Salone Internazionale del Gusto
and Terra Madre, a project framework for the future application of a systemic view to its exhibitions.
The systemic approach of Design, Politecnico di Torino, is coherent with the principles of the Slow Food
manifesto “Good, Clean and Fair”: three fundamental adjectives, closely connected to each other, indeed
inseparable, which define in a very basic way the characteristics that food must have. Today food is entrusted
with the communication of a cultural identity where biodiversity must be protected in the name of the new
“eco-gastronomy”. Seeking joy through wholesome food, the original core of the Slow Food philosophy, has
become the foundation for a broader-ranging mission that prompts us to consider, when defining a quality
product, not only the importance of its taste and organoleptic qualities, but the food in its entire lifecycle. This
includes the phases of production, promotion, sale, consumption and, lastly, the disposal of the product. From
this new definition of quality comes the ethical obligation to take action to reduce the environmental impacts
made by the trade fairs and other events organized by Slow Food: places where over 6,000 wine and food
products are presented, tasted, and sold.
The project started in 2006 and has been developed over the years, aiming to achieve, in 2012, the lowest possible environmental
impact. The first step was made in 2008, with an estimated reduction of nearly 55%, by turning the issue of outputs, appeared in the
2006 event, into project opportunities together with the many partner companies.

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Summary of the 2006 scenario, outlining the project fields and the partner involved for the 2008 event.
The goal of this project, as part of the program of Torino World Design Capital 2008, is therefore the
progressive reduction of the environmental impact of Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre by
creating a network of interdisciplinary expertise that examines the different and complex design areas for
promoting new sustainable consumption scenarios and outputs management at a territorial level.
The results of this research were applied starting with the 2008 event, which kicked off a multi-annual
evolutional process that made the container congruent with its content and promoted a Piedmontese
model of trade fair events with reduced environmental impact, claiming its role as innovator and its function as
educator that the kermesse has had since its first edition in 1996.
Therefore the systemic approach as the ―driving force‖ of a sustainable development of trade fairs makes
consumers, producers and designers think about concepts such as local, territorial identity, the reduction
of environmental impact within the entire lifecycle of products and output-input connection that values
waste products.
This involves implementing a process of “behavioural innovation” that does not sacrifice the elements of
trade fair under examination but optimizes the flows of promotion, exhibition and commerce, adapting them to
the local territorial qualities for the purpose of educating, protecting and promoting a pervasive and shared
environmental culture.
According to this outline, by joining ethics and expertise creatively, the study took its first steps during the 2006
fair and took a snapshot of the current status of environmental impact of the trade fairs being studied47.
47Salone Internazionale del Gusto is the answer in the food trade fair field to homologation determined by the globalized market
which penalizes small high-quality production. It is based on the concept of preserving cultural and environmental heritage
associated with enogastronomy while revitalizing local micro economies. The simultaneous international meeting of food
communities, Terra Madre, transforms Torino into a ―global food village‖ by bringing together operators of the food sector from five
continents to share ideas about the problems caused by intensive farming that harms natural resources. The aim is to build a
genuine network of contacts and connections to reinforce the methods of local, traditional and sustainable production throughout the
world. Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre function as one big event in which the commercial trade fair, a place where

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Situation of the flows of matter and energy involved in the development and management of the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and
Terra Madre 2006, with the new project scenario proposed for the 2008 event. The goal is to reduce the environmental impact
caused by exhibitions (project: Design, Politecnico di Torino with Slow Food).
From the energy point of view, to host the event during its entire lifecycle (pre- and post-organizational phase
as well as the phase when it is open to the public) the trade fair structure needs a supply of approximately
9,200 kWh of electricity and approximately 250 m³ of gas. The amounts calculated in 2006 were not high but
with other factors such as the production of stands, the energy cost for waste elimination, the transportation of
goods, the design of components and packing for food consumption at the fair, concur in an overall balance of
implicit energy consumption that quite a bit more extensive.
excellent traditional food products measures swords with the market, coexists with the gathering of Food Communities which
represent the life blood worldwide agricultural biodiversity, the positive and concrete alternative to the damaging effects of the
homologation of tastes and the globalization of productions.

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That is why it was necessary to reduce and verify the environmental correctness of these individual
aspects and the many consumption opportunities provided during the trade fair to the human visitors before
thinking about how to supply energy to the facility itself.
Undoubtedly the major problems were singled out in the instability of the system for the management of solid
waste produced during all of the phases of the trade fair lifecycle (design, mounting the stands, fair activities
and dismantling the stands) and the resulting accumulation of mixed waste material 48. This also included
places near the location of the actual exhibition of enogastronomic products.
If we compare the incidence of the trade fair event to the production of waste in the city of Torino and
surrounding municipalities during the five days of the event, we can see it corresponds to a significant
percentage. The number of inhabitants is approximately 2,243,625 and the number of visitors was
approximately 172,50049 in 2006. These numbers clearly show how inside the trade fair there are too many
opportunities for people to produce waste. Therefore, we need to use eco-compatible materials when
preparing the exhibition and apply them in different contexts, at the end of the fair, using paint and
fabrics of natural origin and, when possible, eliminating furnishings having a brief lifecycle (e.g. moquette),
choosing materials and components that are recyclable or reusable, increasing proper solid waste
separation/collection inside the trade fair and conferring the remaining outputs to appropriate plants
that will add value to them or eliminate them.
Moreover an important role is played by the materials used for on-site food consumption during the
phases of food tasting. In fact at the last edition the use of plastic for these purposes generated about 6 tons of
waste: plates, cutlery and cups of various sizes and types that could not be recycled due to organic residues
left on their surface. This led to the decision to use tableware that is completely made by biodegradable and
compostable materials50.
The means used for this new and hoped-for attention to environmental needs, even in the packaging of the
food and wine products, must start heading down a path of self-analysis and redesign. The packaging must be
an instrument that suggests new lifestyles and sustainable behaviours, going beyond the sole function of
defence/protection and arriving at a new communicative function. It must become an instrument to show
proper symbols and signs, the immediate messengers of new cultural values and territorial rituals that strongly
challenge social changes already in progress (e.g. eating rapidly, the concept of food as a souvenir, single
portions) in respect of the organoleptic values traditionally correlated to any given food product.
The modalities for transporting goods, delegates of Terra Madre, visitors and operators who are exhibiting, are
all factors that play a decisive role in the initial strategic decisions that aim to put in place corrective feedback
and reduce implicit energy consumption upstream as well as the consequent emissions it produces. An
approximate estimate of the volumes of CO2, released in 2006, has shown a production of about 1,600 tons51
to which we must add 6.2 tons of CO2 emissions produced by the energy consumption of the facility itself52.
Therefore we must think about good practices that might reduce these emissions and encourage the visitors at
the trade fair to use sustainable means of transportation, promote the use of local products for catering and
adopt a logistics system for transportation of the exhibited goods designed to create as little environmental
impact as possible53.
Further attention has also been given to the control of the liquids that enter the water net so they do not go
beyond the normal amount of harmful substances established for households.
48 about 189.06 tons of which was differentiated and therefore properly appreciation by about 17%.
49 statistics obtained from the ―Rapporto sullo stato di gestione dei rifiuti‖, a report about the waste management condition in the
Province of Torino, 2005.
50 the research and the development of products generated by renewable raw materials of agricultural origin have been contributing
for years to this sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and the consumption of non-renewable resources
and completes a virtuous cycle in which the raw materials from agriculture return to the earth through processes of biodegradation
and composting which do not produce pollution.
51 the amount of CO2 is calculated on the basis of the consumption of paper, CD-ROMs, and the mobility of the participants.
52 It was therefore calculated that about 75,000 m2 of wooded areas, equivalent to the surface of Oval plus Lingotto (the buildings
where the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre are usually hosted in), would be required to absorb the total CO2
produced by the fair (the time needed to absorb the emissions depends on the location of the wooded area, the type of trees there
and their stage of growth).
53 see annex 2 for the macro data of Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006, 2008 and 2010.

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After adopting and promoting good practices and new design guidelines to reduce the overall energy needs of
the area required to carry out the event, we drew up a strategy for procuring energy from local renewable
sources.
From an analysis of the Piedmontese territory we discovered a company that was particularly diligent and
efficient in the production of alternative energies: the name of this company is Marcopolo Environmental
Group. The ecological journey of this company started in the 70s when it needed to treat the sewage produced
from cattle breeding. Today the group is an international entity operating in the environmental field with
numerous patents and production processes for the ―active‖ industrial valuing of waste and the production of
energy from renewable sources.
Strategic partner of the project “Eventi a ridotto impatto ambientale” (events with low environmental impact),
the group provided, in the 2008 event, the necessary energy to the trade fair, putting on the market an amount
of energy equal to the energy from its biomass plants using the residues of companies located in Piedmont.
The main advantages of this energy production system are:
- the treatment of materials currently considered waste;
- the abundance of available resources that regenerate seasonally;
- the easiness of extracting the energy;
- the very low economic cost;
- its potential fertilizing power;
- the nonexistent correlated environmental impact: the amount of CO2 released during energy production
is equal to the amount stored during the growth of the biomass used.
See, highlighted in blue, the relationships built among the partner companies of the project in 2008, whereas in grey, the possible
increase the system is likely to perform in the future events54.
54 list of the lead companies following in order that regards the activities of the table. Those that are connected with the
project ―Un nuovo modello di fiera-evento a ridotto impatto ambientale‖ (a new model of fair-event with low environmental
impact) are shown in brackets:
Promoters: Design, Politecnico di Torino; Slow Food; Regione Piemonte; Città di Torino.
Partners: Set Up (Co.Ge.Fa S.p.A., Papili Factory Onlus, La Stampa, Accademia delle Belle Arti di Torino, Cartiera Paudice,
Spring Color); Amiat (Palmar); Novamont (EcoZema, Eco Tecnologie); Comieco; Consorzio Nazionale Acciaio; Re Academy
(I Was, Keo Project); AzzeroCO2; Marcopolo Environment Group (Terra srl); GTT Agenzia Mobilità Metropolitana Torino; Fiat
Group; Bus Company; Seag; Smat; Acqua Lurisia; Sotral; Risteco; Camst; Parco Fluviale del Po torinese; Lingotto Fiere;
Oval Lingotto.

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The use of renewable sources for supplying electricity and gas needed for these events will allow us to take
the first step (the research involves the evolution of design and applications distributed over several editions of
the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre) to promote trade fair energy development with less
environmental impact. The energy comes from the same territory and is generated by valuing outputs from
different manufacturing processes.
We need to point out that, in order to achieve the results shown so far, it was not only necessary to manage all
the phases of the project, but also to support the different partner companies along the way, encouraging them
to develop reciprocity in dialogue in this new cultural field. As a result we have triggered a complex relational
system that, little by little, has become surprisingly more aware and united, so much so that it has become a
propulsive mechanism for all the actions performed. The Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre
can therefore be considered ―living events‖ due to their dynamicity, their continuous involving that put them at
the centre of the most recent internationalization dynamics of the Country-system and see them increasingly
connected to network processes oriented towards the development of the territory and visitor dialogue-
education policies. They are workshops where projects such as “Eventi a ridotto impatto ambientale”55 can fit
in to represent, design and metabolize new trends and lifestyles, new alliances amongst producers, promoters
and distributors, new languages that will accelerate the pace of dissemination of an innovation that restores
dignity to the environment and in which development occurs by forming, informing, raising awareness, a sense
of responsibility and the sharing of the same principles.
In this perspective, it is also worth mentioning some of the projects that are being developed in the fields of
Large Retail Trade, of events, exhibitions and congresses. These sectors have a great impact on the
behaviour of the users, in that they can lay the foundation for positive procedures to be adopted in our daily
lifestyle, spontaneously rather than forcedly.
Store (Proximity Supermarket) aiming to zero emissions

in collaboration with the CEAN group56 in Trofarello (Italy)
The supermarket, the pivotal element of the consumption process of modern society, is a place where we buy
goods that are vital for our life as well as a source of waste and dispersion of unchecked substances and
materials in the environment. Furthermore it is a place responsible for the high consumption of energy and
resources in general. However, the regular contacts with the public occurring at the supermarket on a day-to-
day basis, develop a strong link between production and consumption, a connection that is strengthened
through the regular trading activities carried out, blossomed and nurtured inside this place. When we make
consumer choices, we interface with the wide range of products available on the market. As a consequence of
our preferences, the policies adopted and pursued by the producers, prior to, during and after the production
process, are inevitably going to be rewarded or penalized. However, the great influence exerted over
consumer choices are only geared to increasing business and economic success, by means of seductive
marketing and advertising campaign strategies, concocted to allure the consumers 57. Instead, if we educate
them to be responsible subjects, to show an ecological awareness and to make aware choices, the Store may
well become an educational centre for teaching and consolidation of social environmental sensitivity and
responsibility for the whole community. For this reason we believe that the Store may represent a centre for
the diffusion of ecological culture and correct behaviour.
55 to see the project in detail: www.polito.it/design; by clicking on ―Books on Demand‖, it is possible to free download the texts
Systemic Design, Salone del Gusto and Food-Pack Guidelines concerning the issue.
56 CEAN group specialised in creating and restructuring turn-key solutions of supermarkets and stores.
57 see case study New consumption model (Ortofruit Italia), paragraph agro-industry and Davide Vannoni‘s essay, chapter 3

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The Store is the place where consumers make choices that are going to have great impact on production policies.
We are in the process of outlining and monitoring the present situation, in order to redefine all the interrelations
of the Proximity Supermarket. The goal is to ensure that container, content and the many exchanges and
interactions deriving from it, are compatible and consistent with one another.
The study of the above topic focuses on two main areas. On the one hand, there is an in-depth analysis of the
resources to adopt, such as energy for heating, refrigeration and ambient lighting and for cold chain of food, as
well as water used for fresh food (vegetables and fruit); packaging (for transport, for delivery of the goods to
the stores, for customers) because the store is the very hub for their recycling or disposal; solid waste
separation/collection policies to be activated thanks to the study.
Chart of the resources generated and used by the Store.
On the other hand, the study is addressed to all the players involved in these actions or part of them, such as
Large Retail Trade, designers and builders of the stores, producers of professional equipment (e.g. refrigerator
cases, fridges, etc.), producers of lighting equipment and technical systems, energy providers (electric power,
methane, water) as well as the management of waste (mixed or sorted). And, of course, the study is also
addressed to the veritable actors who gear the whole system: the consumers.

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The management of outputs and inputs, with the patient assistance training given to partners in this innovative
cultural approach, is the core of this project. It is the matrix of the ambitious environmental results that we have
shown, leading towards a new economic model stemming from the systemic approach.
Around the Proximity Supermarket there are different players with whom it is possible to carry out environmental policies that will, in
turn, produce interesting economic outcomes, both for the society and the participants themselves.
At present the Store is a mere retail business, placed within the community.
In fact, the relationships built with firms or companies, are only of an economic sort, based on the exchange of
products and service in return for money. The OUTPUTS of the Store are not regarded as resources, as
evidenced by the holistic survey, but rather as a waste burdening the environment and affecting communities
both distant and nearby.
A Systemic Design approach allows to use the resources and to generate an autopoiectic macro system,
leading towards new relational networks.
Nowadays the Store, the very junction between the Company and the Firms, is at the heart of a network of
economy-oriented relationships; these latter, instead, have mainly a social flavour that should be taken into
account
The Systemic Design approach allows for the use of the OUTPUTS partly inside the Store, partly as INPUTS
for the Community. In fact, the goods that are close to their expiry date will be donated to social canteens; in
this way the quantity of unseparated waste is likely to decrease and a lot of edible food will not be thrown
away.

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Systemic table of the relationships connected to the Store.

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The waste regarding logistics, those being the packaging and organic portion, will be collected and separated
in a Material Recycling Facility (MRF), which collects also waste from the neighbouring community. The latter,
in return, will be eligible for discount tickets to be used within the Store and encourage, in this way, the
creation of a solid customer loyalty relationship between the Store itself and regular or acquired customers.
The materials from the MRF can go to the processing firms and be processed to be turned into new products
for the community; in the meantime, the Store can make a profit from selling the waste collected to the
processing firms.
Furthermore, the study about the ―building container‖ makes one consider the complex problem of the
connection that ought to exist between the outer shell and technical systems58.
58 together with the industrial group Gozzo impianti S.p.A. of Pianezza (Torino, Italy), we are developing a research focused on this
important area of interest because we believe that this latter can significantly affect the planning approach of designers and
contribute for the reduction of energy consumption.

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Events
case studies: Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2010, 2010 World Figure Skating
Championships, Exhibition of the Holy Shroud 2010, Zona Tortona,
Concerts/meetings/tourism.
Besides having meeting, enjoyment and thought swapping as principle goal, demonstrations 59, events and
meetings could not represent an environmental problem if they are organized in an efficient, sustainable way,
creating a positive relation with the territory they are settled in.
Graphic synthesis of the events kinds.
The multiple typologies of events, such as demonstrations, meetings, fairs, concerts and expositions, could be
different as far as the methods of organization referred to time and space are concerned. Either they are set in
specific areas, which could be accommodation, expositive or meeting facilities, or they are spread through the
urban territory, such as squares, villages or important parts of the city. The time duration of an event could be
a single day, sometimes a week or it could even last a year, as it happens for international expos. But there is
a common feature: every event deals with territory, has the peculiarity of being exceptional and they are run
with an extreme care about the fruition contents.
The present culture leads designers and businessmen to focus their attention on the creation of their products,
taking care of their emotional and perceptive aspects. Less attention is paid for the management aspect,
starting from the enjoyment to the ―after use‖ role of the product. And consumers usually do the same: even
though they are more sensitive towards the environmental aspects linked to the use and end-of-life of
59 see chapter 1, project related plans: Product or Service Design.

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products, they are still influenced by the symbolic fascination there is within the products, neglecting the
importance of their harmony with environment.
The tendency to neglect these quality contents increases when the event goal is just to convey an immediate
message to the consumer, trying to influence the visitor through messages and installations which are used
only for few days; this ephemeral disposition leads not to consider how they have been created, produced or
managed.
It is a solution extremely effective, since it uses the best design choices, concentrated on the contents and
fruition moments throughout the few days of the event. But, when the event ends, everything which appeared
great before, immediately becomes waste without any value. A sudden decrement in whole quality happens
during which values are easily trivialized, and used and then cast-off material/products potentials are
neglected.
Scheme of the conception of an event at present and of the new qualities it could have through the systemic approach.
It seems that the only important thing is the real success of the event, regardless of its spin-offs and of its
consequences on the environment. This ephemeral aspect leads to make the big mistake of accepting
solutions which are not sustainable, just because of their short duration; moreover, nobody cares about the
increasing effect due to the high number of people who enjoyed them.
This is because the event is planned according to a system of values not consistent with sustainability
requirements. The quality of an event, its new quality, cannot be left aside from the goals of a right
management of matter and energy flows and from the increase of value of the generated outputs.
Then, we have to start up a process of cultural innovation using ―new eyes‖ that, while observing the issue and
without throwing away the characteristic elements of the ―event product‖, can optimize the processes of use
adapting them to the local qualities of the territory and to its capability of ―metabolizing‖.
The effectiveness of this nature of plan is indissolubly linked to a deep and complicated fact-finding process
that underline the flows set in motion and the qualitative and quantitative relationships that will be established
between event and context, between event and subjects involved by it.
This holistic point of view60, not only looks into the aspects of communication, setting up, people and goods
logistics, resources and energy, catering, output/waste, but also underlines the potential links of cause and
effect between fields. It is a synthetic and contemporary vision of the event-system, deeper and more
complete even if coherent with the traditional sectional classification.
60 see holistic survey in annex 1.

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The first element of knowledge concern those subjects actively involved in the event, even if in different ways:
public corporations or private institutions that promote, finance and realize the event;
sponsors that help to the financing of the event (with money or useful goods);
the actor of the event, that is the person that supplies, as main character, the fruitive content of the
event itself;
the audience, subscribers, beneficiaries, consumers of the event, often actors of it, too. It is easy to
imagine what would be a concert or a fair without audience;
the event has also a more or less deep relation with the physic and social context; it is a community
with two scales of proximity and relationship: the close one shares places and time with the event, the
far one is indirectly involved but ―feels‖ the presence in the same way.
Scheme of the actors involved in the event.
The potential mutual interaction between subjects is neglected, unsolved and unvalued. In fact it does not
even usually exist a mutual knowledge. This situation forbids the possibility of creating a complex system of
relations that, with the progress of the links between the different parts, gains cohesion, allows a co-evolution
and stimulates an atmosphere of new economic opportunities.
Another element of sensibility during the planning of an event is the space of time to take in consideration. The
transitory character must not lead to focus only onto the ―opening days‖ but also on the operative phases
before the event and after the event. In each of these there are different subjects, involved in heterogeneous
ways; but each one of them is crucial for a better ―environmental result‖. In the end it is necessary a read in
retrospect of the whole and of its consequences, in order to gain the operational, managerial, economic,
cultural, environmental feedback that the event can give back and that will be useful to following ameliorative
changes.

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Synthetic scheme of the phases of an event.
Synthetic scheme of the phases with the specific actions of an event.

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The contemporary vision of the different operative sectors works with standards of survey that follow
issues about the content of the offer (WHAT);
human resources involved in different ways in the event (WHO);
managerial, logistic, negotiating and communicative aspects (HOW);
quantitative dimensions of the participation (HOW MANY);
temporal context and the duration of the event (WHEN);
territorial context of the event and its outfits (WHERE).
Synthetic scheme of the outputs compared to every single phase of an event.
This data will be quantified and qualified according to several parameters which refer to several aspects of
possible environmental spin-offs of:
MATTER (goods, products, semi-finished products and manufactured articles);
SOCIAL IMPACT (social and cultural spin-offs);
RESOURCES AND ENERGY (resources and energy);
LOGISTICS (transportation of people and goods);
DIMENSIONS OF THE EVENT (area and visitors);
OUTPUT (waste generated at the end of the event);
COMMUNICATION (total informative system);
The systemic approach re-designs the event-system in the whole, with coherence with its own cultural and
operative guidelines and on the basis of the holistic survey and of parametric valuations. The project will define
in this way, the most suitable choices of the materials to use, the product and the service to supply but, above
all, the coordination of the network of every subject that will allow the management of the flows of energy and
the income and outcome matter, leading the event toward environmental sustainability and efficiency goals.

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Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2010, Torino (Italy)
In this edition it is renewed the commitment in the project61 of continuing to make the biggest quality food fair
and the most important meeting of food communities from all over the world at small environmental impact.
The celebration, planned following the guidelines of the systemic approach, is the result of several processes
and relationships, that make it a cultural stage that is a point of reference in the environmental design field.
The event is, then, for another time, a workshop to test and put forward culturally innovative propositions.
Exhibitors and visitors, according to the methodological study we talked about in the previous pages, are
involved to become active subjects of the event, of a complex system in which also the behaving habits of
everyone cause a smaller environmental impact of the whole system. The project, started at the experimental
stage in 2006 with the data collection and analysis, has already produced a cheering result in the 2008 edition,
less 45% of environmental impact compared to 2006 (see annexes) and the goal for 2010 is less 60%.
Actions undertaken are directed to different application fields and transversely involve the whole organization
process.
Every stand and other exhibition areas of the producers‘ market will be realized with fireproof pallets in FSC
(Forest Stewardship Council) wood with AssoSCAI (Associazione per lo Sviluppo della Competitività
Ambientale di Impresa – the Italian Association for the Development of Environmental Competitivity of
Enterprises) label. These pallets, after the event, will resume their specific and original role of transporting
goods in logistics chain. The systemic operation has, then, a double significance in the environmental point of
view. On one hand, it cuts down waste at the end of the event, and on the other hand it underlines the
environmental and ethic characteristics of the FSC standards that grant the respect of native populations and
promote the safeguard of the forest biodiversity, avoiding the alimentation of a greatly developed black market.
The internal and external solid waste separation/collection system pushes to increase the excellent result
reached in 2008 (58,4% of waste differentiation), through a widespread system of interceptions of waste
produced by visitors, expositors, and kitchens at work during the event. A total collection of every fraction
(plastic, paper, glass, cans, organic and undifferentiated) is expected and is organized in three layers:
collection islands guarded by Legambiente volunteers that help public to separate in the right way;
the ―stand to stand‖ system with whom waste already separated by every exhibitor is collected;
the collection of the material (above all organic and oils) of the kitchens and of the tasting dishes
preparation places.
Moreover, compostable and biodegradable materials will be used for the tasting activities. This allows the
elimination of the ―use and throw away‖ plastic tools and the volume of undifferentiated waste that would be
created. At the Salone Internazionale del Gusto every expositor and every area managed by the organization
has dishes, glasses, cutlery made of Mater-Bi or cellulose paste which is biodegradable, compostable and
easy to sort as organic waste. Moreover, inside the fair, a specific store has Mater-Bi and cellulose paste
crockery, shoppers and napkins at the exhibitors‘ disposal at a cheap price.
In events like the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre, complexity is a value to be safeguarded
and promoted but it is also difficult to manage. The quantity of goods that arrive daily to the fair from all over
the world, with different characteristics and needs of storage and preservation, does not make the transport
organization and the logistics connected the products transportation particularly simple.
The supplying and the management of foodstuffs used for the food preparation in the areas run by Slow Food
(Laboratori del Gusto, Teatro del Gusto, canteen of Terra Madre) is optimized, with the goal of reducing the
number of travels in collaboration with agencies specialized in distributive logistics with small environmental
impact and in the planning support to agencies of collective catering.
This choice, together with the use of high efficiency means of transport, not only allows a drastic reduction of
carbon dioxide emissions associated with the good transportation, but it also positively affect the habitual
traffic congestion in the areas near the fair during the days of the event.
In this edition some areas of the fair, like the wine bar, have been tested by lighting them up by low
consumption of energy light spots (LED and optical fibres) with the result of an important energy conservation
61 Slow Food, Regione Piemonte and Città di Torino organize both fairs in collaboration with Design, Politecnico di Torino and,
starting from the 2010 edition, with Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche of Pollenzo.

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and supplying new solutions for the lightening of characteristic objects like bottles of wine. These lights do not
heat up the lit body and do not expose wine to radiations that could ruin it.
Other important actions with the goal of reducing the environmental impact and of promoting good sustainable
actions are now being defined and developed. One of these actions concerns water. In order to reduce the use
of PET bottles it has been proposed the visitors the possibility of buying water in glass at water pouring out
spots distributed in the fair, or the possibility of drink from little fountains directly connected to the city water
system.
In order to reduce the material of paper communication, keeping high the level of the content of information
spread, the use of the QR code has been tested; this allows the download on the mobile phone of the studies
about the Italian and international Slow Food Presidia. The number of files and press releases sent by post to
journalist from all over the world has been greatly cut down and the use of e-mails and of the download of
texts, photos and videos from the web site has been increased. Some information, at the moment, still needed
to be printed, like the Italian version of the program, the fair map, the wine list, etc.; this is the reason why it
has been chosen paper which comes from forests managed in the right environmental and social way, with
FSC certification.
Actions, here briefly displayed, do not show completely the whole planning network planned to cut down the
environmental impact, but give the general idea of the scope of the project “A new model of event with low
environmental impact” applied in the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2010.
As we already happened in the past edition, at the end of the event the results of the actions carried out will be
quantified and notified. Data will be commented and analyzed in detail during a press conference and will also
be expressed in terms of carbon dioxide avoided. Thanks to this quantification, we will proceed on the same
direction we followed in the past, starting new local projects for the biodiversity safeguard.
2010 edition design guidelines.

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2008 achievements and 2010 design prevision having the 2006 edition as main reference point.
Synthesis of the relationships of the planning fields and its partners involved in the 2010 edition.

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2010 World Figure Skating Championships, Torino (Italy)
On the occasion of the 100th edition of World Figure Skating Championships held in Torino from 22nd to 28th
March 2010, we developed, in collaboration with International Skating Union (ISU) Committee, the total
monitoring of the event. Communication, organization, people and goods logistics, resources and energy,
catering, output and waste, territorial relations, rules for drawing up contracts, involved subjects: these have
been the main topics of the analysis of the event in its planning, development and ending phases, with
particular attention to the economic, social and environmental consequences that came out. The observation
led to the detection of restrictions, criticalities and opportunities and to the possibility of defining the importance
and the environmental weight of the flows of income and outcome matter and energy. The research activity,
currently in progress, avails itself of these data in order to prefigure ameliorative solutions, permanent
monitoring tools, better configurations of the system that could lead, in the whole, to the final settlement of the
rules and regulations to be applied to the planning and to the management of future events that the purchaser
will organize in the buildings that were given him to run.
Scheme of waste flows in different fields.
Some actions have already been carried out, as

the energy used to supply the venue of the competition (the Palazzo a Vela) and the majority of
temporal buildings is certified as ―green‖ by the supplier;
the catering service uses, for some parts, crockery made of cellulose fibre that can be compostable
with the organic portion of refuse;
water supply, in some refreshment bars for the normal staff and for the sport staff, is granted with a
tapping system and returnable bottles that allow to greatly reduce the use of plastic bottles.

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The communication schematized in its different sectors of use.
These are solutions that underline a virtuous ―perspective‖ under the point of view of the developing phase of
the environmental project. These gain a bigger value if considered together with other ameliorative actions
aiming to reduce emissions generated by the event, even if there wasn‘t any structural intervention in the
buildings where the competitions took place. These other actions are:
the utilization of a solid waste separation/collection system (paper, aluminium, plastic) inside the
building, that allows a reduction of the unsorted waste in favour of an increase of the organic waste
(with the cellulose fibre compostable crockery) and that also allows the valuation of divested material;
banners and flags created by the Comune di Torino for the ―Look of the City‖ related to the event,
have been given to a social cooperative that uses them for the production of various accessories and
different objects;
the same organizing committee in the next events will use the same moquette.
We can already sense the features of the specifications that are being developed that, in short, will be the
definition of a relational system able to reconnect the event with the territory that host it, optimizing the
processes, valuating outputs and involving the local social-economic system.
Certainly all the system of the logistics for athletes and journalists must be better organized because often, in
certain hours, the means of transportation were pretty empty. This entails, in the future, the necessity of testing
a ―call service‖ that satisfies the real transportation needs as soon as they emerge in order to reduce the
number of circulating means as well as CO2 emissions and fine dust particles.

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Final scheme of logistics for athletes and journalists with the quantification of total travelled kilometres and CO2 produced.

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Exhibition of the Holy Shroud 2010, Torino (Italy)
The exhibition of the Holy Shroud is a moment that every believer wants to live because of the strong
emotional component generated by its visit, because of the silence and the meditation with which he gets
closer to the object of worship. It is a moment of communion and sharing that would facilitate the
understanding and assimilation of environmental contents because of they are not only suggested but also
experienced at first-hand.
The right planning of the environmental aspects, as previously pointed out, linked to an event represents a
fundamental condition in order to maximize the reduction at the origin of impacts and to reduce the needs of
final compensation of the remains. This consideration also means the need of integrating the environmental
dimension already during the planning phase, trying to have repercussions on every possible variables.
Guidelines of the project communicated to visitors through the web site.
A systemic project integrates and coordinates the set of interventions, and every intervention gets multiple
positive spin-offs that mean better performances and more energy, flows or matter savings. Every part that
compose it must be optimized and harmonized with others; acting over one, we will have a consequence over
every other part and every element or action will evolve coherently with the whole. Every actor must manage
this process of positive synergy in sync so that we can have, inside the ecosystem, a positive result always
improved and improving.

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The total impact will be calculated at the end of the event, on the basis of realized activities and actually
registered presences, so that there is every environmental information needed to estimate the impact in terms
of CO2 emissions.
Transportation, logistics of goods and people, but also energy, catering, tourism and culture as well as
collateral manifestations are the marked topics that depend on the exposition of the Shroud. For every topic
we started to use a systemic approach so that the different generated outputs become inputs for other
systems, allowing a whole re-dimensioning of the environmental impact of the event.
For the first time an important religious event such as this had been realised in order to reduce emissions. It is
a strong cultural and ethical attitude.
General scheme of generated outputs in different fields.

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Zona Tortona, Milano (Italy)
survey on the Fuori Salone del Mobile in Milano, as an opportunity to study and design the systemic
city
The research group of Systemic Design started a research on the event Fuori Salone del Mobile of Zona
Tortona, Milano. During the days of the kermesse, the group62 started the analysis and data collection process
of the event in order to define its characteristics, problems and consequences in terms of quality-quantity and
positivity-negativity. The goal was to arrange the project for a new model of urban exhibit starting from the
definition of the guidelines and then go into details of the experimental development phase.
The project63 is the first experimentation of the Systemic Design applied to an event with characteristics that
where different from the previous case studies. It is, in fact, a week-long event in which the ―immaterial‖ goal of
design dissemination generates consistent consumption/waste of materials and energy. The actors involved
are a peculiar feature that makes this project from others: for Zona Tortona it does not exist a unique guardian
but five companies (and some private citizen) that in an independent way run the exhibition areas in the district
and that have relationships only for the communication aspects linked to this circuit.
62 research team composed by Luigi Ristagnino, Paolo Tamborrini, Sergio Corsaro, Veronica Gallio, Andrea Marchiò, Lorena
Mingrone, Valeria Montrucchio, Dario Toso with Erika Vicaretti and Francesco Palmieri.
63 originally realized in collaboration with Fondazione AMSA and Luca Fois (this latter one of the founders of Zona Tortona).

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The research group has documented all the activities carried out during the week. The phases of preparation,
exhibition, relationship between visitors and exhibitors, behaviour of every consumer involved (organizers,
exhibitors, visitors, journalists, restaurateur, residents, etc.) and dismantlement have been catalogued through
the interviews to 283 exhibitors of 77 locations, 127 videos and more than 1,500 photos. Then the drawing up
of the holistic survey, in which the material and immaterial flows involved have been expressed, has started;
this will lead to the quantitative value of impact and to the mapping of the errors, virtuosity, existing and
underlying relationships that will allow to pass to the planning phase. The further complexity of the project is
finally due not only to the district community directly involved during the days of the event, but also to a wider
one which we could define, in this case, as the whole city of Milano that is influenced by the intensive activities
and by the strong presence of people in Zona Tortona.
This research allows, then, a first test of the methodology in a social and city context, more than the economic
or productive one; it is an event in which typical consumerism sectors of urbanized areas are involved. It is
necessary to consider the matter and energy flows and the relationships induced by the processes of the ―daily
life‖ of the citizen inside the architectonic context and the urban space (management of energy and waters,
residential, professional, social, exhibition, business, hosting activities; etc.), in the catering field (type, service,
quantity, washing up, preparation of food) and in that one of the distribution and sale of food, in the
management of waste, in mobility and in entertainment.
The research path is only in its starting phase and the goal is both ambitious and necessary because the data
collected describe an event of success for the trading and communicative aspects of a fair, but with obvious
problems of environmental impact due to the concentration of more than 200,000 visitors (plus the working
staff) in 40,000 m2 available in the district.
From a particular situation, it is then possible to look into and re-plan the city according to the systemic vision
and the following parameters64:
- architectonic and technical infrastructure: recovery and valorisation of materials and energy
outputs, maximizing contributions and reducing emissions towards models of energetic autonomy
that valuate territorial micro networks;
- ways and worlds of consumption and purchasing: improvement of their cycle reducing emission at
the origin;
- mobility: integrate systems that allow alternative, sustainable and competitive choices;
- maximization of the productive value tacit in the matter in each level of the cycle;
- development of ethic behaviours, such as responsibility;
- development of processes of social involvement, active and aware participation.
Hence, the multiparametric project development will allow the creation of sustainable cities scenarios that this
research will be able to test according to a model that compares the eco-city to a natural organism even if very
artificial.
64on this topic Paolo Tamborrini, Silvia Barbero and Cristian Campagnaro are carrying out many research on the basis of the
definition of sustainable city.

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Photographic documentation that shows the situation of waste and the vast amount of the documentary material spread for free in
Zona Tortona.

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Concerts/meetings/tourism
The sensitivity that artists use in their expressive research make them extremely open towards problems and
topics of our everyday life. Therefore the ecologic situation becomes a relevant problem to face actively: we
cannot pretend that it does not exist when, organizing a concert, an energy-consuming mechanism is started,
millions of people move, transportation is used for long travels.
Schematization of what a cultural event, in particular a musical event, moves in order to be realized, but also consequences
generated by every single person that participates.
We ―live‖ a concert thanks to the strong emotional component generated by music; but it can also create new
behaviours if these are suggested and shared by artists.
.
The behaviour influence generated by a musical event.
Currently, the environmental impacts and, thereby, the counting of the impact for these kinds of events are
considered only in relation to activities such as the staging, those of artists and technical staff. It is really
amazing that all the accounts are always done for those activities that produce 10% of CO2 while leaving out
everything concerning the audience that produce, instead, up to 90% of CO 2. In this sense we are proceeding

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in a study that delves into these events in their entirety in order to exactly understand the phases related to
both staging and audience.
Visualisation of the concert activities clustered in relation to backstage and frontpage.
Likewise, as we said before, also the continuous realization of meetings or convention represent a strong
impact to the environment. With Torino Convention Bureau we are outlining how we could undertake the path
of the systemic vision in meetings that will be realized in the future. Also, these cultural events must influence
positively, as we already said different times, on the behaviours of people that participate. This new
experience will not be generated only by the simple conference but also by everything that is organized around
it, as catering, tourist tours, events; everything must be managed so that the outputs of a system will be the
inputs for another. A systemic project completes and coordinates a set of interventions, and every one of these
has multiple positive consequences that mean always better performances and more savings of energy, flows
or matter.
In events like concerts, conventions or meetings, every part of them must be harmonized and optimized
between each other; correcting one, there will be a consequence on every other and every element or action
will coherently evolve together with the others. All the actors, acting on the same wavelength, must manage
this positive synergy process so that we can have, inside an ecosystem, an ever improved and improvable
positive result. Every single actor could be a subject spreader of this approach after testing it directly so to
promote this new way of seeing our society‘s development together with the natural system. A lot of small
workings that, in different parts of the world, can, little by little, start this new culture of open systems and
constant evolution. A new approach based on the autopoiesis of natural processes that co-evolve receiving
the improvements from each other. It is not an exclusive prerogative of the events. It is a new culture ―of
making‖, a renewed planning predisposition that looks around and has relationships with other systems.

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Communicating the Systemic Design
case studies: Exhibition Innovazione&Design, Micro Brewery BEFeD.
By applying the guidelines to the communication process, Systemic Design promotes the development of a
network where knowledge is generated and managed by active subjects, connected one to the other by
means of a relational network where they find interdependence. This enables us to mould a subject who has
reached awareness and who is allowed to make choices and gather information autonomously. This subject
becomes the benchmark of a creative and stimulating type of planning where Man 65 is both the starting and
the arrival point of the whole process.
To this day we have witnessed the progressive shifts of societies towards a lack of responsibilities. In fact,
over the years, all the important decisions have been delegated to politics and then to economy, and religious
fundamentalism has encouraged forms of behaviour deprived of any critical sense, in the name of more
important faiths based on strength. We have seen politics mix the management of res publica with personal
issues, aiming for benefits that are increasingly directed at a few individuals, rather than the communities.
However there are all the conditions for a change in the historical period in progress, marked by deep
instabilities and dynamism, as well as for the new responsibilities that need to be taken, owing to a more active
role of people (subjects) in society, to an ever-increasing involvement in planning and debates, and to the
public willingness to be informed and proactive in decision making.
Once the receiver is able to provide feedback on what he has received (either by the same means or with
different ones), and all the involved parts are in a relationship with one another, then communication becomes
a system.
In this way each receiver is endowed with the necessary cultural and technological tools to interpret and
process the received data and may become, in turn, a sender for the whole network.
We have only just started approaching the powerful and unexplored opportunities provided by the Web (with
social networking tools, blogs and participatory planning). Also within the physical universe, social activism,
irony, expressive creativity and provocation, will be the elements of a bottom-up type of communication which
will strengthen the role of every subject. This is conducive to the development of a dense network of different
messages, offering personal or alternative interpretations of the original one, within an on-going generation of
contents that are both helpful to the net and to the individuals, illustrating a fluid, non-linear scenario.
According to the models proposed by the disciplines that study net behavioural mechanisms, some receivers
are still predominant compared to others. However, unlike what happens in a mass-media dominated society,
hierarchy is established according to the credibility and reliability of the message, and to the loyalty of the
senders. These principles contribute to the reinforcement of values based on identity and sharing, in that the
assessment criteria are no longer based on money and power, but on ethics, truth and credibility.
The original meaning of the term ―communication‖ is ―to pool‖, to share information as well as behaviours,
cultures and everything that contributes to creating social networks in the human societies which our
community consists of. Communities, in fact, create communication networks and produce autopoietic
knowledge in a dynamic, non-linear, continuous evolutionary process.
If it is true that the evolution of our communities and the development of the communication networks follow
the principles of the systemic thinking, why does it seem so difficult to communicate the Systemic Design?
We have probably lost the cultural premises that let us understand what complexity is, and what are the
interconnections among events and relationships established among living systems; probably we are no
longer able to observe Nature. School can contribute in training people able to observe phenomena from a
different point of view. Besides, it can also create stimulus in new generations together with a broader vision of
the same phenomena.
Scientific research, with its Theory of Complexity and studies of fractals and non-linear mathematics, faced the
issue at a theoretical level: but the fact of understanding what complexity means, does not ensure us to find a
solution, it simply describes an approach used to face problems. In fact, if classical physics and linear
65 see chapter 1, preliminary considerations.

Communicating the Systemic Design | 182
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mathematics describe reproducible models and formulas that bring to a unique result, the effects of the
approach to complexity will be structures, trends and cycles, where numerical values cannot be measured
because they depend on non-measurable factors.
Nevertheless, the communication of Systemic Design starting from these theoretical premises makes it
understandable only by technicians and experts of the sector.
A less abstract example of Systemic Design application is the creation of school gardens: this way we
understand how the study of natural phenomena allows a wide knowledge of different learning and not only
that. At primary schools (children from 6 to 10 years old) there is a common practice of cultivating a garden
inside the school and this enables the children to observe a real natural cycle: birth, growth, decline and death,
making them aware of the life cycles, common to all the living creatures have. Besides, by observing the
natural growth of plants and vegetables, we lay the foundation for the knowledge of chemical and biological
principles. Finally, the study of the natural ―forms‖ offers interesting cues for non-linear mathematic sciences
like the study of fractals or logarithmic growth. So those are no longer simple vegetables, but a
multidisciplinary instrument at the service of didactics.
These examples show how difficult it is to communicate the Systemic Design: on the one hand complex
scientific theories, on the other examples of elementary systemic development. In both cases we do not use a
suitable language for presentations or dialogues with economists and entrepreneurs. For this reason the
Master Degree in ECODESIGN of Politecnico di Torino has been actively working for several years with local
productive realities in order to spread a systemic culture and, therefore, develop Systemic Design processes.
The research projects started with the students do not take into consideration single productive realities as
―linear closed processes‖ but as ―open systemic processes‖. Energy use, emission monitoring, supplying and
matter transformation, process output managing at territorial level undergo a planning redefinition that gives
back to the territory a wide production system, which is diversified, and complex, and tightly linked to the local
administration of goods and services. So we do not assist in a purely ―green‖ project, but in the definition of a
new economic model based on bioeconomics principles66.
Since we have underlined the natural aspect of this thinking, it is now necessary to put knowledge into
practice, within a real and concrete experience. We need to develop and use our visual skills, meaning the
ability to learn from watching how things get done: learning by watching.
In this area we propose a ―systemic tour‖ able to open minds and create relationships among the different
projects already started or currently experimented, existing on the territory.
The tour is an instrument that gives the opportunity to totally merge in whatever one wants to visit and
communicate, and what you visit can change the normal approach to didactics and industrial production.
Thanks to the examples of Systemic Design applied on the territory and to the direct experience, one can
notice rules and flows generated by open productive system and the kind of environmental and economic
benefits one may obtain through it.
Obviously this kind of communication cannot be unilateral and only directed towards a single receiver, but
should address different levels of study. For this reason, it is important to create specific channels of
information and learning67.
First of all, it is very important to address the school system and young students (from primary to high school)
who are accustomed to head-on didactic models and very rarely have the opportunity to train or to make direct
on-site experiences. It is fundamental for young people to be stimulated and given the chance to compare
different realties so as to develop new ways of communication and relate between the different components of
a productive, ecological, communicative and social system.
It is well known that school age is the period when thoughts are more sensible to external influences: through
the main phases of children‘s development they pass from the sensitive perception to the shaping of their
66 Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, economist and founder of this economic theory, observed as almost all economic processes that
produce material commodities decrease the power and commodities availability in the future. Matter decays, thus its opportunities for
future use decrease accordingly. This is why we need to radically rethink economic science, making it similar to the complex systems
that regulate matter and energy flows.
67 see end of paragraph for the list of systemic projects analysed in the course of the Masters Degree in ECODESIGN, Politecnico di
Torino.

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personalities that will characterize them all life long. Thanks to their comprehension skills, even in abstract
terms, and to their thinking flexibility, young students prove to be the best interlocutors with whom to treat
innovation issues, intended as generation of new ideas.
This way we get to lay the foundations for their ecoliteracy, a veritable challenge for the future.
Being ecologically literate, or ecoliterate, means understanding the basic principles of Nature and being able to
embody them in the daily life of communities. The tools used and the learning methodologies should be
restructured according to the different local needs and the mentioned examples of school gardens offer
precisely good teaching ideas. The possibility to visit industrial productive realities integrated with the territory,
thanks to a systemic re-design of the production flows, really offers further tools for an ―ecological‖ didactics.
The systemic tour is not meant to offer a simple visit to the companies that have been developed a Systemic
Design project on their own territory. It aims to provide a more extended instrument of fruition. This enables us
to create and specifically devise personalised tours to be connected to a productive reality (those being a firm
or a group of companies). Other projects may, instead, allow us to develop a systemic tour in conjunction with
the enogastronomic events held on the territory. Systemic Design projects are instrumental in developing
strong relationships with local food production and consumption.
Exhibition Innovazione&Design
An open communication stems from the need to device a tool used to confront research experiences in the
field of environmental sustainability, carried out by our research team, with the realities existing outside
university. The aim is the one to ―feel the pulse of the situation‖ and to grasp the attitude towards the
environmental issue. We have decided to deal with the problem by setting up a travelling exhibition/workshop
Innovazione&Design68 (Innovation&Design), going around primary, lower and upper secondary schools, jointly
with the Regione Piemonte.
Planning what we want to say is far more relevant than how we wish to explain it.
Nowadays the topic of sustainability is dealt with from different perspectives. Most of them point at striking the
deepest chords of the addressee‘s environmental understanding, yet this strategy is not always successful
since, as contradictory as it may sound, the ecological issue is not always deemed as a problem concerning
us.
Being aware that this problem does exist, is a coveted goal the exhibition intends to achieve, as dealing with a
problem we know of, differs enormously from dealing with a one we feel involved with.
For this reason interpreting the exhibition is left to the juveniles who will be faced with two scenarios, dealing
with behavioural aspects, life and design styles according to two perspectives, one focussing on the Product,
the other on the Man.
These two starting points give birth to the concepts which, by means of key words, draw a map of values more
or less close to the centre (PRODUCT or MAN), according to their own importance. A comparison between
two paradigms of thought.
Each scenario is ―contained‖ within a four metre-high and three metre-wide aluminium framework stand; at the
base one can see the map of values whereas near the key words, are the billboards and banners showing the
images used to picture the concept.
The first difference between the two settings is the colour.
The scenario emphasising the Product is yellow, a bright colour sparking liveliness and euphoria, yet a
tiresome and ambiguous one, “a malicious vision, the mark of Judas. Whenever yellow wishes to seduce, it
turns into gold” 69.
The scenario which, instead, focuses on the Man, is blue, a reflexive, soothing and spiritual colour. “I offer you
the universal Blue / Blue, an open door on the soul / An endless opportunity that becomes sensitive” 70.
68 exhibition arranged as part of the events held in Torino World Design Capital 2008.
69 as described by the film director and writer Derek Jarman in Chroma: A Book of Color, Overlook Press, Woodstock, New York,
U.S.A., 1995.
70 see above.

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The key words placed in the middle of the Product scenario are Raw Material, which the very existence of the
products relies upon, Economic Value, Status Symbol, Marketing, Visual Packaging and Communication.
These aspects make reference to the sales sphere of design and highlight how product allurement and appeal
are fundamental to the current consumption system. To begin with, the Product has to pierce one‘s mind. A
step down are the process values, in particular those of Engineering, Production and Logistics. Further away
from the centre is the use phase of the product, explained by the key words Use and Components, which
become relevant in terms of maintenance. Finally the key words at the boundary of the map, exemplify the
needs to be taken care of, after one has fulfilled all of the previous requirements and the products have lost
their seductiveness and functionality: Life Cycle, Ecology, Pollution, Environment.
This scenario may be regarded as a photograph of the current state of modern society, not just from
designers‘ point of view, showing how production affects and is equally affected by the social context where it
is performed.
But what would change if, instead of the Product, the central paradigm of society were to be the Man?
Changing one‘s point of view, entails changing the system values, recovering the importance of Biological,
Social and Ethical Life, as well as Respect, Relationships, Real Existence. These topics merge with the
sensitive aspects of Perception, Ergonomics and Functionality. Concepts like Production, Economy and
Economic Value are confined to the margins of this issue. One does not wish to deny the presence of the
Product and its Logistics and Engineering-related aspects, but these are deemed less important compared to
the rest.
While defining the paradigm Man we have made reference to a vision which does not disconnect human
civilisation from Nature. Considering the planet either as an endless mine the man can avail of, or an abysmal
garbage dumb, inevitably leads towards the paradigm Product where Raw Materials have a starring role. If we
look at the planet as a network of open systems where Life affects and is, in turn, affected by the context, we
no longer talk about raw materials and waste, but we talk about output and input.
The aspects of environmental sustainability do not disappear, on the contrary they acquire implicitness and
consider the Man as part of Nature.
We are always placing ourselves on a privileged vantage point, towards the surrounding reality, imposing our
rules and shaping the territory as we please. It may be that the evolutionary success achieved by the human
race has arrived at a critical point, since we feel threatened by the life style and well-being that our

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
predecessors had so strenuously longed and worked for. It is necessary to change embedded habits and their
perspective without stepping backwards, but continuing the evolutionary process.
Maybe in the years to come all those attitudes that now we may regard as ―natural‖, will be deemed
abominable practices, performed both at the expenses of the planet, and of its weakest members. In the past
we already witnessed radical changes in the paradigm, as it occurred, for instance, through slavery, a practice
that has been judged degrading only for less than two centuries. Yet until yesterday a long and noble line of
thinking, had always thought it to be a typical and ―natural‖ institution. The same applied to the woman,
labelled as lower than the man ―by her own nature‖, by an equally important tradition which no one had ever
ventured to dispute until the first half of the twentieth century.
But what are the current job conditions in the developing countries and, more importantly, who benefits from
this development?
Key words such as Ethic Life, Respect, Real Existence aim to make one muse on these contradictions and
how these apparently distant systems may be affected by daily choices.
This organisation of key words and their related meanings, are not made explicit in the exhibition, as they
would hinder the visitors‘ engagement, who would only feel like sharing or disagreeing with other people‘s
interpretations. The reading of the panels and the relationships connecting one to the other are totally free.
The very same setting needs to be explored and experienced in order to be fully understood. In fact, from the
outside, the more noticeable images are the ones related to the more external key words to the focus
(PRODUCT/MAN), giving a shallow vision of the topic. For instance, as we get closer to the perspective of
Product, concepts such as Ecology and Environment become more visible. Yet when entering or moving
closer to the centre, one may really perceive that the factors that really matter are other ones.
Placing the Man at the centre of the project is certainly neither uncommon nor revolutionary, rather it is normal
to give it for granted or to regard it as an anachronism. On the contrary for nearly two hundred years the
activity of the Man has been focussing on industrial production, to the point that it has internalised its rules and
rhythms71.
The exhibition was launched in September 2007 and, for a whole school year (‗07/‘08), it was hosted in 25
primary, lower and upper secondary schools in Piedmont.
The physical facilities offer only the initial cue for confrontation opportunities with the students. This exhibition
is meant to exemplify how systemic communication can be applied, as it is able to use a multitude of
expressive, technological and community forms aiming to broaden the information and opinion networks.
The students are free to visit the settings and the schools provide for a clear presentation of the topics,
encouraging visitors to confront themselves with teachers, researchers and students from our university.
The presentation aims to introduce the topics dealt with in the exhibition, by means of metaphors and
comparisons which are used to highlight the criticality of the historical moment we are going through, energy
and raw material crisis, using visuals, cartoons and suggestive images. It comes without saying that the
analysis of the exhibition will be deepened according to the age of the audience.
After the exhibition has been started and explored, the students are encouraged to express their opinions and
impressions. Feedback may be dealt with in different ways, promoting freedom of speech.
In fact opinions may be written on ―Post-it notes‖ to be stuck directly on the images shown on the panels.
These brief thoughts serve the purpose of ―breaking the ice‖ as they can be informal, ironical, even out of
place, shown on the exhibition website, for everybody to read them. Other interaction patterns occur by means
of a written questionnaire and a video box. Questions regard daily food habits, journeys and degree of
involvement with the problem. These interrogations are always dealt with informally in order to evaluate how
earnest the students are.
71in the book The Third Wave Alvin Toffler points out the five principles applied to society, which make industry really efficient,
namely standardisation, specialisation, synchronisation, maximisation and centralisation (that is to say: ourselves). Letting each
individual principle aside, we can say that organisation of the production chain and cyclical rhythms have turned daily life into an on-
going run after time. Creativity, time spent with the family and fulfilling work are values we have not totally recovered yet since the
end of the industrial wave which, as we know, was fiercely product oriented.

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For primary school learners we have arranged for a map showing the two scenarios, jointly with the description
of a route, through panels, as well as a short explanation of the meaning of the key words, done in the form of
questions.
During the days following the presentation, the students were encouraged to produce food for thoughts
materials, such as an mp3 file, or a printed T-shirt, with (or without) the help and supervision of the teachers.
They also availed of a web portal at http:innovazionedesign.top-ix.it on which they could upload data
processing devices, images, videos, as well as revisit the exhibition and share observations with the students
of all the schools which took part to it.
The time the students devoted to this activity was very different from the one spent on school work as, in the
first place, they were not coerced to communicate with the teachers and had the chance to use tools and
techniques very close to the world of entertainment. This encouraged the spontaneous development of
networks which moved away from the classroom context, and involved parents and friends. Secondly, the
communication project was enriched with reflections risen weekly from mutual connection among classes.
It is fairly obvious that, although this operation is expected to change the social paradigm, the results will be
visible in the medium-long term.
The results gathered from the students‘ work and discussions, show a rather worrying scenario where one
may notice how the environmental issue is distinctively perceived, and how, alas, only few individuals are
willing to change their lifestyle. A paradigmatic change cannot occur immediately; on the contrary it needs time
to be outspread, shared and metabolised. The disappointing reactions of the students confirm how badly we
need to strongly act within the issue of environmental politics.

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SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Micro Brewery BEFeD
Torino and Settimo Torinese (Italy)
One of the possible operative application of the systemic tour comes from the union between the tourism
based on gastronomy and wine and the production of handmade beer.
Enogastronomy is a well-known reality in Piedmont: thematic fairs and gastronomic tours are organized, and
the whole Country knows the typical products of this region.
A journey in search of the ―micro breweries‖ spread throughout the regional territory and the tasting of meals
made of raw materials coming from the same production system is a concrete proposal to discover a
production reality which is relatively new in Piedmont, but which can become the driving force for a new model
of sustainable production and of food culture.
In this way, besides promoting a new economic model through the concrete development of territory
(increasing productions, employments and possibilities of gain), a kind of sustainable development which
enforces the role of the ―local culture‖ is put into practice.
The Piedmont region, on its area, has a wide range of small local producers of handmade beer, who are now
well-known not only in Italy but also in the foreign Countries.

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
At present, on the regional territory there are 28 producers and 158 different kinds of handmade beer72.
The modern production process needs inputs such as malt, barley or other kinds of cereals which, along with
water, hop and yeast, are the most important ingredients or the raw materials; another need is the electric
power, in order to make the engines work, and water, melted with acid and alkaline detergents, in order to
completely sanitise the equipment from the organic and inorganic substances, once the job has ended.
Besides beer, the outputs of this process are the threshes with a high percentage of dampness (at present
used as fodder in small amount because of their low digestibility), the brewer‘s yeast which comes from the
brewing and the waste water due to the deep cleaning above said.
This example seems to be the typical process of linear production: acquirement of raw materials, production
and distribution of products.
But focusing on the qualities of the waste which come from the beer production, we can see that they contain
proteins, amino acids, nutritive element and fibres which can create new production flows and make
connections between new productions and the catering world.
For instance, melting the damp threshes with the yeast, three different production flows could start:
for the production of a special kind of high-fibre bread;
as a perfect substratum for the growth of mushrooms;
as another kind of substratum, with different melting, for the earthworm breeding, which are used as
fertilizer or as food for poultry73.
The management of a poultry farming can be combined with the cattle and pig breeding, since the production
of bread and mushrooms produces in its turn outputs rich in nutritional principles in order to integrate the usual
diet of the cattle.
Besides, it is possible to reuse the cleaning water of the equipment, but choosing detergents made of sugars,
which have the same function of alkaline and acid detergents in the present process. At first, these waters are
used for the production of alimentary weeds (it also entails a phytodepuration process) and then they become
specific food for the ichthyic74 activities before being put again in the environment as purified waters.
72 in July 2008, the ―micro-breweries‖ with an active production in Piedmont were 28, with a considerable increase compared with the
year 2006, when the research began and the number of the producers was 15.
73 the bailey threshes can easily replace the integral flour whereas the yeast, already present among the output, ends the process of
bread production. The most difficult thing is finding the right mixing in order to obtain bread with a good taste.
Instead, the best mushrooms for this kind of substratum are: Lentinula edodes (Shiitake) and Plerurotus ostreatus (Oyster
mushroom).
Eventually, the earthworm manage to process vegetable proteins contained in the threshes, turning them into animal proteins: for
this reason they are a great food for poultry.
74 the algae Spirulina and Chlorella, used in the process of phytodepuration of waters, are precious alimentary integrators rich in
vitamins and chlorophyll , useful both for the animal and human diet.
The purified water allows the creation of a pond for the breeding and feeding of fishes belonging to the Salmonidae: trouts, graylings
and white fishes.

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The menu is considered an element of communication too: the costumer can perceive the close relation between the beer and food
he/she ordered so that he/she can feel him/herself as an active part of the whole system.

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Scheme of beer present production and indication of the inputs referred to the restaurant industry connected to a Piedmontese
artisan brewery.

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Scheme of the abstract relations among the outputs of beer production creating flows of resources and new economic activities
always referred to the amount of the artisan brewery of the previous scheme.
The compost which has created the earthworms produces a further integration improving the quality of the
surrounding soil, leading to new outlets for agriculture and also for alternative forms of energy generation
(such as the biogas production which comes from the work of an anaerobic biodigestor which gathers all the
organic outputs when the process is finished).
If the modern process of hop fermentation provides
beer,
by integrating and re-designing the flows of material and energy it is possible to obtain as well:
bread,
mushrooms,
Chlorella and Spirulina algae (for the alimentary, pharmaceutical and cosmetic use),
fresh water fishes (trout, graylings and white fishes),
better feeding for cattle, swine and poultry,
earthworms,
compost.
This diversified production well combines with a micro brewery, since the most of the producers join the
handmade beer with a restaurant activity.
The systemic production can characterize the several micro breweries and create a virtuous production
network, combining the handmade beer with a menu closely linked to it and becoming a territory mark: the
meals offered and their ingredients, since they come from the same production open system, ensure the
biodiversity of the environment and the conservation of local culture.

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The studied case BEFeD in Piedmont with the relative quantifications of the food served in the restaurant, the production and the
consumption of beer in it.
Through the change of the production process of the micro brewery BEFeD and starting only from washing the
fermentation tanks, we can notice the positive economic spin-offs referred to the consumptions of the
restaurant at present, the new products which could be sold in the gastronomy branch and, not last, the
economic improvements regarding foodstuff and natural fertilization in the agriculture and breeding sectors.
Besides, there is also a wider and more spread increase of employment.

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
The new beer production creates products which can be used by the restaurant BEFeD itself, but also other foodstuff spin-offs.

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Finally, these projects put in practice the integration between production culture and design research, so that it
is possible to show connections, actually hidden, between artisan production and nature, towards efficient and
sustainable scenarios. The application of the systemic approach in these fields would mean re-debating the
modern industrial layout so that, moving away from a consumption attitude linked to the Product exclusively, it
would agree to a new paradigm which considers the Man as the core of an ―ecologic context‖, where the
interdependency between social and cultural structures is important. A framework in which the life role returns
to be essential from biological, ethical and cultural point of view.
The challenge is making our everyday habits sustainable, starting from the industrial power needs: to reach
this goal, the most important thing to do is stimulating a social learning, a behavior change and an increasing
sharing in the application of new life-styles. Researches invalidate the concept according to which
sustainability is the deprivation towards our habits and our perception of the welfare, still linked to the idea of
―the more I have, more I consume, more I feel fine‖; on the contrary, it shows that a sustainable future is no
more a technical or conceptual problem but, above all, it is a question of values and economic and politic will.
A firm, a fair/exhibition, a concert, a meeting or a store which develop new effective tools as far as the
environmental responsibility is concerned, provide a different model of economic development and a better
way of thinking the consumption, stimulating a radical change of mentality.

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2.3
List of Systemic Design projects
Thanks to the researches carried out by the work group ―Systemic Approach‖, by the Master Degree in
ECODESIGN, by the 2nd Level Master in ―SYSTEMS DESIGN‖ and by some other PhD researches, a lot of
projects have been actuated in Piedmont:
carried out
NN Europe
production of steel ball bearings without using those contaminating oils used during surface washing and
finishing processes, by using surface-active natural agents.
Output/input Systemic Software
information network for output/input enhancement, linking the requirements of the many companies
placed on adjacent territories, to one another.
Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2008/2010
project for the organization and management of a zero emission fair (with Slow Food).
Exhibition Innovazione&Design
comparing two reference scenarios to identify the one that we wish to deal with.
Coffee dregs
using dregs to obtain lipids and for mushroom farming activities (with Lavazza).
Lanzi
production, use, washing/mending and reuse of working gloves: from ―Made in LCC‖ to ―Re-Made in Italy‖.
2010 World Figure Skating Championship
project regarding the organization and management of a sporting event with low environmental impact.
Exhibition of the Holy Shroud 2010
a religious event organised, for the first time, with consideration given to environmental impact.
in progress
Agrindustria
from the industrial processing of agricultural by-product to a biomass cogeneration plant for the e
nergetic autonomy of the company, for the systemic management of the production outputs and local
resources (with Agrindustria).
Micro Brewery BEFeD
production of locally made beer in Piedmont. Opportunities to use locally made beer-production
outputs in the territory, and enhancement of the gastronomic receptive structures: the systemic menu.
Store (Proximity Supermarket)
it is a place designed as a centre for the diffusion of ecological culture and new behaviour (with
CEAN).
Concerts
opportunity for change in public attitude to raise awareness of the need to reduce the impact of
concert touring.
Conventions and congresses organised by Torino Convention Bureau
minimizing environmental outcomes and habitual consequences of these events.
Systemic materials
materials are not taken into account according to their specific functions, but also for their own built-in
qualities (with Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità).
Systemic Policies for pallets
a production chain that is compliant with systemic rules (with Palm).

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pending
Slow Food Presidia: Culatello di Zibello, Antique Piedmontese Apples
excellence productions and output valorisation (with Slow Food).
Systemic Consortium of Small and Medium Farms
valorisation of local resources for the future territorial development (with Tecnogranda).
Reggiana Red Cow
this renown production chain is celebrated not only for its Parmesan cheese but also for other
products.
New consumption model
applied to production, transformation and logistics of agricultural products (with Ortofruit Italia).
Olive oil production
proposta proposal for the integration of the olive oil production with the cosmetic and pharmaceutical
industry.
ChierEAT, Chieri (Italy)
Saftica, Bucharest (Romania)
XianQiao, Chongming Island, Shanghai (China)
Typical rural village in Rajasthan (India)
researches, developed in various cultural and environmental contexts, which both repair perceptive, relation
and cultural connections with the agricultural world and naturally redefine different territories so to exploit their
own natural resources and re-boost a new territory-related economic flow.
Zona Tortona
survey on the Fuori Salone del Mobile in Milano, as an opportunity to study and design the systemic
city.
Polylaminates/multilayered materials
proposals of collection aimed at re-using raw materials of multilayer materials to be used in productive and
valuable applications (with Amiat).
International Network of producers who realize objects with scraps or cast-off products
creating a website and interconnecting producers all over the world (with ILO).
Security Gallery of Frejus Highway Tunnel
re-use of the muck from the extractions for the realization of the security gallery (with Tecnositaf).
Waste waters of an abattoir
analysis and proposal for the integration of domestic waste water cycles and others coming from local
industrial productions, among which meat slaughtering.

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2.4
The new opportunities for agro-industry
a conversation between Luigi Bistagnino and Carlo Petrini75
LB
… I‘d love to talk with you about Sustainability and the topics related to it.
I feel that nowadays, we are increasingly applying to food the same production logic as the one used for
industrial products.
Do you agree with me?
CP
I am not surprised there is a multidisciplinary interest in food, hence that, also from a production point of view,
there may be new subjects supporting what I love to call “wisdom of the rural world”.
One of the greatly perceived needs in today’s world, is precisely the one I call “dialogue among kingdoms”,
those being the kingdom of traditional expertise, of which rural communities are depository, and the kingdom
of scientific knowledge, where universities have been working for a long time.
This dialogue has never been completed for traditional knowledge has always been confined to a folkloristic
context, bearing nothing in common with science. On the other hand, those who should have been entrusted
with scientific knowledge have often made huge mistakes.
As far as my “field” is concerned, I mention, above all, the one of the “mad cow disease”, a problem which was
certainly not aroused by Welsh farmers, but rather by universities which expected to turn ruminants into eaters
of animal flours, sheep carcasses or of themselves.
As a result we are nowadays talking about what is likely to become a big oxymoron and the more time that
passes, the more likely it is to become an even bigger oxymoron.
What do I mean?
Sustainable Development.
I think we are running out of time and need to make urgent decisions if we want to prevent it from becoming an
oxymoron as, in the forthcoming future, we may be faced with a dimension where there is no coming back,
where development is not be sustainable in any possible way.
What we need to work on, in this very short period of time, is, first of all the perception of sustainability within
the worlds of rights. Secondly we need a small scale practice enabling to see the substance of things, in its
pragmatism. Dimensions and planetary-type approaches are too often extremely demanding, and risk to be
just “hot air”.
I feel this is the most urgent thing to deal with.
Sustainability needs to be promptly practised, maybe step by step, but veritably and in a deeply felt way, as we
are running out of time.
LB
… you make reference to a ―dialogue among kingdoms‖: I believe that the modern methodological approach to
the industrial product project needs to be of a non-linear type.
A linear consequentiality entails for a tout court product to be the ―focus‖ of the project.
I feel we have lost the other real centre of the project: the man.
Focussing on this aspect throughout the planning path, would lead to a radical change in the concept of
product.
CP
I am absolutely positive about it.
75 this interview can be downloaded on www.polito.it/design by clicking on ―Books on Demand‖ and then ―Lessons‖.

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After all, the great challenge we have taken upon, in this historical phase, is to commit all together to rebuild a
“new humanism”.
Also in Italy we have happened to have lost our way.
For at least four centuries, in our country, the European intelligentsia experienced the Grand Tour, the trip
towards beauty, a formative and educational element.
I doubt it that, at this rate, a visit to our country may be conducive to any formative element, since our times do
not provide great examples.
This is why, as far as food culture, it is not a sign of regression to dwell upon the wisdom of subsistence
economies, as they already proved to be based upon a logic of sustainable economy, in a condensed form.
Maybe it was sustainable because we had to make sustenance, “a virtue of necessity”. This does not mean
that it is unbecoming to retrieve some elements of moderation.
Nowadays consumption has been so highly valued to the point that it has been regarded as social science,
rather than a pathology.
Consumption holds, in itself, three unsustainable elements.
Number one:
it is fast as we need to consume rapidly;
number two:
it generates a great deal of waste by its own physiological nature;
number three:
it needs to be supported by an on-going “brain wash” (advertisement), a context in which children’s
mind is constantly besieged, especially as far as food.
All these elements are important topics of “consumerist” logics where great focus is given to product,
productivity, profit, growth and development.
Humanism, on the contrary, lies somewhere else. It does not deny wise and sensible consumption, rather it
turns consumption into a passive subject and the consumer into an active on, a subject I wish to define as “co-
producer” since also this character is placed inside the production system.
If this character is aware to be made an active subject, he is willing to change the nature of things and actively
takes part to the re-establishing of a new form of humanism.
LB
The issue goes from negative to positive.
Perceiving this positive attitude allows us to look beyond and to innovate, but not from the point of view of a
change in technology. Nowadays, we generally think that innovating means replacing technologies. This
thought is like drug for the industrial world, as well as for the users.
We produce more to purchase more. Unfortunately, whenever we buy a product, it becomes old the very
moment we have purchased it (see the so called ―e-consumption‖), due to the fact that a more technologically
updated item has already been developed, causing the previous object to lose its value.
This strategy is only conducive to a vicious circle.
CP
It needs to go ”fast” as we “need” to consume.
Now I am going to enter a minefield that is your area of expertise: ecodesign, which I am going to apply to
gastronomic sciences. To show how dialogue between traditional types of knowledge and modern science can
be innovative, I take as an example the product-symbol of consumerist society in the food sector: the
refrigerator.
It started to be used in our Country in the early 60s. It came into our houses and affected our consumption. It
is a container that depends more and more on a 360 degree consumerist logic. This is why, when we open it,
we often realise that, apart from its own vivifying purpose (the cold chain), it also has a mortifying function:
thanks to cold temperature it preserves “dead bodies” for a very long time.
But the same happens on fresh products. For instance, we may open the fridge and find parsley or basil which
have gone asphyxiated due to the lack of air, and are therefore dying.

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This is the mark carried by American design, a mark of a society which, in some way, had already sold to agro-
food industry the relationship with food and which needed this tool in order to survive
But let us go back in time. What did we have?
We had refrigerated larders.
This implied that food was bought more often, but in minimum quantities and with carefully planned purchases.
I believe that future sustainability will have to go through these refrigerated larders, maybe in the forms of
fridge-shaped containers, catering for that anthropological need generated by an ancient and unsatisfied
hunger, or for the fear a nuclear war. Nowadays people stock their fridges with so much food that they could
feed their family or the whole neighbourhood for many months to come.
LB
… there is a need to ―have‖ because you never know what might happen in the future!
CP
But in the meantime the product dies in the cold.
In a refrigerated larder food could never die as it was eaten in a short time.
Another example I may give you is the one of putagè76, to use a Piedmontese expression.
It is the most significant kitchen appliance, from the point of view of ecodesign. It was used to heat rooms,
make food and provided for a logical diffusion of the heat, thanks to its cast-iron removable overlapping
wheels?, devised to make each pan fit the hob perfectly.
It had a hot water tank, so that water, once it had been refilled twice or three times and had consequently
become unsuitable for food purposes, it was used to water the garden.
I believe that, sooner or later, many people will go back to the putagè, maybe to a modern version designed by
a great architect.
Sustainability relies upon absolute values which already existed in subsistence economies of the past, values
of respect for all creation and for the very little we had and which needed to be used sensibly.
LB
You have, somehow hinted at a ―new concept of beauty‖ when referring to the putagè.
The new approach to design is not meant to be focussing on the mere production of ―fine‖ objects, rather to
conceive objects which have a ―meaning‖, respect the environment and exist within a system where the man is
the ―focus‖ of the project.
At the beginning of our conversation I made reference to food as to an industrial product. For instance, when
we talk about cereals, we usually think about wheat and how it is produced. Apart from flour, we hardly ever
refer to bran or to other waste deriving from it which, instead, is used in nature by the system.
This means we need to analyse this metabolism of surpluses more in depths.
CP
Unfortunately up to present we have never “done our very best to make sure that everything in the food sector
is used”.
The logic has always been of the linear type gearing at exploiting Mother Earth and its resources, as if they
were inexhaustible.
As a result it will be necessary, from now on, to think about how to use the product rationally and in its entirety.
LB
In fact the industry ought to take care of it!
76a term used in the French-Piedmontese area to describe a wood stove. Almost entirely made with cast iron, copper and refractory
material, it consisted of a main framework for burning wood and a horizontal worktop with round openings closed by removable
overlapping wheels, having gradually reducing diameter. They were used to place pans and saucepans directly on the fire. The
putagè has very ancient ancestors all over the world and it is currently widely used, with its modern shape, all over the European and
American cultural area. In the 50s the white enamel stove type was famous in Italy with the name of ―Economy Stove‖.

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It would be innovative indeed if industrial production occurred at a systemic level. The efforts of our research
team of Design are directed towards the analysis of open industrial systems.
Also your slogan, ―good, clean and fair‖ is truly based upon a system looking at the food-product not in an ―old-
fashioned way‖, that is when we ―lived better‖, but it places it within a context where things, especially outputs,
are given the right value.
CP
Also because the “good old days” do not exist. There was hunger and unfairness.
The thing is we probably “throw the baby out with the bathwater”.
The point is that not everything that our old folks have done is wrong, as it was determined by conditions of
extreme poverty, but rather that we have to feel the need to retrieve those traditions which often granted
subsistence and dignity, even if they did it in a rather empirical way.
In my hills of the Langhe, for instance, we did not suffer from starvation thanks to this type of diversified
economy; it was certainly a poor economy, like the one beautifully described by Fenoglio in La malora, but in
any case, if compared to certain areas of the plain and of Polesine, affected by pellagra and other pathological
diseases, the hills lived in dignified conditions, thanks to a systemic use of resources.
We should also mention that, most people were croppers who had to give half of their crops to the land lord.
LB
The logic of approach to resources was an entirely different thing. In fact, within a systemic concept, one may
recover ―ways of doing things‖ that are being lost little by little.
Nowadays, a product removes culture more and more.
It may sounds anachronistic to say something like that as, after all, a product is the outcome of culture.
But when a product denies the existence of many other ones, somehow it kills them as the result of globalised
consumerist overproduction. We miss the opportunity to see beyond, to perceive new evolutionary chances
and differences which are, at the end of the day, the sources for a renovated interest in life.
Being faced with different nuances of ―knowledge‖ may endow our culture and the issue of sustainability with
an ―additional‖ value.
CP
It is a savoir-faire we absolutely need to implement because it is our only way out from the risk of the
oxymoron of the term Sustainable Development.
Besides “methodology” I would also add the importance to pay greater attention to the “right”.
Performing in compliance with the value of respect, will raise awareness of the fact that ensuring water,
sustainability and biodiversity is not just part of a production system, but it is a natural “right” for every human
being all over the Planet.
Living within a balanced, healthy and fair ecosystem will ensure our health, both physically and
psychologically.
A good ecosystem preserves, somehow, our identity heritage, hence it needs to be regarded as a “right”, not
just a good “deal”, even if an excellent one.
Who wish to boost development by exploiting Mother Earth, they will only lose sight and the profound sense of
things.
LB
We need to be in tune with the context where we work.
This is the approach we are trying to raise awareness of, a new business model, developed by open industrial
systems, encouraging a balanced cultural transmigration from one know-how to another one.
CP
Who knows, maybe, sooner or later the industrialists will need to be tutored by the farmers…

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3
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Renewable raw materials and the transition from a product-based economy to a system-based
economy
Catia Bastioli
Products and systems

The scarcity of energy resources, climate change and agricultural problems are all phenomena which in large
part can be attributed to the consequences of a way of life distinguished by wastefulness, one which
encourages all of us to squander the planet's resources over a shorter and shorter timeframe and in increasing
quantities, concerned only with our own short-term profits and disinterested on the whole in the catastrophic
effects that we are causing on a global scale. The risks of this way of life are enormous and the alarm over the
conflict between biofuels and agricultural food resources is just one example.
There is no doubt, therefore, that the number one challenge during this millennium is to find innovative
development models which are capable of preserving the planet's resources, whilst maintaining and increasing
the quality of the lives of its inhabitants.
We need to encourage the transition from a product-based economy to a system-based economy, making a
cultural leap in the direction of economic and environmental sustainability which must involve the whole of
society, starting with an appreciation of the land and cooperation with the various stakeholders involved.
It is only with greater cultural awareness and critical capacity that we can hope to obtain a more mature
society, one which is capable of finding the right balance between change and tradition in the local area,
fostering economic competitiveness and environmental quality together with tolerance and democracy.
The increasingly wasteful model of development that we have adopted undoubtedly originates from the
changes that have occurred in the relationship between science and society since the Second World War,
when the dangers faced by the planet encouraged governments to finance large-scale military projects and to
invest huge amounts of money in applied research.
The subsequent forty years of the Cold War continued to transform the research system everywhere making it
more dependent on governments and increasingly linked to the needs of defence and of the related industrial
world.
Thus came about the concept of innovation-based competition, with the prominence of the industrial research
management model, with its objectives of short-term profitability over academic research. Since then relations
between science and society have been continuing to transform over time under the influence of four main
factors:
the concentration of research and innovation efforts in the industrial world as a result of cuts in public
funding for basic research;
the continuing scientific and technological revolution in information and communication technologies,
biotechnologies and new materials that have brought about an intellectual, economic and social
change;
economic globalisation with the growing role played by multinationals, the diminishing of the roles
played by government bodies in the regulation of economic activities and the related social
repercussions;
finally, the multiplication of the environmental problems that threaten the future of the planet owing to
the nature and level of industrial and agricultural activities, which have brought about changes in
biological, chemical and geological cycles and which have the effect of impairing natural systems.
The risk therefore continues to increase of an economy increasingly bound by a supposed ―market law‖, by the
race for productivity, by short-term requirements and by speculative activities. In the absence of social
globalisation, economic globalisation is transforming the initial promise of the “global village” into the threat of
a tyrannical market with neither rules nor humanity, which brings with it a growing interdependence of
societies, economies and cultures and an growth in increasingly intolerable inequalities including within one's
own society, with the risk that the economic war will become a full-blown clash between cultures and religions.
Nicholas Stern's analysis is extremely clear on this matter: “the emission of greenhouse gases is a market
failure. When we emit greenhouse gases we damage the prospects for others and, unless appropriate policy is
Renewable raw materials and the transition from a

product-based economy to a system-based economy | 204
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in place, we do not bear the costs of the damage. Markets then fail in the sense that their main coordinating
mechanism - prices - gives the wrong signals”77.
As already emphasised by Umberto Colombo in his book ―La Nuova Scienza‖ (―The New Science‖), never in
the history of humanity has the productive and destructive capacity of science and technology been greater
and never have there been greater reasons for uncertainty.
Now more than ever there is justified concern that the aims of science will be corrupted by the behaviour of
private and public investors, given the delicate nature of certain questions of bioethics and the danger of
projects related to military technologies and terrorism. These risks are typical of the weakness of the human
nature and non attributable to science itself.
The social responsibility of scientists and chemists, those who know best the real risks and opportunities
offered by science and technology, is essential in this situation. A responsibility wonderfully invoked in the
warning of Brecht's Galileo: “If the scientists, brought to heel by self-interested rules, limit themselves to piling
up knowledge for knowledge's sake, then science can be crippled and your new machines will lead to nothing
but new impositions. You may in due course discover all that there is to discover and your progress will
nonetheless be nothing but a progress away from mankind”.
The European Union, convinced of the need to relaunch competitiveness by exploiting the themes of
environmental sustainability and innovation has selected six strategic thematic areas in which the legislator,
together with the various institutional and industrial players, will need to produce a harmonised set of rules and
standards that can drive the market for what are known as ―Lead Market Initiatives‖.
Products from renewable sources and biofuels form part of these six strategic initiatives. These are extremely
delicate sectors where the application of a product-based economy as opposed to a system-based economy
could, in the light of what has been stated thus far and as we shall see below, be extremely dangerous.
Renewable raw materials

The experience of Chemistry is a good lesson including for the energy and renewable raw materials sector.
Given the faster rate of development of these times as well as globalisation and the fact that food crops are
being used instead of oil substances, any unwise use of these resources could bring about much greater
damage than that caused by an incorrect use of Chemistry.
This is why today, even more than yesterday, we need a systemic vision and a strategy where the focus is on
man and his environment rather than profits, with the adoption of extremely high quality standards, in a
system-based approach rather than a product-based approach, which starts with the specificities of the local
area and which involves all stakeholders. Good researchers and entrepreneurs are also important in the
renewable raw materials sector but without the active involvement of everyone and without stringent and
observed system-based standards the risks of corruption remain very high.
As happens with oil, nature offers us a wide range of raw materials from which it is possible to synthesise
different chemical intermediates similar to those obtained from fossil raw materials and also a wide variety of
extremely interesting and unexplored molecules and means of synthesis.
Renewable raw materials, such as oils, cereal and potato starch, straw and wood cellulose, lignins and amino
acids, are acquiring growing interest as industrial feedstocks, as a result of their energy and environmental
problems.
Using physical, chemical and biological processes, these materials can be converted into fuels, chemical
intermediates, polymers and specialties in general, for which oil has been used to date. The development of
products from renewable raw materials can offer a significant contribution to sustainable development in view
of the potential lesser energy involved in their production and the wider range of disposal options with a lower
environmental impact.
It also represents an excellent opportunity to develop vertically integrated systems that could involve
agricultural and industrial players in a joint development effort. I refer, for example, to the concept of
Biorefinery on the land78.
The future of this sector will, however, be determined by the strategies that will be implemented at local and
international level.
77 Nicholas Stern, Blueprint for a Safer Planet, The Bodley Head, London, 2009.
78 Novamont is an example of this.

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
There are essentially two alternatives: we need to decide whether to focus on a few industrial crops and a few
chemical substances, perhaps imitating the chemistry of oil. In that case, the opportunity for growth of new
small and medium-sizes research businesses would be very limited and multinationals would play an even
more important role. Or the second alternative is to stimulate the biodiversity of the land, by increasing the
opportunities that arise from the study of different plant raw materials and local waste as part of an integrated
process, minimising transport and maximising the creation of knowledge circuits and integrated projects with
the different local players (universities, research institutes, higher education schools, voluntary organisations,
farming world, institutions, small and medium-sized businesses). The second alternative does not exclude the
first one but concentrates resources and strategic lines on the development of virtuous systems where
resource-saving becomes the essential focus of land development.
Renewable raw materials, as products, are not, despite what the so-called information media tend to suggest,
the solution to all problems of pollution and to the limited availability of oil. One needs to look beyond the
product and understand the confines of the system in which the material is produced, used and disposed of.
Agricultural crops are not all the same and even the same crops can have completely different impacts
depending on the geographical area in which they are grown.
We have witnessed the transition of global public opinion from an enthusiastically positive attitude to
renewable source energies in 2006 to one of fear and rejection, following the increase in prices of agricultural
food raw materials, caused by factors attributable to the actual increase in the consumption of maize by
bioethanol producers, to problems associated with the crop yield as a result of climate problems and to the
increasing role of financial speculation. It is understood, therefore, that the unwise management of renewable
resources can create more or less justified fears and social instability which can be exploited by those for
whom renewable resources are seen as a threat to their current business or by an information system which,
failing in its mission, disseminates slogans that disinform but which attract a large audience.
We need renewable materials as well as all other available raw materials, in a system-based economy that
aims to minimise the use of resources and impacts.
In this system-based approach, it becomes important to think immediately about the approach to standards.
Renewability and, therefore, the plant carbon content of a substance is not in any way synonymous with low
environmental impact. There is in fact an enormous quantity of renewable substances for which the cultivation
and transformation processes can be completely different from the point of view of environmental impact.
To make a proper assessment of environmental impact, it is necessary to avoid generalisations and to rely on
the different applications that identify the most significant impact parameters: a sort of "category rule", which
takes account of the system in which the product is applied, the production of raw materials, the types of
disposal available in the system and those which are desirable.
For a biofuel, for example, accidental spillage into the environment is frequent. For this reason, its
biodegradability becomes an absolutely vital and priority characteristic as opposed to reducing emissions due
to its renewable nature. If the biofuel, as often happens, shows greater lubrication properties compared with
traditional products, then the saving in fuel and emissions as the secondary effect in usage will make an
important contribution to reducing the environmental impact of the specific application as a whole.
Biodegradability is an equally important and desirable property for bioplastics when used in applications where
recycling is difficult and uneconomical, where the risks of spillage and accumulation in the environment are
nevertheless real and where the quantity of food waste is significant.
In particular, it has been estimated by the German Ministry of Environment that removing organic waste from
landfill would bring about a reduction in CO2 emissions of between 74 and 94 million tons, 11% of the Kyoto
target for Europe by 2020. There are cases of bioplastics, for example starch nanoparticles, which are able to
strengthen the treads of tyres thanks to their low rolling resistance properties. In this application, end life is not
improved by the use of the nanoparticle. The most important aspect is the saving in fuel and CO 2 emissions.
This is the predominant effect while other positive effects, for example the substitution of impacting products
such as carbon black or high-energy-consuming products such as silica, provide useful but less significant
contributions.
A correct appraisal of the contribution to environmental impact must therefore be capable of clearly identifying
the relevant factors that are specific to the various systems.

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
This approach also applies to biofuels and bioenergies but there are even more important aspects to be
assessed. Account is also taken of the fact that nowadays the volume of fuels required at global level is in the
region of 1.5 billion tonnes. Such demand could not in any way be covered by agricultural food crops because
the entire area of the cultivated planet for human and animal food would not be sufficient. It is therefore
conceivable that only limited fractions of this demand would be satisfied, defined on the basis of the different
geographical areas. Looking at figures, the total production of maize, one of the most used crops for both food
and industrial use, is 700 million tonnes. Italy produces around 10 million tonnes and does not therefore even
meet the needs of the food and feed industry and is forced to make significant imports. It is clear that, in Italy,
bioethanol from maize would be unreasonable, regardless of the environmental impact aspect, whereas it
would become sustainable if it were produced from maize waste. This will be possible with the development of
the biotechnological process of enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose.
Energy from waste and from renewable non-plant sources, as well as biobased products from a plant source,
would therefore appear to be the most promising sectors for Italy.
The situation of the chemical product industries, of greater value with respect to energy, are entirely
compatible and can also have synergies with food crops.
It is also entirely possible to think of biorefineries that use non-food crops from marginal land or land under
rotation, cultivatable in the winter, which do not need water and which are particularly resistant and reliable in
terms of bioremediation problems, whose various components can be exploited in their entirety. These types
of crops are synergic with food crops and can be specialised for the different technologies with interesting
opportunities for innovation.
To ensure that the biobased products sector is not affected by the problems of credibility so often suffered by
Chemistry in the past, it is necessary to create a strong relationship of trust between citizens and operators in
this sector. For this reason, adopting a particularly virtuous position in the industrial world, which avoids
slogans and gives information with the right degree of complexity, while imposing stringent standards, will help
to develop this market by isolating the greedy, the speculators and the swindlers and by giving opportunities
for the academic and industrial world to contribute decisively to land development.
Although it is true that simple methods exist, such as the ASMT 6866 method based on a C14 analysis to
determine the percentage of renewable carbon in a product, the promotion of logos that publicise the simple
content of renewable carbon seems to be a dangerous approach in terms of the relationship of trust with the
various stakeholders. The danger comes from that the fact that the term ―renewable‖ can be easily confused
with the concept of low environmental impact. In short, the stakeholder might think that a product with a higher
content of renewable carbon is automatically more sustainable that one that contains less. Since this is not a
biunique equation, it is likely that any experiment on the invalidity of the equation may cause a loss of
confidence for the entire sector that is difficult to recover. There is then the problem of nullifying or damaging
the long-standing work that has enabled many parts of Europe to set up an effective system for the separate
collection and disposal of organic waste. It has been noted that products classified as renewable, regardless of
their biodegradability, are perceived as such and therefore could end up in the organic waste industry. Finally,
in the absence of a transparent disposal option, the product could end up in unsuitable disposal processes. So
it is clear that for products that reach the end consumer, it would be desirable, including as a form of self-
regulation for businesses, to present the renewable product with a sort of ―ecological footprint‖, a sort of multi-
label that shows the critical impact parameters for the specific application in the production, use and end life of
the product.
Renewable resources would then become a serious opportunity for redesign not to be missed.
For the time being, in the renewable raw materials sector in general, there is no sense that the various
industrial and institutional players are displaying any more wisdom than in the past. What happened in 2007
shows that the factors behind the instability of the traditional economy also hit the emerging renewable
sources sector.
It is something extremely dangerous and, unfortunately, the only possible antidote against exploitation and
disinformation is culture and partnership between credible stakeholders, buoyed by a mutual sense of
belonging, who have an understanding of the risks and opportunities of the various options and are able to
present and represent these without distortion, perhaps by means of documents calling for a commitment to

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
observe certain rules of behaviour.
In this context, biodegradable bioplastics can help towards the environmental problem if it is possible to
redesign entire application sectors, by influencing the way in which raw materials are produced, the
verticalisation of entire non-food or food-synergic agro-industrial processes and the way in which products are
used and disposed of, based on innovation that broadens the scope of experimentation on the land. Only in
this way can bioplastics become a powerful demonstration of the substantial potential for sustainable
development and cultural growth, setting an example for other sectors. This is the challenge of the ―Integrated
biorefinery on the land‖79 model in partnership with the farming, industrial, institutional and academic world.
Catia Bastioli was born in Folgino (Italy) on 3 October 1957. After graduating in Pure Chemistry in 1981 at the University of Perugia
with top marks, in 1985 she attended the "Alti Potenziali Montedison" School of Business Administration at Milan Bocconi University.
Having been Project Leader for the Montedison Strategic Composite Materials project from 1984 to 1988 at the Guido Donegani
Institute and for the Biodegradable Materials from Renewable Resources project at the Ferruzzi Research and Technology Centre,
she joined Novamont in 1991 as a Director, becoming Technical Director in 1993, Managing Director in 1996 and is currently the
Chief Executive Officer.
She has been a member of EU working groups such as the Renewable Raw Materials Committee of the Directorate-General for
Industry and the ECCP (European Climate Change Programme). She is a member of the executive committee of Plastics Europe
Italia and President of the Plastics Europe Bioplastics European working group. She has been a member of numerous Advisory
Boards for Research Institutes and university spin-offs. She is President of Assoscai, Italy's Association for the Development of the
Environmental Competitiveness of Enterprises, and since June 2009 has been President of the Kyoto Club. As well as sitting on the
Board of Directors of the regional development agency Finpiemonte, since 2005 she has been a lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy
/ Biotechnology at the "Amedeo Avogadro" University of Eastern Piedmont.
She has written more than 100 scientific and informative papers published in international journals. She was editor of the "Handbook
of Biodegradable Polymers" published by Rapra Technology Limited in 2005.
She has been awarded numerous international prizes for her discoveries in the field of starch-based biodegradable materials,
including the nomination, on 18 April 2007, for "Europe.
79 Novamont, as incubator of new projects, is able to expand and further its expertise by broadening the range of proprietary
technologies and the confines of the applications. Thanks to these characteristics, it has been able to equip itself with the
technologies needed for upstream integration that form the basis of Biorefinery. The concept of "Integrated biorefinery on the land"
that Novamont is resolutely developing is an important part of its way of understanding innovation and can also set an example as a
new business model: a project that links the company to the land and creates strong foundations to project the company at an
international level.

SYSTEMIC DESIGN
Fritjof Capra
As our new century unfolds, one of our greatest challenges is to build and nurture sustainable communities –
social, cultural, and physical environments in which we can satisfy our needs and aspirations without
diminishing the chances of future generations.
Since its introduction in the early 1980s, the concept of sustainability has often been distorted, co-opted, and
even trivialized by being used without the ecological context that gives it its proper meaning. So, I think it is
worthwhile to reflect for a moment about what ―sustainability‖ really means.
What is sustained in a sustainable community is not economic growth, development, or competitive
advantage, but the entire web of life on which our long-term survival depends. In other words, a sustainable
community is designed in such a manner that its ways of life, technologies, and social institutions honor,
support, and cooperate with nature‘s inherent ability to sustain life.
The first step in this endeavor, naturally, is to understand the principles of organization that ecosystems have
developed to sustain the web of life. This understanding is what I call ―ecological literacy‖. In the coming
decades the survival of humanity will depend on our ecological literacy – our ability to understand the basic
principles of ecology and to live accordingly.
Living systems
The most appropriate scientific framework for ecology is the theory of living systems. This theory is only now
fully emerging but has its roots in several fields of science that were developed during the first half of the
twentieth century. Examples of living systems abound in nature. Every organism – animal, plant,
microorganism, or human being – is an integrated whole, a living system. Parts of organisms – e.g. leaves, or
cells – are again living systems. Throughout the living world, we find systems nesting within other systems.
And living systems also include communities of organisms. These may be social systems – a family, or a
village – or ecosystems.
Systems theory entails a new way of seeing the world and a new way of thinking, known as systemic thinking.
Living systems span a very broad range, and systemic thinking is therefore by its very nature an inter-
disciplinary, or better still, ―transdisciplinary‖ approach. Systems theory tells us that all living systems share a
set of common properties and principles of organization. This means that systemic thinking can be applied to
integrate academic disciplines and to discover similarities between different phenomena within the broad
range of living systems.
Characteristics of systems thinking

Let me now give you a very brief review of the main characteristics of systemic thinking and of its history.
Systemic thinking emerged during the 1920s simultaneously in three different fields: organismic biology,
gestalt psychology, and ecology. In all these fields scientists encountered integrated wholes that are more than
static configurations of components. They expressed this realization in the famous phrase, ―The whole is more
than the sum of its parts”.
Understanding this sentence requires several shifts of perception. The first is a shift from ―the parts‖ to ―the
whole‖. Living systems are integrated wholes whose properties cannot be reduced to those of smaller parts.
Now, in what sense exactly is ―the whole more than the sum of its parts‖? The answer is relationships. The
essential properties of a living system arise from the interactions and relationships among the parts. Systemic
thinking is thinking in terms of relationships. The shift from the parts to the whole requires another shift of
focus, from objects to relationships.
The study of relationships concerns not only the relationships among the system's components, but also those
between the system as a whole and surrounding larger systems. Those relationships between the system and
its environment are what we mean by ―context‖. Systemic thinking is always contextual thinking.
Understanding relationships is not easy for us, because it is something that goes counter to the traditional
scientific enterprise in Western culture. In science, we have been told, things need to be measured and

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weighed. But relationships cannot be measured and weighed; relationships need to be mapped. So there is
another shift: from measuring to mapping.
When you map relationships, you will find certain configurations that occur repeatedly. This is what we call a
―pattern‖. In particular, the pattern of organization of a living system is a certain configurations of relationships
among its components. The study of relationships, then, leads to the study of patterns. Systems thinking
involves a shift of perspective from contents to patterns.
And finally, mapping relationships and studying patterns is not a quantitative but a qualitative approach. So,
systemic thinking implies a shift from quantity to quality. These characteristics of systemic thinking are all just
different aspects of the same shift of perception: a shift from the parts to the whole, from objects to
relationships, from measuring to mapping, from contents to patterns, from quantity to quality.
Form and matter

When we contemplate this shift of perception, we discover a tension that has been characteristic in Western
science and philosophy throughout the ages. It is a tension between two approaches to the understanding of
nature, the study of matter and the study of form. These are two very different approaches. The study of matter
begins with the question, ―What is it made of?‖ This leads to the notions of fundamental elements, building
blocks; to measuring and quantifying. The study of form asks, ―What is the pattern?‖ And that leads to the
notions of order, organization, relationships. Instead of quantity, it involves quality; instead of measuring, it
involves mapping.
So, these are two very different lines of investigation that have been in competition with one another
throughout our scientific and philosophical tradition. For most of the time, the study of matter – of quantities
and constituents – has dominated. But in recent decades the rise of systemic thinking and complexity theory
have brought the study of form – of patterns and relationships – to the fore again.
Art and education

To repeat, the study of matter is the study of quantities that are measured; the study of form is the study of
relationships that are mapped. Understanding patterns requires visualizing and mapping. This is the reason
why, every time the study of pattern was in the forefront, artists contributed significantly to the advancement of
science. Perhaps the most famous example is Leonardo da Vinci, whose name is linked to that of Torino,
because his famous self-portrait is housed here in the Biblioteca Reale and is known to art historians as the
Turin self-portrait.
One hundred years before Galileo, Leonardo single-handedly developed a new empirical approach, involving
the systematic observation of nature, reasoning, and mathematics – in other words, the main characteristics of
what is known today as the ―scientific method‖. But Leonardo's science was quite different from that of Galileo
and Newton. It was a science of natural forms, of patterns, of qualities. Leonardo's forms are living forms,
continually shaped and transformed by underlying processes. And he used his extraordinary facility of drawing
to demonstrate his understanding of these living forms. Leonardo's drawings are works of art and, at the same
time, they serve as diagrams – or ―demonstrations‖, as he called them – of the patterns and processes in the
living world.
Complexity Theory
Let me now return to my review of the development of systemic key characteristics of systems thinking were
identified during the first three decades of the 20th century, and the 1940s saw the formulation of actual
systems theories. This means that systems concepts were integrated into coherent theoretical frameworks
describing the principles of organization of living systems. These so-called ―classical systems theories‖ include
general systems theory and cybernetics.
During the past 25 years, systemic thinking was raised to a new level with the development of Complexity
Theory, a new mathematical language that allowed scientists for the first time to handle the enormous
complexity of living systems mathematically.
We need to realize that even the simplest living system, a bacterial cell, is a highly complex network involving
literally thousands of interdependent chemical reactions. During the 1970s, a new set of concepts and

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techniques for dealing with that enormous complexity was developed, which is beginning to form a coherent
mathematical framework. Chaos Theory and Fractal Geometry are important branches of this new
mathematics.
A new conception of life

These recent discoveries have resulted in a new conception of life that has dramatically increased our
understanding of many key characteristics of living systems. To summarize this new understanding, let me
begin with biology and ask: what is the essential nature of life in the realm of plants, animals, and
microorganisms? To understand the nature of life, it is not enough to understand DNA, proteins, and the other
molecular structures that are the building blocks of living organisms, because these structures also exist in
dead organisms, e.g. in a dead piece of wood or bone.
The difference between a living organism and a dead organism lies in the basic process of life – in what sages
and poets throughout the ages have called the ―breath of life‖. In modern scientific language, this process of
life is called ―metabolism‖. It is the ceaseless flow of energy and matter through a network of chemical
reactions, which enables a living organism to continually maintain, regenerate, and perpetuate itself.
The understanding of metabolism includes two basic aspects. One is the continuous flow of energy and
matter. All living systems need energy and food to sustain themselves; and all living systems produce waste.
That‘s part of metabolism. But life has evolved in such a way that organisms form communities, the
ecosystems, in which the waste of one species is food for the next, so that matter cycles continually through
the ecosystem.
Living networks
The second aspect of metabolism is the network of chemical reactions that processes the food, and forms the
biochemical basis of all biological structures, functions, and behavior. The emphasis here is on ―network.‖ One
of the most important insights of the new scientific understanding of life is the recognition that networks are the
basic pattern of life. Ecosystems are understood in terms of food webs (i.e., networks of organisms);
organisms are networks of cells, organs, and organ systems; and cells are networks of molecules. The
network is a pattern that is common to all life. Wherever we see life, we see networks.
It is important to realize that these living networks are not material structures, like a fishing net or a spider‘s
web. They are functional networks, networks of relationships between various processes. In a cell, for
example, these processes are chemical reactions between the cell‘s molecules. In a food web, the processes
are processes of feeding, of organisms eating one another. In both cases the network is a nonmaterial pattern
of relationships.
Closer examination of these living networks has shown that their key characteristic is that they are self-
generating. In a cell, for example, all the biological structures – the proteins, enzymes, the DNA, the cell
membrane, etc. – are continually produced, repaired, and regenerated by the cellular network. Similarly, at the
level of a multicellular organism, the bodily cells are continually regenerated and recycled by the organism‘s
metabolic network.
Living networks are self-generating. They continually create, or recreate themselves by transforming or
replacing their components. In this way they undergo continual structural changes while preserving their web-
like patterns of organization.
Life in the social realm can also be understood in terms of networks, but here we are not dealing with chemical
reactions; we are dealing with communications. Living networks in human society are networks of
communications. Like biological networks, they are self-generating, but what they generate is mostly
nonmaterial. Each communication creates thoughts and meaning, which give rise to further communications,
and thus the entire network generates itself.
The dimension of meaning is crucial to understand social networks. Even when they generate material
structures – such as material goods produced by businesses, artifacts, or works of art – these material
structures are very different from the ones produced by biological networks. They are usually produced for a
purpose, according to some design, and they embody some meaning.

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Culture
As communications continue in a social network, they eventually produce a shared system of beliefs,
explanations, and values – a common context of meaning, known as culture, which is continually sustained by
further communications. Through this culture individuals acquire identities as members of the social network,
and in this way the network generates its own boundary.
So, culture arises from a network of communications among individuals; and as it emerges, it produces
constraints on their actions. In other words, the rules of behavior that constrain the actions of individuals are
produced and continually reinforced by their own network of communications.
The social network also produces a shared body of knowledge – including information, ideas, and skills – that
shapes the culture's distinctive way of life in addition to its values and beliefs. Moreover, the culture's values
and beliefs affect its body of knowledge. They are part of the lens through which we see the world.
Let me now juxtapose biological and social networks and highlight their similarities and differences. Biological
networks operate in the realm of matter; social networks operate in the realm of meaning. Both produce
material structures, and social networks also produce the nonmaterial characteristics of culture – values, rules
of behavior, beliefs, knowledge, etc.
Biological systems exchange molecules in their networks of chemical reactions; social systems exchange
information and ideas in their networks of communications.
Biological networks produce and sustain a material boundary, which imposes constraints on the chemistry that
takes place inside it. Social networks produce and sustain a nonmaterial, cultural boundary, which imposes
constraints on the behavior of its members.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to emphasize that my extension of the systemic conception of life to the social domain
explicitly includes the material world. For social scientists, this may be unusual, because traditionally, the
social sciences have not been very interested in the world of matter. Our academic disciplines have been
organized in such a way that the natural sciences deal with material structures while the social sciences deal
with social structures, which are understood to be, essentially, rules of behavior.
In the future, this strict division will no longer be possible, because the key challenge of our new century – for
social scientists, natural scientists, and everyone else – will be to build ecologically sustainable communities,
designed in such a way that its technologies and social institutions – its material and social structures – do not
interfere with nature's inherent ability to sustain life. In other words, the design principles of our future social
institutions must be consistent with the principles of organization that nature has evolved to sustain the web of
life. A unified conceptual framework for the understanding of material and social structures, such as the one I
have outlined in this lecture, will be essential for this task.
Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., physicist and systems theorist, is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California. Dr.
Capra is the author of several international bestsellers, including The Tao of Physics , The Web of Life, and most recently The
Hidden Connections. www.fritjofcapra.net

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Bacteria and their relationship with cultivations and human health
Giusto Giovannetti
Bacteria and agriculture

Living organisms are characterised by a complex relational network with the microorganisms that live with
them. In nature cells live in groups with other cells, and such aggregation is defined as population. Hence,
populations are clusters of correlated cells that derive from an individual one, by a process of cell division. The
place where microbial populations live is called habitat. In nature populations are hardly ever found in
isolation, in that they coexist and interact with other cellular populations, gathered in microbial communities.
Populations of microbial communities interact in diverse ways, some with beneficial effects and some others
with detrimental ones. In many cases they cooperate and interact so as to find nourishment. It often happens
that waste stemming from metabolic activity of a microbial group becomes nourishment for another one. The
organisms of a habitat form a mutual relationship also with the physical and chemical environment. Habitats
may be different from one another, in that one that proves to be beneficial to the growth of an organism, may
as well be detrimental to another one. Therefore, microbial community efficiency of a habitat is determined by
the physico-chemical characteristics of the environment. Living organisms jointly with the physico-chemical
features of their own environment form an ecosystem. The greatest microbial ecosystems are the ones
belonging to complex organisms, such as plants and animals.
The properties of an ecosystem are often controlled by microbial activities, to a large extent. Hence, one can
gather that microorganisms, as irrelevant as they may seem, are instead, extremely important for the balance
of every ecosystem, as well as the interaction occurring between a plant and the microbial community of the
soil.
Many terrestrial microorganisms, in fact, are extremely useful for the plant in that they sustain decomposition
and mineralization of organic waste, allow for deeper absorption of nutrients, encourage growth, fix nitrogen
and protect plants against pathogen attacks.
The whole agricultural system depends largely on microbiological activities. Inside an agricultural land there
are 10 million bacteria per gram of soil, and they are different from one another. Two grams of soil are equal
to the population of New York City, carrying their own biological functions. In fact, when plants ―decided‖ to
colonise this terrain, they came from the sea, an environment where life had been fully developed, off to a
hostile land, devoid of any source of organic nutrients. As a result, they engendered a process of mutualistic
symbiosis and organised themselves in compliance with all the microorganisms that had, in the course of
time, evolved in water.
By mutualistic symbiosis we mean that type of relationship between two organisms, where both individuals
rely on one another in order to survive and be reciprocally supported by that association. This means that,
when algae colonised dry land, they had to invent, not only a radical system that did not exist before, but also
think of some kind of support, consisting of a number of probiotics, enabling these pre-plants to settle in such
an inhospitable terrain. This could be achieved, owing to the presence of those microorganisms (such as
fungi, bacteria, saprotrophic fungi, namely all the microorganisms that belong to different phyla) which took
part to the colonisation and that have become, since then, an essential part of this system, an element that
plants have never stopped resorting to.
Mycorrhizal fungi, both AM (arbuscular mycorrizhae) and ECM (ectomycorrhizae) or nitrogen-fixing bacteria
(Rhizobia) establish mutualistic symbiosis with the roots.
The roots of the plants account for most of the bacteria of the whole agricultural terrain, in that, owing to the
interconnection existing between the soil and the plant, bacteria manage to find nourishment, mostly through
root exudation. 20% of photosynthesised substances, produced by a plant as a result of the action of sunlight
on chlorophyll, are used to feed the bacteria on the roots. Since a plant produces bacterial substance, by
means of its signal, it can also decide which bacteria it needs, by developing distinctive root exudates.
The legume family, for instance, accounting for most types of crops, lives in strict connection with a bacterial
species responsible for the production of nodules, occurring in the root system. Within legume nodules,
nitrogen gas from the atmosphere (N2) is converted into a fixed nitrogen compound that helps the plant grow.
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As a result of the bacterial activity occurring within the root nodules of legumes, a lower quantity of expensive
nitrogen fertilizers is necessary.
Another example of interaction existing among different organisms or, like in the present case, between one
organism and the other, is the one commonly referred to as biological pest control. The term is used to
describe ―the application of either natural or modified organisms, genes or gene products which are able to
reduce the effects of unwanted organisms in favour of the ones that are useful to men, crops, animals and
symbiontic microorganisms‖. The main goal is to reduce, by means of one or more organisms, the inoculum
density or the pathogen capability of a parasite, during its active or dormant state. Such reduction is achieved
either naturally or via massive introduction of one or more opponents. Biocontrols can be performed in
different ways: inhibition of pathogens through the production of antimicrobial compounds (antibiosis);
competition for colonisation sites and nutrients; inactivation of germination factors of pathogens living on
seeds or roots; inhibition of pathogenicity factors, such as toxins and enzymes produced and released by the
pathogenic agent; the micro-parasitism through the production of a wide range of enzymes that activate a
degrading action on the cell wall.
A particularly outstanding feature is the interaction between the plant and the PGPR (plant-growth promoting
rhizobacteria) that are, in other words, beneficial, non-symbiontic bacteria living in the rhizosphere. This term
is commonly used to refer to bacteria belonging to the following genera: Pseudomonas, Serratia, Azospirillum
and Bacillus.
The PGPR have proved to be good for the plant in that they enhance root growth and inhibit some vegetable
pathogens in the soil, without infecting and invading tissues.
Not only are microorganisms a contributing factor to plant protection and development, but they also have the
quality to produce a particular fragrance and antioxidants, as well as many other significant features.
With an eye on these characteristics, many tests have been carried out by CCS Aosta jointly with Doctor
Giorgio Masoero, en ex CRA researcher of Animal Science in Caramagna (province of Cuneo, Italy). He has
carried out analysis and tested the effects of the microbiological component of roots, using the most modern,
rapid and cutting edge equipment, such as a gas chromatograph of the electronic nose kind, and a NIR
portable spectrometer (near-infra-red).
Bees and apple trees

A test carried out on location, at La Cremonina, a firm situated in Castelfuego, gave us the chance to observe
that, about fifty bees were flying around a group of mycorrhized plants (inoculated on the premises with a
microbial consortium of fungi and bacteria), whereas no more than five could be detected around the other
non-mycorrhized plants. Subsequently, a sample of flowers and leaves was promptly sent to the laboratories
of the firm of CRA, situated in Caramagna.
The study revealed that mycorrhized plants have petals which are, on average, 10% more scented than the
other ones but bear strong differences among the ten sensors (picture 1). This explains why bees are more
appealed to them. Another interesting peculiarity is their greater number of leaves that come in smaller size
but are 10% more odorous and carry a wider range of perfumes (picture 2). The results obtained with the NIR
rays, an invisible light reflected by foliage, highlight the exact order of size of the differences existing between
mycorrhized and regular plants. It is a bit like saying that the nose and the eye of science evidence what
human beings seize on the fly and in flight.
Mycorrhized corn grain is more aromatic

Another study was carried out comparing, by means of the electronic nose, 21 types of conventional hybrid
corn with two grains derived by mycorrhized crops. Also in this case it was possible to highlight a significant
increase in the aromatic profile, on average by 18%, but with a rise up to 300% in one sensor, and 200% in
the other one (picture 3). A change in the aromatic profile is a rather frequent phenomenon, also in plants like
basil. A soaring number of aromatic compounds induced by mycorrhizae is accurately detected both by the
electronic nose and the NIR test on young leaves.

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Picture 1: percentage of the increase in aromatic
signal intensity in the petals of mycorrhized apple
trees, compared with the petals of non-
mycorrhized samples (10 sensors in the
electronic nose for 30 seconds = 300 points).
Picture 2: increased aromatic signal intensity in

the leaves of mycorrhized apple trees compared
with non-mycorrhized samples.
Picture 3: increased aromatic signal intensity in

mycorrhized corn grain compared with non-
mycorrhized samples.
The analysis previously presented is also applicable to new scientific fields, in particular to the enological
sector. The recent studies on grapes, skin and leaves ,may be conducive to new interesting discoveries, in the
field of wine tasting and smelling, two practices that have always enjoyed great popularity.
In nature, where nothing is totally new and much is recycled (such as water and air, for instance), odours are a
sort of ―universal language‖ governed by codes of attraction and repulsion, dictated by living organisms.
Nowadays we make use of tools enabling to look into the complex world of the relationships occurring between
plants and microorganisms. Therefore one can justly presume that modern knowledge may lead towards a

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new ―agricultural‖ frontier, with less chemicals, more microbes and greater respect for environment and plant
biology.
In addition, the enhancement of agricultural practices is the safest, cheapest and most natural way, not only to
improve food but also to relate human health and nutrition to ecology and environmental safeguard.
Bacteria and food

Fermented food has always been part of Man‘s diet. It is estimated that nearly 20% of the overall nutritional
intake of the developed countries consists of fermented food but this percentage can soar up to 50% in
developing countries.
In one way fermentation may be regarded as a process of food spoilage which yields beneficial outcomes.
Many animal and vegetable food products spoil easily, owing to the growth of detrimental microorganisms
which turn them into a hazard for our health, in that they change their nutritional features and make their taste,
look and smell extremely disagreeable. However the development of microorganisms can also produce
desirable changes, in that food becomes hygienically safer, easier to preserve and endowed with new
sensorial properties. Most certainly the earliest form of food fermentation occurred by chance. Beneficial
microorganisms are, by nature, contained in many animal or vegetable raw materials and, if there are
favourable conditions to their development, they grow quickly and prevail on the other ones, hindering, as a
result, the growth of detrimental microorganisms, such as pathogens, putrefying bacteria and many more.
Therefore, the earliest types of fermented food was born by chance but Man learned quickly how to
manipulate the conditions that caused fermentation and paved the way for the thousands of fermented
products that we use nowadays. The first historical records of dairy products date back to 6000 B.C. Even in
4000 B.C. The Egyptians made bread and wine whereas beer production in Mesopotamia goes back to 1750
B.C.
Nowadays many different types of foods are made from fermentation, namely the process through which raw
materials undergo some changes, by means of the enzymatic activities of microorganisms. As a result, they
develop new, desirable physical and organoleptic features. Alcoholic drinks, bread and bakery products,
fermenting cheese and milk, cold cuts, are widely popular products. However, fewer people know that
fermentation occurs also when making a great number of smoked edibles, vegetables (such as krauts,
cucumber and olives), cocoa, coffee, soy sauce, tempeh and thousands of foods derived from vegetable or
animal raw materials grown in developing countries (indigenous fermented foods).
The beneficial effects of fermentation in our daily diet has been largely proved and affects not only the
developing countries, but also the developed ones that are dealing with the widespread issue of, malnutrition
and vitamin deficiency, even though they certainly do not experience food shortage.
As a matter of fact we are constantly urged to integrate multivitamin preparations into our daily food intake. In
the wealthy western world vitamins are added to food during its preparation, to preserve public health. Vitamin
A and D are added to milk and butter, riboflavin to bread, and ascorbic acid to fruit juice, to name but a few.
The problem concerns not only the limited and standardised consumption of fermented products, but also the
use of foods that have undergone other preservation processes which have led to the destruction of their
nutritional and organoleptic properties.
Find here below the benefits of the fermentation process.
Increased nutritional value

Greater quantity of vitamins, proteins and essential amino acids: fermented products reveal increased level s
of group B vitamins, in that they are more easily synthesised both by microorganisms and by ascorbic acid.
The children born from mothers who are deficient in thiamine, are likely to develop Beriberi, a disease which
may cause heart failure and death within the first three months of life. The microorganisms generated by the
fermentation of Tapè Ketan (a traditional Indonesian fermentation consisting of rice inoculated with a mother
dough and turned into a slightly alcoholic sweet and sour mass) synthesise thiamine. Consequently the
problem concerning the mother‘s nutrition, is solved.
An other example is Idli, a traditional Indian food, similar to a light bread bun, developed by fermenting rice
and black peas. During its fermentation process there is an increase in vitamin B12. Pulque, a traditional

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Mexican drink, produces a greater amount of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, panthotecnic acid, aminobenzoic
acid, pyridoxine and biotin.
A study carried out comparing people who use fermented products with the ones who do not, has revealed a
greater occurrence of pathologies caused by vitamin B group deficiencies. Vitamin C has not proved to be
noticeably increased as a result of fermentation, however the process maintains the acidity levels that are
necessary to keep vitamin C stable. The synthesis of antioxidant substances generated by bacteria, during
fermentation, preserves all the vitamins that are affected by oxidative stress.
In some specific cases of traditional fermentation, microorganisms can increase the protein content twice as
much. A growth in the levels of lysine and tryptophan proteins has been detected in fermented maize foods
containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Besides, the synthesis of antioxidants performed by bacteria during fermentation, preserves the vitamins
prone to oxidative stress.
Increased bioavailability of nutrients: bioavailability is the percentage of a nutrient in our diet and the extent to
which it is effectively absorbed and made available to catabolic and anabolic processes of human cells.
Increased density: the density generated in fermented products and the concentration of the substrate allow to
achieve foods that are high in calories. With a lower quantity we can have more calories, just as much as
during the fermentation process of cereal flours. With a mere 5% concentration we can arrive at a calorie
value of 0,2Kcal/g, whereas the fermentation process brings the concentration up to 30%, resulting in an
increased calorie value of 1,2 Kcal/g. In reality, fermentation does not boosts the calorie value but
concentrates its content into a smaller portion of food.
Increased digestibility
This aspect concerns especially the content of glucids in that they are what microorganisms mostly use.
Microbial metabolism hydrolyzes complex amides into simple monomers.
People with mild lactose intolerance can eat food derived from fermenting milk, in that most of the
disaccharide contained in it, has been hydrolysed.
Similarly to glucids, also proteins undergo hydrolysis as evidenced by the remarkable increase in the content
of free amino acids during fermentation, making the food easier to digest.
The same thing happens with triglycerides. Once they are digested by microorganisms, they free their own
constituents, which are fatty acids and glycerol. Fermented food is, therefore, easier to digest.
Preservation and safety

Safety within the fermentation process of food is related to a few principles.
The first one is that the fermented microorganisms developed in the food, hinder the growth of toxic and
poisonous pathogen species.
The second principle is that lactic acid fermentation is generally safer. For instance lactic fermentation of
flours prevent pathogen bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Shigella flexneri and
Salmonella thyphimurium, from spawning.
The third safety enhancing principle is that food and drink fermentations which produce ethanol are generally
harmless. Ethanol is a germicide and food is stored at anaerobic conditions, it can be preserved for a long
time.
Low cost (if produced according to tradition)

Fermented foods are usually developed from cheap products, such as legumes, cereals, milk and many more,
ranging from edibles with very low profit margins up to extremely fine foods, such as wine, beer and cheese.
Decreased cooking time

Fermented foods require to be cooked lightly, for a very short time and sometimes no cooking is needed.

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Detoxification
Fermentation is conducive to increased safety, in comparison with fresh products, in that it develops chemical
and physical barriers that obstruct harmful microbial contamination.
A serious problem of contamination arises from mycotoxins, those being secondary metabolites produced by
diverse toxinogenous fungal species.
The accumulation of mycotoxins in food may cause mycotoxicosis, which is food poisoning affecting animals
reared for livestock production and Man, either directly or indirectly.
Biological detoxification has been demonstrated especially for ochratoxin A, patulin, zearalenone, toxin T-2,
fumonisin, vomitoxin, diacetoxyscirpenol and deoxynivalenol.
Cyanogenic glycosides (releasing poisonous hydrocyanic acids) which can be found in several types of
cereals and legumes, are another toxic component of raw materials. It is not only toxicant, but it also
exacerbates iodine deficiencies, resulting in goitre and cretinism. The presence of a connection between
cyanogenic compounds, paralytic diseases and tropical neuropathies has also been clearly highlighted.
Some of the microorganisms involved in lactic fermentation synthesise the enzymes which are able to
hydrolyse cyanogenic glycosides.
More intense aromas and scents

Microorganisms not only increase aromas, owing to the synergy with the roots of the plants, they also trigger
the formation of volatile compounds, not only during the fermentation process. These compounds endow
fermented products with a unique aroma and taste, making the initial matter much more palatable.
Nutraceutical benefits
- a low pH hinders the growth of sporogenic or/and toxic bacteria, and destroys some pathogens;
- some lactic bacteria and molds produce antibiotics and bacteriocins;
- the beneficial effects of lactic bacteria on health and intestinal flora have been clearly proved;
- some of the substances found in fermented food protect and prevent tumours.
Eating traditional handmade fermented food has an additional merit, from the health point of view, that has not
been fully explored yet. This type of fermented food allows for the intake of a remarkable quantity of
―beneficial‖ bacteria, that are the ones already found in food at the initial stage and responsible for the
fermentation process (microbiological consortiums of rhizosphere).
Man and bacteria

Theodor Rosebury, professor of bacteriology at Washington University, published in 1962 a treaty where he
gave a full historical account of what people knew, back then, about the forms of bacterial life on the human,
and described both their beneficial and detrimental interactions with the ―environment‖. He provided science
with the first complete census of human ―microflora‖, in addition to the scarse information gathered on the
activities of its components.
Despite the impersonal academic jargon he used to write his book, Professor Rosebury (…) was notorious all
over the campus for the pleasure he took in upsetting his pupils with vividly sketched descriptions of the
microscopic landscape of the human body.
These descriptions aroused feelings of disgust and evoked bizarre images. Rosebury particularly enjoyed
lingering over the description, from a germ microscopic point of view, of the bacchanal, depicted in Tom
Jones’s multi Oscar-award winning film in 1963, a scene often described as the most erotic meal represented
on screen.
“My imaginary microscope furnished with a zoom, jointly with Richardson’s camera, enabled me to focus,
through the eyes of my mind, on all the tiny cracks of the gums around Tom and Jenny’s teeth, which could be
easily spotted whilst they were having their meal. I could observe the dynamic swarming of microbial life
taking place during the action, such as the spirochetes in frantic activity, thicker spirillum bacteria that looked

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like corkscrew, vibrios sliding back and forth, colonies of bacilli or cocci, in the form of clusters or long chains,
in slow motion or even still, gathering everywhere as closely as a bunch, boiling among fragments of
desquamated epithelium, jointly with the fibres and debris produced by food cells and particles. They are living
organisms, just like the great and wonderful animals whose mouth they live in. I could see them making the
most of the sudden abundance of food, just like Tom and Jenny, after a long fast”.
(…) According to Rosebury‘s theory the community of germs in the human body, together with their dense
relational network, could be deemed a powerful barrier used by human beings to fight against the invasion of
other germs of a similar kind but less adequately fitted in, that were conducive to illnesses. Rosebury said “it
was very dangerous to think that, at any time, germs and dirt are our enemies, and such thinking has its own
price”. To cut a long story short, we may say that bacteria are an integral and intriguing part of a healthy
human ecosystem.
Along the lines of these topics, Rosebury compared the birth of a human being to the creation of the first lot of
microbial real estate, whose colonisation involves merging two diametrically opposed kingdoms of life. If
everything goes swimmingly during the first few hours, days, months and years of life, the final outcome will
be the formation of an extremely effective microbial protection barrier, a “national guard” opening and
spreading on the child’s skin and mucous, from the scalp with its waxy surface, to the ducts of the lungs and
the digestive system, up until the sweaty skin folds of the toes. And everything is likely to go swimmingly, as
the very Rosebury used to say. This new human being will flourish in a world crammed with microbial life, and
his instinct will encourage him to sample with mouth and fingers, whatever surface swarming with bacteria is
within his reach. And out of mere instinctive compulsion, parents, siblings, even pets, will feel exhorted to
welcome the newcomer with kisses, cuddles and licks and other expressions of love, all of them generously
flavoured with germs.
The alliance between human beings and microbes starts already before birth. Halfway through the pregnancy,
a hormonal change will signal to the cells lining the vagina, that it needs to accumulate glycogen, a type of
sugar used by lactobacilli and whose fermentation hampers the development of potentially dangerous
invaders. Lactolactobacilli produce acid which partially protects against Nisseria gonorrhoea and Chlamydia
trachomatism those being sexually transmitted bacteria that are responsible for newborn’s blindness, infected
during childbirth80‖.
Similarly to the colonisation of skin and mouth, the one occurring within the human digestive tract, harbouring
99% of the whole microflora of our body, starts during birth, when lactolactobacilli meet the foetus through the
birth canal.
All the incoming microbes need to go through the stomach, before reaching the intestine. The high levels of
hydrochloric acid in the stomach of older children or adults, are an effective defence against microbes.
However, gastric acid secretion starts at full speed only at the third month of life and, little by little it gradually
reaches levels that are typical of adult age, over the course of several years. In the early stages of life such
delay allows stomach and intestine to be colonised.
The small intestine is the place where incoming microbes require, in a more direct way, the infant‘s quiescent
immune system to work. In some areas, along the walls of the intestine, are sheltered Peyer‘s patches, which
appear as large aggregates of flat cells, similar to domes. They are believed to be significant in that they wrap
up the most important ―training centres‖ of our immune system, and facilitate their response. The folds on the
surface of the flat cells are like pockets which intercept uninterruptedly the passage of both dead and living
bacteria. This does not mean that the immune system ignores intestinal bacteria. In fact, instead of
generating an inflammation that would be conducive to the destruction of germs, the interactions occurring
within Peyer‘s patches trigger the production of a great amount of antibodies, commonly know as
immunoglobulins A or IgA. Just like every other antibody, IgAs attack a specific target, which is a precise kind
of intestinal bacteria. However, rather than destroying such bacterium, lgA antibodies cluster on its surface
and prevent it from attaching to the walls of the intestine.
80see: Snyder Sachs J., Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World, Hill and Wang, New York, New York,
(U.S.A.) 2007

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During childhood, the number of Peyer‘s patches tend to decrease, going from several hundreds to around
thirty. This residual group converges along the final segment of the small intestine before it opens to the
colon, a wide chamber where bacteria are gathered. Within these residual patches, a very small number of
immune cells keep on monitoring the daily passage of millions of microbes and acknowledge most of them as
regular visitors, worthy of tolerance.
Once they have gone through the dynamic contractions and the intercepting cells of the small intestine, the
bacteria break into the large intestine whose tract is initially sterile at birth but is destined to become, within
the human body, a large microbial reservoir.
In addition, the first wave of intestinal microbes triggers the maturation of the walls of the large intestine. The
blood vessels beneath expand towards the surface of the organ, where they form a dense network of
minuscule vessels, needed to keep the tissue healthy and free the nutrients released by the resident bacteria.
At the same time, the first contact with bacteria activates millions of intestinal stem cells. Once they have been
aroused, they start dividing unrelentingly and multiply, in a process of rapid self-renewal and generation. Their
proliferation constantly renews the delicate layer of the superficial cells of the intestinal wall. Owing to this
ceaseless regeneration process, the intestinal tract becomes more resistant to the kind of damage caused
when the child starts eating solid food (high in natural toxins).
The introduction of solid food in the diet of breastfed infants aligns the intestinal community of the baby with
the one of those who are fed with artificial milk, despite the inexistence of two individuals with exactly the
same species and the same stocks. On average, only around thirty species, accompanied by a hundred other
smaller ones, tend to predominate. The most numerous and bountiful of such species include anaerobes that
are capable of digesting food fibre, namely the bacilli Bacterioides and Eubacteria.
Human bowels can harbour a certain number of anaerobes having a spherical shape, named ―cocci‖. Among
them can be found species of Enterococcus, Peptococcus, Streptococcus and Peptostreptococcus,
accounting for the fermentation of a great amount of proteins and complex lipids, and their transformation into
sugars and fatty acids, molecules that the body can more easily absorb.
Other important members of the intestinal flora are clostridia, some of them produce toxins. Within the
minority groups of the intestinal community one can find five or six types of lactobacilli and a small number of
facultative anaerobes, such as the Escherichia coli.
Nearly one in five human beings has a detectable number of intestinal germs that are methane producers,
namely Methanobrevibacter smithii and Methanosphaera stadtmanae. These methanogens live on the
hydrogen and carbon monoxide developed by their neighbouring microbes, during the process of digesting
food fibre.
Skin, mouth, nose and digestive tract. Microbiologists can take pride in their 20- year long remarkable
knowledge of the creatures inhabiting the human body, and of the benefits and dangers resulting from such
coexistence.
Our immune system interacts unremittingly with the bacterial world around us. Most of the times this
interaction proves to be fruitful in that microbes are put in their own place and the immune system is kept
peacefully alert.
The inadequate functioning or the depletion of these bacteria lead to increased frequency of the commonly
called auto-immune diseases.
Man is an open biological system that needs to cohabit with a population of microorganisms, in order to work
properly.
Our society sets hygienic standards which aim to destroy the whole microbial flora, in that it is deemed
hazardous. On the contrary, it has proved to be important and necessary to the human and vegetable
ecosystem.

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Bibliography:
- Antiche tradizioni da salvaguardare, graduation thesis presented at the Università degli Studi di Urbino (Italy), facoltà di
Farmacia, Sofia Franceschetti, a.y.2006/2007.
- Brock, Biologia dei microrganismi, M. T. Madigan, vol 1, J. M. Martinko, J. Parker, CEA, Milano (Italy), 2007.
- Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World, Jessica Snyder Sachs, Hill and Wang, New York, New
York, (U.S.A.) 2007
- Il terroir e la realtà virtuale, Giusto Giovannetti, Porthos 33-34, Spring 2009.
- La risposta allo stress idrico, report by Dr. Giusto Giovannetti presented at meeting“Acqua sangue della terra” held in
Montemonaco (Ascoli Piceno, Italy), June 24th-25th 2006.
http://www2.unibas.it/parente/Starter/Microferm.html
Giusto Giovannetti, amongst his various published articles, reports, applied scientific works emerges contribution on biological
behaviour of different mushrooms and truffles, which contribute to clarify the knowledge of symbiotic mushrooms species useful for
edible and agrarian interests. Results from some experimental research contributed to definition of the truffles biology and
consequently the development of truffles cultivation techniques utilizing microbiologic consortium of rhizosphere both in agrarian
cultivation and soil remediation.

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Factors affecting food futures81
Ashok Khosla, Karan Khosla
Introduction
This background paper examines the systemic linkages between the major viewpoints in the current
discussion of food futures.
The following sections are based on a qualitative systems analysis of the global food situation. The purpose
here is to capture the essence of current interventions/policies and their impact on food systems as a whole;
as a result, a fair level aggregation is assumed.
Full diagram of the food system with details of the different sectors.
Our analysis (above schema) reveals six core sectors of the food system:
Demand: Population, Lifestyle;
Nutrition: Purchasing Power, Water and Sanitation;
Supply: Centralized/Decentralized Farming, Storage, Distribution;
Climate Change: Includes Biofuels;
Resources: Water, Fuel, Land, Biodiversity;
Policy: Markets & Speculation, Protectionism.
Though causal loop diagrams are used, this paper is non-technical; familiarity with systems concepts is
recommended but not required.
The analysis in this paper is not comprehensive; its purpose is to serve as a basis for further exploration, and
more importantly, to serve as a platform for meaningful dialogue and collaboration.
The frequency, geographic reach and severity of ―food riots‖ in the past two years have drastically increased;
Mexico, Bangladesh, Egypt, Philippines and Haiti have had to deal with growing civil unrest as a result of rising
food prices. Contrary to reports of record levels of ―bumper crops‖ by the FCI (Food Corporation of India),
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and other food agencies, supply of food staples such as
soybean, corn, maize and rice have been severely limited. Activists, scientists and the media point to many
81 originally written as a background note for the Balaton Group Meeting on Food Futures, 2010, the authors would like to credit Alan
At Kisson and the Steering Committee of the Balaton Group for their invaluable insights.

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different causes for the food crisis, including protectionist policies, brash-speculative trading of essential
commodities, biofuel production... some even question existing food production systems.
The recent financial crisis is an urgent call for our need to understand the world as a system. Systems have
common characteristics; cause and effect are separated in time and space, feedbacks and delays create non-
linear behavior (tipping points) which, in turn, cause well intentioned policies to fail.
Unfortunately, traditional forms of analysis, though important, are not equipped to understand the peculiar
characteristics of system behavior and hence, they are neither good at identifying systemic problems nor
communicating systemic solutions. Systems thinking, however, allows us to move beyond ―silos‖ of
understanding, which force us to come up with reactive solutions (bail-out packages etc), and find high
leverage interventions (development of new institutional frameworks with ethical values) which have system-
wide impacts82.
The food crisis that we face now is worse than any other crisis in our recent history and its problems are wholly
systemic in nature.
To begin, we will try to understand various viewpoints related to food supply and demand on their own, and
then how they interrelate in a larger systemic framework.
Demand (Population and Lifestyle)

Over the last decade, one billion people have been added to the world‘s population - most of them in the
developing world. Unfortunately, despite tremendous economic growth in the world, the number of people
going hungry each day is increasing; today there are over half a billion people living with critical food
shortages.83
Demand for food comes from the number of people consuming food and the type and amount of food that
each one eats.
The economies of countries like China and India are boldly growing at 8-9% per annum, resulting in a
burgeoning middle class.
This rise in affluence has brought with it increased consumption (per capita) of grains, cereals and input
intensive foods such as processed meats.
Changes in consumer behavior are urgently required; however such changes will not be easy to introduce as
long as countries (like many in Asia) continue to encourage domestic consumerism to fight inflation.
On a more global level, initiatives such as the ―Slow Food‖ movement are starting to have tremendous success
in influencing consumer lifestyle in Europe and the United States; Chefs across the continents plan to hold a
―Zero Kilometer Christmas, 2012‖, committing themselves to buying only locally grown produce, similarly many
local communities in this part of the world, have rallied around responsible food consumerism.
In the long term, balancing supply and demand will ultimately only be achieved if global population can be
stabilized. Since much of the projected growth will be in the developing world, simple measures such as
increased investment in education and income generation opportunities, would significantly reduce fertility and
stress on future food (as well as other) resources - this would also have a significant long term impact on
climate change.
Nutrition
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that more than 25,000 people die
each day from malnutrition. Reducing malnutrition rates may increase demand for food, but from the point of
view of equity, the resulting impacts on agricultural/commercial productivity and the environment, it is one of
the most critical tasks of the coming decade.
There are four essential factors which affect nutrition: supply of food (discussed in the following section), fuel,
finances, drinking water and sanitation:
82 for a quick introduction to systems concepts, please read the following article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System
83 http://www.fao.org/docrep/U3550T/U3550T02.HTM

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Financial
One of the fundamental factors for malnutrition is the lack of purchasing power of the poor84. Public and private
investment for job creation in non-agricultural and small scale industries would effectively increase household
income; this might also increase demand for food, which would seem counterproductive, in the long run, rising
income would also stimulate agricultural output.
Increasing utility of labour over capital using ―intermediary technologies‖85 in agricultural industries would also
foster independence and self-reliance in food production - with the added benefit of encouraging socio
economic security at the grass root level.
Income redistribution through land reforms, progressive taxation policies, increases in technology transfer and
credit availability might also significantly improve purchasing power.
Yellow lines indicate direction of influence: if population increases relative to what it was before (and relative to supply) demand for
food will increase. Similarly increased economic growth of a region, particularly in developing parts of the world, increases
consumption levels per capita.
Fuel (Cooking)
Most foods are converted into nutrition only after being cooked. The number of people relying on biomass for
household cooking needs will increase to about 2.6 billion by 2015; though the impact on energy consumption
in the developing world is still relatively low compared to developed countries, the environmental costs,
especially to the forests and soils are significant.
Poor families spend up to 20% of their incomes on purchasing wood or charcoal to cook food; this accounts for
almost 90% of their total household energy expenditure86.
To compare this with the developed world, for example, the US Department of Energy 87 reports that only 5% of
all household energy consumption comes from cooking (gas and electric stoves are preferred). Unsustainable
methods of harvesting biomass for cooking, have resulted in massive deforestation and erosion of valuable
arable land in rural and peri-urban areas88. Efforts to reduce dependence on biomass and access to more
84 Sen, A.K. Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1981).
85 http://humaninfo.org/aviva/ch12.htm
86 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_stove
87 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/reps/enduse/er01_us.html
88 http://www.iea.org/weo/docs/weo2006/Cooking.pdf

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modern fuels and technologies would greatly reduce environmental impacts, protect valuable arable land for
growing crops and also allow poor families to spend more money on education, healthcare etc.
Water and Sanitation

Almost 9% of all illnesses in the developing world, resulting in almost 2.4 million deaths each year, come from
water-related illnesses; parasites and worms account for a majority of these problems89. Parasites can
consume significant portions of the nutrition consumed by a human host, leading to higher levels of
malnutrition.
Malnutrition, and hence sickness, result in billions of man-hours of lost each year - directly impacting
agricultural productivity, especially in developing countries where up to 70% of the population survives on
agriculture90. Improving the quality and availability of water and sanitation services also increases economic
and educational opportunities for girls - the long term benefits of which are numerous.
Nutrition in Developed Nations

Rising rates of obesity in countries like the United States are also of growing concern for their impact on
productivity and overall demand of food. If current rates of growth continue, it is assumed that 75% of the adult
population of the US will be overweight by 2015 (41% will be obese)91; in 2000, the direct medical costs related
to obesity were over USD 60 Billion and indirect economic losses were upwards of 120 Billion92. Environmental
and genetic factors have attributed to the rise in obesity; however changes in behavioral factors over the past
twenty years have been the single greatest cause for the illness; drastic legislative reforms are required to
improve the nutritional quality of food and awareness of disease - especially for the younger cohort of the
population.
Supply (Methods of Production, Distribution)

More than 99% of food supply comes from the land, while less than 1% from aquatic habitats such as oceans
and rivers93. Over a billion people, however, depend on oceans and rivers for food and income; the rate at
which fish stocks and corals have depleted will significantly impact terrestrial food production through their
effect on climate systems94. Sustainable production of most of our food supply, however, is directly dependent
on ample fertile land, fresh water, energy, plus the maintenance of biodiversity.
With an increasing population, changes in lifestyle, attaining adequate levels of food supply will become more
and more difficult.
High-input agricultural practices have increased the agricultural productivity of many nations, particularly in the
developing world. For example, in the 1970s, rice in India cost about $550 a ton; in 2001, it cost under $200 a
ton95. India has become one of the world's most successful rice producers, and is now a major rice exporter,
shipping nearly 4.5 million tons in 2006. India also saw annual wheat production rise from 10 million tons in the
1960s to 73 million in 2006.96
Yet these ―factory farming‖ methods of food production come at a price; vast quantities of water, fertilizer, fuel
for refinement, processing and transportation are required - the costs to the environment in terms of loss of
biodiversity, soil quality etc. are now becoming major concerns.
As a result of charcoal production for urban and peri-urban households, biomass resources have been devastated in a 200 to 300
kilometre radius around Luanda, Angola (IEA, 2006).
89 http://www.gatesfoundation.org/topics/Pages/water-sanitation-hygiene.aspx
90 http://www.unescobkk.org/education/esd/about-esd/esd-briefing/agriculture/
91 ^ Wang, Youfa; Beydoun, May A (2007), "The obesity epidemic in the United States—gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic,
and geographic characteristics: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis", Epidemiologic Reviews (Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health), doi:doi:10.1093/epirev/mxm007
92 Wellman, Nancy; Friedberg, Barbara (2002), "Causes and consequences of adult obesity: health, social and economic impacts in
the United States", Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition (Wiley-Blackwell) 11 (S8): S705-S713
93 Pimentel, D., R. Harman, M. Pacenza, J. Pecarsky, and M. Pimentel. 1994. "Natural resources and an optimum human
population." Population and Environment 15 : 347-369.

94 Planetary Boundaries.
95 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118556810848880619.html
96 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution

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Furthermore, the price of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, water etc. are prohibitively high for most small scale,
poor farmers; state subsidies have traditionally benefitted larger more affluent farmers who can easily scale up
production.
As a result, high input farming has increased the debt of farmers to unacceptable levels and the consequences
are quite severe: from bankrupt farms in the United States to an increase in the number of farmer suicides in
India. Once lauded as the solution to eradicate hunger, the Green Revolutions of the world, are beginning to
show fundamental flaws.
The first balancing loop (B1) in this diagram shows how high input methods of farming have become common practice in resolving
food shortage issues; however, as more attention is put to increase crop production using these methods, fewer resources are spent
on scaling more fundamental methods of production (B2, e.g. organic farming). However, if more attention is paid to organic farming,
local revenue generation and income increases, improving quality of life (R1); in the case of less developed parts of the world, this
reduces fertility and hence demand for food in the long run (provided per capita consumption doesn‘t increase drastically).
Of greater concern however, is the compromise that most governments have made over developing the scale
and capacity of more traditional or decentralized methods of crop production. For long term sustainability in
food supply, these fundamental solutions will need to be addressed97.
In certain cases, it has been found that organic farming can produce up to three times as much food as high
input farming methods on the same land98. Decentralized methods of production also have another advantage
- local job creation. Local communities are able to create sources of employment and income generation,
which drastically improve a community‘s sense of security99.
Another advantage is that scarce resources are made available for opportunities other than food production,
increasing the variety of revenue streams at the local level (provided, of course that these new opportunities
utilize the resources in an efficient and sustainable manner).
Seen by many as the future of food, GMO crops have been the highlight of recent controversy. These miracles
of cutting-edge science may be able to solve humanities supply problems, but no one knows for sure at what
cost?
97 http://www.counterpunch.org/gray03102010.html
98 http://wholepersonbalancedlife.blogspot.com/2010/03/organic-farming-and-problem-of-world.html
99 Shubh Kal.

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The long term impacts on human health are yet unknown, and currently, most of the GMO crops are owned by
a single multinational company from whom farmers will be required to purchase seeds - opening up
opportunities for unfair practices and exploitation in poor countries.
Aside from production of food, transportation, storage and distribution are also of equal concern.
In India, for example, a well-intentioned policy to ensure equitable distribution of cereals, requires farmers a
part of their produce to the government at a ―fixed‖ procurement price.
However, due to poor storage facilities and inefficiencies in the public distribution system, millions of tons of
wheat lie in the government storage facilities, rotting away, unfit for human or animal consumption. There are
similar problems in Africa and South America.
Decentralization in storage and distribution might also be important; government funded- grain silos, installed
at the community level, would allow rural communities to store their produce for sale to the market at a better
value, sometime in the future.
This would allow rural communities to take loans against stocks, repayment of which would also benefit from
rising prices. Methods such as this would also remove the unfair advantage of many middlemen who
traditionally buy stocks at a pittance from rural farmers, selling to the market at much higher prices.
Climate Change and the Biodiesel Dilemma

Currently, the primary inputs for biofuel production come from essential agricultural products such as corn,
soya bean, rapeseed, wheat, sugar beet, sugar cane and palm oil.
Production of biofuels limits climate changing emissions, but also takes away crop production to be used as food.
Over the past two years, governments the world over have taken very seriously the production of biofuels as a
means of reducing CO2 emissions. Bold emission reduction targets promise up to 20% emission reductions
over the next decade100; this has resulted in significant investment and subsidies into biofuel production (for
example, currently, almost 30% of all agricultural production in the United States goes into biofuels)101.
Unfortunately, in order to be able to replace fossil fuels for transportation and commercial needs, bio-fuels
require an effective calorific value which, currently, is only possible if the fuel is obtained as a ―first generation‖
100 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/09/12/stories/2007091250060900.htm
101 www.marketskeptics.com/2009/.../2010-food-crisis-for-dummies.html

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extract from the crop; second or third generation biofuels, made from food by (or end) products are not yet
commercially viable.
Because of this constraint, crops produced for biofuels cannot be used as food (except in places like Brazil,
where biofuel production does not significantly compete with food).
According the IMF, the production of corn based ethanol, and resulting demand for soya bean oil has directly
resulted in an increase in world food prices by 10%, which might very well be one of tipping points for the food
crisis.
The effects of climate change on soils, and other agricultural inputs will be studied in the following section.
Resources
Oil
Prices of oil (per barrel) have risen from USD 20 in 2001 to almost USD 130 in 2008. As a result, the costs of
fertilizers and transportation have gone up dramatically.
The rising price of oil has also led to increased biofuel production, as biofuels became commercially viable
once the price of oil crossed USD 50 per barrel in 2008.
The cheap and easy availability of oil for over a century allowed for a massive population explosion as
methods of food production became automated.
However, with the advent of globalization and affluence, food systems have become highly unsustainable; a
good indicator of the ―unsustainability‖ of our food systems comes from the ratio of the energy content of a
food product to the energy required to produce it; most off-the-shelf, non-local, out-of-season items generally
found in the market have ratios significantly less than one (e.g. the energy content of iceberg lettuce flown
from the US to the UK has an energy content/input ratio of 0.00786, i.e. 127 calories of energy are required to
grow and deliver 1 calorie of lettuce)102.
In an era of post-peak oil, paradigm shifts are required to achieve food sustainability; in production, increased
labour intensity would reduce oil dependence, full cost pricing (reflecting energy input) might limit the
unrealistic geographic reach of many non-essential foods, policies to encourage consumption of ―local‖
produce would encourage community food production.
Water
Water is the most essential input for crop production; the rate at which we are depleting our global water
resources is alarming; almost two thirds of what we extract from natural sources is used to irrigate crops (in
arid regions this jumps to almost 90%)103.
The limitations of high input farming are glaringly obvious when we note that in places like India and China,
farmer‘s incomes and output are, in fact, decreasing as not enough water is available.
Climate change has, of course, been a big factor in rivers and local reservoirs drying up; in other cases, floods
(particularly in North America) have destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of crop land.
Unfortunately, in an effort to gain control over water supplies, farmers are also unsustainably digging deeper to
tap into underground reserves - dangerously depleting water tables.
Drip irrigation techniques and rain water harvesting are good ways of reducing the intensity of water required
for food output; however, they don‘t address the fundamental problems of demand.
Policies for biofuel production (which is highly water intensive) and large scale farming practices have to
consider stress on water supplies.
Land
The amount of arable land is shrinking fast; urbanization, climate change (floods, droughts) and unsustainable
food production practices have destroyed the regenerative capacity of top soil. It is estimated that up to 40% of
the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded.
Moving beyond monoculture farming, using simple measures like crop rotation should have a major impact on
the health of land.
102 http://www.energybulletin.net/node/5045
103 http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=1825

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Unfortunately, very little is known about, and even less is understood about the systemic effects of top soil
quality on ecosystems.
Though soil engineering and soil analysis have come a long way in the past few decades, there exists a very
nascent appreciation of plant-soil interaction and hence very poor facilities of managing the root-soil
boundary104.
Large scale efforts are necessary at understanding traditional methods of soil management and conservation
as well as building up the discipline of soil science.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity not only provides food itself, but also plays a key part in maintaining agricultural production and
conditions for food security by promoting ecosystem services such as pollination, nutrient cycling and pest
control.
Only very recently, have scientists and economists considered putting a value on ecosystem services; for
example, it was estimated that in 2000, the value of the total crops dependant solely on honeybee pollination
were estimated at UDS 15 Billion.
The extent to which further losses of biodiversity will impact ecosystem services is still uncertain - but nothing
good is expected.
Phenomena such as ―colony collapse disorder‖, wiping out bee populations all over the world are on the rise -
such dangerous effects on biodiversity could very well wipe out our supply of food without warning.
104 https://www.soils.org/publications/jeq/articles/36/2/609

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Policy
Markets and Speculation
The liberalization of commodities trading by various governments and the subsequent rise of commodity index
funds (in which the likes Golman Sachs, AIG etc have invested USD 400 billion)105 have created a hyper
inflation in the commodities market.
Loop B5 indicates that liberal policies towards commodity speculation in the face of rising food prices creates volatility in the market,
which sends the wrong price signals to producers (for example, making them to produce too much too soon). If prices continue to
stay high for a long time, we see through loop B6, that governments may adopt protectionist policies that curb export of foods to
satisfy domestic interests which further exacerbates the supply problem.
Though commercial speculation in agriculture has traditionally been used to protect against short term
volatility, the current scenario has actually done the opposite - it has generated massive amount of volatility
(for essentials like soybean and corn), upwards of 30-40% higher than what can be explained by supply and
demand fundamentals.
As a result of the recent crisis of 2007-08, financial firms and investors have moved away from standard equity
and bond portfolios and put massive amounts of investment in commodity index funds.
Investors lump together up to 24 commodities into a single financial instrument, coupling extremely volatile
items such as oil with food, increasing the overall volatility of the portfolio - making it an exciting instrument to
―bet‖ on.
Calls for regulation on speculation have met a fair amount of resistance, as vested interests claim that
agricultural and non-agricultural commodities only account for 8% of total futures and options contract
volume.With prices spiraling out of control, regulation on speculative trading will have to be given serious
attention. Policy formulation for commodity trading must also take into account the effects of speculation on
energy price volatility. Furthermore, disaggregating agricultural and non-agricultural commodities in futures
and options trading instruments might reduce volatility and also enable more accountability in the markets.
105 Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy, Commodities Market Speculation: The Risk to Food Security and Agriculture,
November 2008, accessed October 22, 2009.

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Protectionism
For the first time in decades, countries like France have reduced import duties to increase supply of essentials
such as wheat, rice and cooking oil (India has reduced import duties on palm oil from 88% to 46% over 2008-
09); while at the same time, countries like China have increased export tariffs between the range of 5% to 25%
on 57 commodities to maintain domestic stocks106. Relaxing import tariffs may reduce prices in the short term,
however, continued pressure in the face of growing demand, might increase export tariffs by governments
worldwide, exacerbating the food crisis.
With regard to the developing world, traditionally, food aid has been made possible through massive subsidies
given to farmers in more developed markets; this enables them to easily supply surplus produce to foreign
markets who cannot compete with them on price.
The recent issue of increased tariff control has raised concerns of ―protectionism‖ and fears that reducing the
role of the markets in food supply and demand might have devastating consequences - especially for the poor.
Though the need for widespread availability of cheap food is hardly debatable, the question is, how can this be
achieved without subsidies that distort true prices, whilst increasing self-reliance of developing countries,
providing nutrition that meets local needs107 and reducing food-carbon footprints.
Improved Communication: Governments, Markets, Producers and Consumers

Crop cycles occur at most twice a year, and as a result, crop stocks must remain at sufficient levels between
harvests; this requires developing important information systems about crop stocks for consumers so that
demand can be adjusted accordingly.
On the supply side, market systems (through increased speculation) also send the wrong signals to producers
about what and when to produce.
Government organizations also have a tendency to bias food stock reports, which send out-of-phase signals to
producers and consumers; in an effort to maintain economic growth despite the markets having gone out of
balance in early 2009, emerging markets like China, increased domestic consumption by flooding their
markets with state assisted loans and credit; as a result, demand for essential commodities exploded in the
Asian markets.
Food prices for the rest of the world should have shot up as a result of demand increase in eastern markets;
however, organizations like the USDA, instead of adjusting production estimates to reflect decreased
production (because of floods across the mid-west), adjusted these figures upwards to match the demand
coming from the east. As a result, demand and supply were temporarily balanced but guaranteed problems
later by delaying the actual rise in food prices and information of crop stocks.
Perverse Subsidies
Many well-intentioned policies achieved success in balancing the forces of food supply and demand in the
short term, but failed in the long. One of the single greatest requirements of sustainable development
organizations would be to introduce comprehensive systems frameworks for exposing policies to larger
environments before roll-out.
106 http://www.livemint.com/2008/02/12204619/High-food-prices-stir-movement.html?atype=tp
107 ―The Plumpy Crusader‖: http://www.newsweek.com/id/235648/page/2

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Systemic Linkages
The five discussions above have strong systemic linkages through markets (supply & demand) and effects on
climate - to begin, we identify common system ―archetypes‖ within the diagram.
Full diagram of the system (more details at the end of this essay).
Let us look at biodiesel production: here we see evidence of a ―fixes that fail‖ archetype, where the
current ―favorite intervention‖ to control CO2 emissions, has been to increase production of biofuels
(trace yellow line in diagram showed in paragraph Climate Change and the Biodiesel Dilemma)
through subsidy based incentives. Unfortunately, biofuel production has reduced food availability and
as such increased food insecurity.
In times of a food crisis, there is a greater tendency to use mass food production methods, which are
input heavy. The use of these inputs, required for crops and processing food, produce significant
amounts of Nitrogen and CO2 which in turn impact climate change; as a result, the unintended
consequence of increased biofuel subsidies is in fact, an increase in emissions (see also ―Planetary
Boundaries‖). In the long term, continued production of biofuels reinforces the problem of emissions by
exacerbating food insecurities (loop R2).

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(Follow yellow line to trace influences) Biofuel production reduces emissions in the short term, but increases food insecurity and
hence dependence on high input farming which results in unintended emissions in the long run.

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Biofuel production statistics for the United States.
As food insecurities rise (loop B1), we also tend to become more dependent on high-input methods of
farming, the use of GMOs, while neglecting investments in more fundamental solutions (loop B2) i.e.
paying attention to decentralized/organic methods of farming. Biofuel production further amplifies the
effects of this phenomena by increasing food insecurities.
Agricultural productivity is also highly dependent on resources, climate change, the availability of
water and quality of soil - all of which act as limiting factors on output. Despite continued increases in
subsidies and investments in high-input farming methods, productivity is on the decline. The behavior
over time of this archetype can be seen most easily from the following data:
Total world wide grain production is showing signs of slowing down (Data Source: USDA).

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Between loops B5 and B6 we also see evidence of a reinforcing process triggered, again, by short
supplies; in the long run, governments introduce export bans which further increase insecurities and
might possibly further encourage speculation and inadvertently increase price volatility of
commodities.
Volatitlity in commodity markets (©2009 CME Group Inc (Chicago Trade Board)).
Other long term effects impact demand; as food insecurity increases over many years, more people
are born into poor living conditions. This results in high levels of infant mortality and lower life
expectancy, which triggers a compensatory effect on fertility 108 - this unfortunately, serves to increase
population and hence demand for food (reinforcing loop R3, see full diagram).
Improved nutrition:
- may increase demand in the short run, but in the long run, reductions in infant mortality and
general improvements in quality of life would reduce fertility levels,
- along with reduction in sickness due to water and sanitation would increase agricultural
productivity.
There are many other systemic linkages in this discussion that need to be explored.
108 Dynamics of Growth in a Finite World.

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Food System Diagram.

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Legend for Food System Diagram (previous page):
- arrows indicate ―cause and effect‖ between any two variables;
- the ―S‖ at the end of an arrow indicates that, if the ―cause‖ variable increases, holding everything else constant, then, according
to our assumptions, the dependent, ―effect‖ variable would also go in the ―same‖ direction i.e. increase, and vice versa;
- the ―O‖ at the end of an arrow indicates that, if the ―cause‖ variable increases, holding everything else constant, then, according
to our assumptions, the dependent ―effect‖ variable would go in the ―opposite‖ direction i.e. decrease, and vice versa;
- the ―||‖ (parallel) lines indicate delays in the system; information and material goods take time to travel, decisions and
awareness often take time to realize. Delay signs indicate that there might be some time between an action and its
consequences
Ashok Khosla is founder and Chairman of the thirty-year-old Development Alternatives Group. Headquartered in New Delhi, the DA
Group was among the first civil society organizations anywhere, set up to address the issues of sustainable development as a whole.
It also pioneered the concept of social enterprise, creating business-like approaches for eradicating poverty and conserving the
natural resource base. The DA Group has impacted the lives and livelihoods of several million households in rural India.
Concurrently, he is President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world‘s largest and most
representative alliance of conservation agencies and interest groups; President of the Club of Rome, a group dedicated to promoting
systems-based strategic understanding of the world problematique and the human predicament; and Co-Chair of the International
Resource Panel, which has been set up by the UN to investigate the status and trends of natural resource use in the global
economy. Dr Khosla is an Officer of The Order of the British Empire, a Senior Ashoka Fellow, Patron of LEAD-India and has
received the United Nations Sasakawa Environment Prize, the Schwab Foundation Award for Outstanding Social Entrepreneur and
the Stockholm Challenge Award. He has a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD in Experimental Physics
from Harvard University.
Karan Khosla, recognizing the need for a more rigorous approach to sustainable development theory and practice, started
EarthSafe Enterprises in 2009. The consultancy wing of EarthSafe aims to apply systems principles and mathematical modeling to
design resource efficient policies and services for public and private sector organizations in developing countries. Currently,
EarthSafe is exploring the relationship between population growth, quality of life and greenhouse gas emissions to identify least cost
strategies to mitigate climate change. EarthSafe also seeks to promote better living standards in low income communities, for
example, by providing 24×7 water supplies. Karan Khosla holds a degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Boston
University. Formerly, Director of Operations at the South Asia Foundation, one of the largest private grant-giving organizations in the
region, Karan was instrumental in developing institutions of excellence and programmes to promote regional cooperation and
development amongst the eight South Asian countries. Karan is also a member of the Balaton Group and Founder Member of the
System Dynamics Society of India; he lives in New Delhi, India and is a devoted guitar player and collector.

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Carlo Olmo
The systematic culture has a synchronous origin that could clash with any historical logic. Maybe it had, once,
a non-spatial dimension that made it to be even more distant from social sciences. Norbert Weiner, Talcott
Parsons and Niklas Luhmann represent very distant symbols of those studies moved by the rejection in
considering time continuous and linear, or to privilege organization compared to individual and responsibility.
Nowadays this distance has lessened, especially for those studies that claim the existence of defined
resources ecological systems and a mutuality principle both social and environmental. These surveys often
keep working, still establishing their paradigm on the second principle of thermodynamics. Luckily that
paradigm, fruit of a great season of social engineering now disappeared, it is starting to have some problems
and it is giving space to some considerations much similar to the ones crossing today's social sciences.
Let's not fall from one paradigm to another, from the energy preservation one to the complexity one. It would
be even more deceiving and damaging.
The complexity, such as physics and biological theories which are its real origin, does not mean the absence
of determinable and measurable relations between phenomena, a relativism that conceals or may conceal a
freedom that cannot be shared. As for the historian, the hypothesis, which must be contextualized, requires a
proof process to link together the facts in alterable ways by those who want to retrace the experiment. Without
questioning any aporias that motivates each scientific research, causal chains of events and proof, scientific
knowledge does not exist. Of course with an idea of science much more contaminated between exact
sciences and social sciences compared to what would have been happened when Wiener or Luhmann wrote
their works.
Recognizing to be in a world of limited resources (not only natural but also social) does not mean to embrace
the metaphor of a butterfly flapping its wings. On the contrary it means linking principles, means and purposes
of an economic and social process, not excluding any epoché, just as philosophers as Pitagora used to call it.
If a resource is limited (the air, the water, the earth, the oil, but also the knowledge we have on natural or
physical phenomena) its use becomes interesting, inevitably, for all the citizens of the world. One of its uses
does not include others, not for any Eleusinian mysteries: behind the abstractions there live people, joys and
sorrows, enrichment and poverty.
Systemic reasoning, then, means a conscious rationality of the links between principles (the equal right of
every living being to breath, drink, eat, but also to learn), means (technologies that are used to exert an intent)
and purposes (which interests those choices fulfill or deny). It is the scarcity which is demanding a linkage
between different levels of knowledge and practice. As to require a true or false process to proof the thesis we
want to support.
How difficult this way is (and the ethic of scientific responsibility it requires) it has been demonstrated by the
controversy over global warming. The climate is certainly one of the ore complex systems to be examined and
nobody today, not even the more sophisticated mathematical model, can establish causal links between
incontrovertible dimensions. Yet this does not mean to waver between cynicism and scientific millenarianisms.
If the climate is a closed system, just like our immune system, the knowledge of its elements it is not the only
problem, there is also its relationship to social systems, which, as for the climate and the immune system it is
the society and its organization, individual and common choices. For example you can save energy
individually, as a community, as a country, as an organization above the State. These choices affect the
climate system, just as nutrition choices defined by individuals, social groups, traditions or market, affect the
immune system.
Today no scientific argument could disregard to relate the loftiness discussed, from the transparency of logic
processes that follow, from the possibility for someone to built an opinion following the same path and find it
right or wrong. At the bottom of each choice based on rationality and not on force, the imperative ethic is
based on proof and on accepting the possibility that the ―verdict‖ does not come from popular beliefs deeply
rooted in the scientific community or social group. Today, systemic culture has lost much of its eschatological
charm given by the stability of social and technological systems, to become an ethic requirement of a world
which is more and more aware to live in systems related to limited resources, with a deep dimension of time,

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not as destiny but as resource which establishes choices and responsibilities. All things considered Martin
Guerre of Zemon Davis, during the so called hard times, did not have any other choice than to include beliefs,
usages and customs to proof tools so hardly assembled. Today the scientist without a label has much more
sophisticated tools, much richer knowledge, to find provable causal relationships between phenomena that
affect the right to citizenship. Maybe today we discuss too much about what are the true basic civil rights and if
they exist or if they are just fruits of cultures and religions. A discussion full of suggestions but that does not
take into account the relation between finished goods and social or private purposes. A relation that puts, at
least for just an instant or maybe in a dream, every inhabitant of the planet on the same level.
His right to know, not only to share, the centrality of an explanation linking the relationship between principles,
tools and purposes are not exclusive use of any nation or culture: the opportunity for each man to decide lays
a principle for democracy. How, when, with which beliefs, is and will be the result of cultures, in their real
anthropological etymology. But a founding aporia which has to be explained, does exist: relationship between
actions (economic, social, cultural) should be transparent and questionable. The new frontier of proceeding by
systems lies in sharing this principle of responsible causality. Proceeding by systems does not shift the
responsibility from the individual to procedure or organization: that's the risk run by social translations of
cybernetic thinking. Proceeding by hypothesis, simulations and tests will not lead us to a world of rules and
bureaucracies. Sharing responsibilities and as a result considerations on the decision are the fragile point of
every systemic consideration.
Almost always in the last fifteen years discussions on the use of systemic method has been accompanied by
decisions took by governance and not by government. Perhaps the two ideas do not necessarily have to
proceed together.
Responsible causality culture focus on the subject, on his ability to recognize the threads that bind his action
to the context and to the other human beings, on the ability to take decisions not based on individual morality.
System cannot be confused with society, it would be a poor reductionism. Society is a stratification of systems
and, even if it could sound obvious, let's not forget it. Make someone responsible for a responsible causality
does not mean burden him with the networking of decisions: the chase would never end and the responsibility
would always be postponed.
Governance has its weakness exactly on the illusion that a system responsibility could exist, that just like a
school darwinism could feed a common theory of evolution. Jumps are also exist in decision-making and in
government system and it's on these jumps that transparency needs to focus and a culture of mission and
verification needs to take shape. Otherwise all the constitutive elements of governance could be undermined,
first of all listening could become a ritual without meaning.
For both systemic culture and governance is essential to have a plan and share the procedures to be
implemented. If we really want all the actors to practice a responsible causality we need to guarantee
transparency in sharing procedures and rules to verify its application. Failing this, in a short period of time
bureaucracy and ritualism will take over to empty responsibility itself.
There is no doubt that so sophisticated arguments could lead to vulgar empiricism. Who make us share a
responsibility, if this one is not approved? Who simply make us turn off the light, if the consumption we
acknowledge is the one on the bill, its economic tradition? A systematic culture, paradoxically, could survive
not only if the knowledge of the link between our actions and the social nature of our living grow but, even
more, if culture of causes and effect grows. Two conditions that a society of individuals and a science full of
specializations make them seem distant indeed. And yet important area of society, from biological to
environmental research are going, with difficulties, in the opposite direction.
If Hippocrates came back to Kos, maybe he would smile to this rediscovery of diagnosis and clinical
instruction. But his smile can become an encouragement to improve into imperfection of every action we could
undertake. Systemic logic takes into account individual responsibility and the imperfection of our actions. The
need to sustain a culture of verification comes form the certainty to make mistakes and be able to measure
them and, when the cause is known, try to correct them.
The most dangerous enemy of systematic argument is the vocabulary ad the ability, almost endless, of the
researcher to produce sterile machines. Words cannot replace the acknowledgment of responsibility, decisions

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cannot be avoided by objectivity, all formal, ensured by the use of small machines, formally exemplary. Maybe
systematic argument's best friend still remains David Hume.
Carlo Olmo was born in 1944, he graduated in Literature and Philosophy in 1968, professor of Histor of Contemporary Architecture
at Politecnico in Turin since 1975, visiting professor from 1984 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1990 at the ―Ecole des Hautes Etudes en
Sciences Sociales de Paris‖ and in 1986/87 at M.I.T. In Boston. In 1986 at Architectural Association of London he held numerous
directive positions in the Faculty of Architecture and at Politecnico in Turin from 1973 on, and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture
from 1999 to 2007, President of the Deans Conference from 2004 and 2007 and Director of the Institute of Human Sciences of the
University.
Bibliography: R.Gabetti and C.Olmo, Le Corbusier e l'Esprit Nouveau, Einaudi 1975, translated in different languages; C.Olmo, Turin
et ses miroirs felés, in Annales ESC, 4/1987, R.Gabetti and C.Olmo, Alle radici dell'architettura contemporanea, Einaudi 1989,
C.Olmo Urbanistica e società civile, Bollati Boringhieri 1992, C.Olmo and B. Lepetit, La città e le sue storie, Einaudi 1995, translated
in French, La metafora e il cantiere, Lingotto 1982-2004, in collaboration with Michela Comba, Allemandi Torino 2004, In presenza
del Lingotto, in Quaderni Storici. 1/2005, with Michela Comba, he writes the introduction to the catalog for the exhibition Biografia di
una città, OGR Torino, Electa Milano 2008, and he edits the issue 125 of ―Quaderni Storici‖, 2, 2007, Morfologie urbane, of which he
writes the first essay.
He was the coordinator and Director of Dictionary of Architecture of XX century, six volumes, published between 2000 and 2001 by
Allemandi, now it is being translated in English; more than 400 researchers from around the world have collaborated to this work.
From November 1th he is the director of ―Il Giornale dell'Architettura‖, published by Allemandi and he is consultant for the
architectural and urban quality of Turin. From 2007 he has been Director of the Urban Center Metropolitano.

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Gunter Pauli
“On ne discute pas de gout”
French popular proverb
The design of a product or the design of a process demonstrates the creative approach combining pragmatism
and functionality with beauty. In a market characterized by over-supply, products search for differentiation in
the eyes of the consumer. Design is the tool. Consumerism leads manufacturers to go beyond the mere
physical shape and material choice. Today the purchase of a desirable is driven by the image, which has been
carefully crafted to reach a particular level of satisfaction in the mind and the heart, going beyond providing
satisfaction of a material need. Industrial design has moved from a mere process flow determined by pumps,
pressure and pH plus temperature, to an ingenious combination of physics and chemistry as to generate more
output faster, while searching for the ever lower marginal costs, all too often at any environmental cost.
The innovation at the Corso di Studi in Disegn, 1 Faculty of Architecture at the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, is
that the academia decided to take a bold step beyond this state of the art design. Whereas product and
process design are the pillars of this school, as it is in any academic institution, a third pillar was created, the
Systems Design. Originally one would speak about eco-design, and imagine products and processes that
reduce the harmful effects of our modern day production and consumption model. Reduce our environmental
footprint, or sometimes just the carbon footprint became the driving force behind redesign. However, under the
leadership of Professor Luigi Bistagnino, the Corso di Studi in Design went beyond the mere reduction of the
bad, and the control of the adverse side-effects, and opted for doing more of the good, and generating positive
spin-off effects.
Unwanted consequences or more revenue?

Whereas doing more good while reducing the unwanted consequences is easier said than done, this strategic
option was taken into consideration since the year 2000 in order to secure a fundamental shift in concept of
design. Indeed, it is well known that a designer has to perform a balancing act where increasingly costs and a
fit into the supply chain management are determining the final choices. At a time when corporations are forced
to pursue a dominant position in a niche market focusing on their core business with great precision, it is
difficult to argue in favour of higher expenses, even if this reduces adverse environmental impact. Even though
raw material costs are the key motive behind a dramatic shift towards stringent supply chain management.
This management culture forces all attention to focus on achieving very specific targets. This drive towards
absolute efficiency in all building blocks and combined with fast assembly and quick delivery to the market,
drives designers and production engineers to integrate everything. There is not time left to design for
disassembly, or to design a cascading of waste streams into other products. Engineers know how to put it
together, but often have no clue in how to take it apart. And whatever is left over is called waste.
Designers are expected to be innovative, and an extensive flow of new materials derived from breakthroughs
in chemistry, broadened the portfolio of choices beyond imagination just a couple decades ago. On one side,
standardization drives the assembly process; on the other side, a huge and growing diversity created by
chemistry with over 100,000 compounds makes not only recovery of valuable components and ingredients just
about impossible. It also puts tremendous stress on the health and safety regulations, which all too often
discover too late when new molecules appear less safe than originally expected.
Industry, driven by ever-shorter timeframes, has great difficulty delaying the introduction of new performance
enhancers, sometimes at the risk of consumer safety. It is important to note that designers never are given
courses on toxicity, health and safety standards, but rather are considered ―performance enhancers‖. The
competitive game puts pressure on a fast turnaround of everything.
In this ambiente, fundamental shifts in product and process design are difficult to achieve. Designers will have
to conform to the norm, and the last thing a supply chain manager needs is ―another good idea‖. Within this
reality, it is easier to design the image of a product, than to design a new product. Within this reality, it is easier
to put in a scrubber or a biogas digester to reduce atmospheric pollution, than to redesign the process so that
no atmospheric pollution ever occurs. The value added generated in the process of selling a design product is

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therefore not surprisingly derived from ―services‖ and less from raw materials and labor, whereby the hard
reality of cost of production has become secondary. This does not mean that the cost of metals and fuel is not
critical, it only means that the amount of cash flow and margin generated through the actual sale in the end of
the day is produced more by intangibles (image) more than the tangibles. A standard 100 dollar watch has on
a dozen moving parts, and raw materials represent a few percent of the hard costs. This is no exception. It is
against this background that the paradigm shift in design initiated in Torino represents such a stunning
departure from the ruling lines of thought.
The design target: zero waste

The concept of Zero Emissions started from the simple observation that the only species on earth capable of
producing something no one desires are the humans. Amazing that with all our intelligence, the tremendous
sophistication of our just-in-time, total quality management and supply chain management, with access to raw
materials and designer molecules like never experienced in modern times, it is estimated that only about 10
percent of all material inputs mobilized in our industrial society is actually found in the final product that we
consume. Imagine 90% is simply wasted, ends up in landfills, gets dropped into the ocean or lately is quickly
incinerated under the pretext of energy recovery. Recycling enjoys growing popularity, there is not one
industrial society capable of recovering more 10 percent of all material waste flows. If we were to include
airborne waste streams, we would end up debating carbon emissions and climate change which would take us
beyond the objective of this article on design. However, time has come to not simply design out, what is not
needed, time has come to design into a system, that goes beyond the recycling principles.
Design for disassembly is to be applauded and encouraged, however what is really needed to respond to the
growing needs of billions of additional consumers, especially those who recently joined the ranks of the middle
classes, is to create value for what today is considered waste.
Let us be clear, any process produces waste. Actually we could state it even more bluntly, if there is no waste,
then there is no life. This on the other hand is license ―to waste waste‖. The human race differentiates itself by
wasting waste, whereas all other critters are part of a web of life where the waste of one, is a nutrient or an
energy source for another, belonging to another kingdom. This is the first principle guiding the system
designer.
The use of the word ―kingdom‖, puts us in the center of biology. Lynn Margulis successfully classified all life on
the face of the earth in five distinct realms, each with very different uses of physics, chemistry and biology.
Biology, interestingly enough is hardly ever taught to designers, even though 3.8 billion years of evolution has
resulted in millions of species that have solved probably every single challenge in product and process design
anyone on Earth ever faced. Whatever did not work, is now a fossil. Whatever did work, and survive,
incorporates some of the unique solutions our consumer society would gladly embrace. Whatever works well,
very well indeed, can be considered, by definition, as sustainable.
The mere observation how an edelweiss in the Alps or a frai lejón in the Andes protect themselves from UV-
rays, offers enough hints to the designers of skin protection cosmetics or garments. How does a mushroom
never ingests food, but processes all crude outside, only taking the fine nutrients may offer some fresh ideas
to mining, oil and gas companies. How algae block ―communications‖ amongst bacteria as a protection against
illnesses, offers a simple hint to the pharmaceutical industry that is loosing the battle with bacteria through the
rapid mutation caused by ill designed medication.
Bacteria, algae, mushrooms, plants and animals all have their way of thriving with what is locally available, we
seem to rely on global extraction and trade. This is a second principle that guides the system designers: use
what is locally available.
It seems that after so many years of evolution, nearly all species live in relative abundance, whereas our
economists simply thrive on the logic of scarcity. How realistic is our definition of scarcity when 90% of all
materials we take in are wasted? If we were to further include our wasteful use of non-renewable energy
sources, then it is no surprise that the Club of Rome predicted ―limits to growth‖. How could a society pursue
growth with a massive waste stream supporting the production and consumption model? This is bound to hit
―the brick wall‖ sometime. If on the other hand, we were to design a system that operates like the rest of nature

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does, then the predicament of many fellow citizens would brighter indeed. Poverty could even be designed
out. Would that not be a marvelous purpose for life for so many of the aspiring designers?
From Design for Scarcity to Design for Sufficiency

This shift from scarcity of resources is not an appeal to waste more, it is what psychologists call an ―Aha
Erlebnis‖, or the surprise effect. This could very well inspire a new generation of designers to go beyond the
product and the process, to embark on an envisioning process that reaches out to the world with a system in
mind, rather than one single objective. The system distinguishes itself from its parts, since it offers more than
the simply sum of all the components. That ―more‖ can be expressed in cash flow, or in consumer satisfaction.
It could also be a dramatic reduction in ecological footprint, as well as offering better health. It could even
mean all of that at the same time. It is measurable, and therefore meets the basic principle of management
―what cannot be measured cannot be improved‖. This does not mean that the ―Systems Design‖ negates the
need of improved product and process design; on the contrary, it is part and parcel of a total recast.
The introduction course at the Politecnico di Torino to Systems Design often starts with a simple cup of coffee.
Coffee is after petroleum the most traded commodity in the world. It generates jobs for over one million
farmers in more than hundred countries spanning Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific and Asia.
From Starbucks to Juan Valdez, from Parisian cafés to Arabic bazaars, all basically prepare coffee through a
delicate process that includes planting a bush, harvesting of beans, fermenting away the shells, drying,
roasting and grinding. Finally, by simply adding hot water, coffee is served. We seldom realize that the amount
of biomass that is actually consumed in the joy of our shot of caffeine barely reaches 0.2% of the total biomass
harvested on the farm. An astonishing 99.8% is wasted.
It is amazing that empires have been built by Kraft and Nestlé on the back of a production and consumption
process where only one gram out of five hundred finds it way into our body. This caffeine rich substance
stimulates our nervous system, and that is the reason why the waste cannot be given as a rich feed to
animals. A cow forced to ingest the fiber rich coffee waste would be so stressed out by the caffeine, that she
would not be able to provide any milk. As a result, coffee left-over throughout the world has been discarded as
a waste, the same fate that is reserved for tea. Does it make sense to waste coffee? The world of coffee is
undergoing a major revolution thanks to the design of a system around the biomass.
The question is not how to design a new packaging that maintains coffee fresh longer. The drive is not to
come up with a new espresso machine. The task is not to project an image that takes on the power of
Lavazza. The real challenge posed to the designer is how to convert this hugely wasteful process into a richly
productive one. The traditionally trained designer does not have the tools to take a fresh look at the whole.
Here physics and chemistry do not represent the first scientific recourse. It is rather biology, and more
specifically natural history and evolution that can shed some amazing light uncovering such obvious solutions.
Connecting to consumer preferences and to environmental activism

Over the past few years coffee and tea waste have been recognized as the potential saver of the oak forests
in China. Surprised? The increased demand for cholesterol and fatty acid free food has narrowed the choices
down to a dozen tropical mushrooms, rich in protein and trace minerals, while a void of the traditional
excesses jeopardized our health. While the shift toward mushroom protein is a good choice, there are few who
realize that the rise in demand leads to a fast pace destruction of the oak forests in China. Oaks are the
preferred hardwood, that converted into dust represents the ideal substrate for farming mushrooms that listen
to exotic names like shiitake (Lentinula edodes).
The system designer uncovers the unwanted and often unknown side-effects of this search for better health.
The system design unravels the biochemistry looking for hidden connections, finding ways to save the oak
forests without prohibiting and criticizing, but rather by imagining something that is simply better. In the case of
coffee, the first connection to biology that emerged in this process is that coffee and tea are both hardwoods.
Their waste is an excellent breeding base for tropical mushrooms. Better even, since the mushrooms derive
energy from caffeine, which its enzymes convert into a nutrient source, the residue from mushroom farming is
enriched with essential amino acids, thus converting something that was considered waste into an ideal

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substitute for grain. This in turn reduces the demand for grain, traditionally devoured by animals, while
increasing the availability of plant-based nutrition.
This is only the beginning of the design of a system, starting with what had no value, recognizing the negative
side-effects that had no obvious solution, converting this into a virtuous chain of efficient conversions where
the output responds to an immediate demand, and where the substitution effect permits to unravel some of
humanities most destructive – be it unwillingly – behaviors. The cutting down of oak is not an act of
destruction, but rather an act based on ignorance. The system designer converts ignorance into a profitable
value chain.
The coffee case has been studied in detail by the students in Torino. This logic has been extended from the
mere coffee to other fruits and vegetables that dominate the productive scene of Italian agriculture within the
context of Slow Food. The students carried the subject further analyzing packaging, another wasteful culture,
that has brought us to consume scarce and energy rich resources like aluminium in a one way consumption
process without any means of recovery… until the system designer uncovers opportunities that appear to
many of the traditional process engineers a phantom dream. Industry has spent billions on the development of
new packaging systems. Glass packaging was once the standard on the market. However, it has since long
been replaced by plastics. Plastics have then been replaced by multi-layered containers of sparkling
appearance and obvious practicality, while swindling resources like never before. It has been estimated that
multi-layered products represent about 10% of all waste that ends up in the landfill, and nothing of significance
is recovered.
The concept of combining different materials into a product of service has become a standard innovation in
design. Is it really that smart innovation that we had hoped for? At first sight, the benefit is obvious. The
sophisticated conversion of thin film of paper, plastics and aluminium into liquid containers has revolutionized
the world of packaging. Fresh products like milk and juice, which previously required a cold-chain to maintain a
longer shelf-life, have been taken out of that energy intensive chain, thus supposedly saving fuel costs
throughout the distribution channels. The use of aluminium has now even become a standard for all packaging
that requires freshness. The only caveat of this ―solution‖ is that it considers the light weight metal as waste.
Worse, the food grade quality low-density polyethylene is another one way material generating contributing to
one of the most appalling waste streams ever seen in modern times. The diaper, combining multiple types of
plastics, fiber fluff and cardboard into a ―throw-away‖ convenience is another example of ―multi-layered‖
design. The fluff leads to the farming of genetically modified pine trees. The three types of plastics can never
be separated (PVC, PE and PET) thus the only option is landfill or incineration.
The systems designer will assess the options to substitute components, verify the alternative combinations,
assess the biological options for disassembly, and design options for re-assembly. Contrary to the traditional
recycling which aims to convert the PET bottle back into PET, either as a bottle or as a textile, making the
diapers back into diapers, the system designer searches for multiple connections outside the core business.
This is inspired by natural systems where no one ―eats its own waste‖. Whatever is waste for one is a nutrient
or an energy source for someone else, never part of the same family. This also permits to separate and
integrate without excessive use of energy. This is a healthy third guiding principle for system designers. This
opens up the field of creative connections, where one can imagine what could be the next part of the chain.
Sometimes the results are surprises as was the case in the system design embarked on with the students
assessing the value of three million tons of rubble generated in the construction of Europe‘s largest tunnel
across the Alps between France and Italy.
From construction scrap to land fertility

Systems Design is not limited to products and processes; it can also provide cost advantages to human
activities that could never have been imagined. The construction of the 40 kilometres long Frejus Tunnel
foresaw the disposal of rubble. It has been costed for based on the well-known price per 40 tons truck.
Transport companies will look for the closest disposal site, even if this implies the filling of valleys with
unwanted materials. The fresh insights of the designers unveiled that a major portion of the rocks and stones
retrieved from the inner mountains is basalt. Road construction engineers use basalt as a base for asphalt.
However geologists and soil experts -admitted there are not many designers with a degree in this academic

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field- will be quick to point out that basalt is one of the core building blocks of top soil. The system designer is
not simply searching for connections into the known; the system designer is the true expression of the multi-
disciplinary profession that is so much needed in a society where experts rule.
Historians could share with the designers that the Roman Empire‘s warfare depended on the continuous
supply of food to its armies provided by the fertile Po Valley. Centuries, even millennia of intensive farming
deprived the valley of its most productive upper layer that took millions of years to build. When topsoil erodes,
then the capacity of the area to retain rainfall decreases, resulting in increased floods. Everyone in Northern
Italy recognizes the last part of the scenario since flash floods have become the rule rather than the exception.
The typical response to frequent floods is water management systems with dams and locks, expensive
engineering which may well reduce the risks, but which does not remove the cause of the problem: top soil
erosion.
The new tunnel between France and Italy should therefore be regarded as a surgical intervention that relieves
the pressure on transport that unites Europe. This on the other hand, offers a unique chance to replenish the
topsoil of the Po Valley if the basalt were spread thin on the farmland. The proposal to sprinkle a millimeter of
basalt on the rice fields certainly drew attention, not necessarily favorable attention. However, field
experiences around the world demonstrated scientifically that basalt does provide the nutrients that bacteria
need to create micro-forms of life turning available an abundant amount of magnesium in which basalt is very
rich. Magnesium is the central atom in a chlorophyll molecule. Thus a fresh supply stimulates plant growth and
the subsequent cycle of nutrients from bacteria, to micro-algae and fungus replenishes the top soil at a rate of
one millimeter per year, or a centimeter in a decade. How much moist can be retained in an extra centimeter
of top soil? How many dams can be avoided? How irrigation can be saved? What is the energy balance?
The system designer embarks with a simple question ―who needs basalt‖, and the multiple answers lead to
more questions until the iteration of questions and possible responses leads to a web of opportunities where
the designer will make choices very much in the same way that species evolved through millennia of evolution.
The system that emerges is not rigid, but flexible. The circuits are not fixed, but adaptive. The designed loops
are not closed, but open. The dead-end caused by one default, only triggers a change of pathway, while the
overall objectives are maintained.
Next generation of designers

Systems Design is only in its infancy. It will take decades before a new generation of designers will turn this
search for connections into a mainstream activity. This will take time and will be arduous since our educational
system rewards specialization. Designers, like architects have always been polyvalent, knowledgeable about
multiple subjects, navigating through most diverse themes, as Philippe Starck has demonstrated over his rich
career. It is obvious that the only way forward is through a continuous demonstration, case by case, that
systems design is first and foremost an ideal approach to ―do more with what you have‖.
The obvious increase in output, with the same amount of input, should motivate any development economist to
not only pay attention, but to play a pro-active role in promoting this promising design inspired by natural
systems. The fact that it is possible to produce more food, at lower cost, to generate better packaging without
exhausting bauxite mines and subsequent rising material prices renders this approach more competitive than
the core business model that determines the logic of economics. Whereas the improved competitive strength
should be the driving force behind these design principles, the environmental and social benefits are most
pervasive. In a market economy, the core business has great difficulty making the needs of people for water,
air, food, housing, jobs and health a priority. When on the other hand, the system designer views all
opportunities as real, not only those that are part of the narrowly defined niche, then social, environmental and
business proposals will go hand in hand.
This is why system design is not simply a ways and means to bring products and services to the market
cheaper and faster, it is a major component in the new economic paradigm that goes beyond what designers
have imagined they could achieve. The power of society has been entrusted to the economists in general and
the financiers in particular. It seems that a new generation of designers will emerge that could challenge this
logic of today. Maybe system design could become a compulsory course for economist in general and MBA
(Master in Business Administration) in particular. Until that happens, the Politecnico di Torino will have created

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a basis for innovation that will be appreciated in a century. For an institution that has just celebrated its
centenary, it is a worthy objective indeed and the first steps taken described in this book leave no doubt that it
will be a new paradigm.
Gunter Pauli is a world-renowned innovator whose entrepreneurial activities span business, culture, science, politics and the
environment. He is dedicated to design and implement a society and industries, which respond to people‘s needs using what is
available from nature. He is fluent in seven languages, with a master‘s degree in Business Administration from INSEAD,
Fontainebleau, France and an honorary PhD in Ecodesign from the Politecnico di Torino, Italy.
He is married to Katherina and is the father of Carl-Olaf and Laurenz-Frederik.
He has lived on four continents and is a true world citizen. He established 10 companies. He was President of Ecover from 1991 to
1993 and built the first ecological factory featured on CNN Prime Time news. He is the founder and director of ZERI (Zero Emissions
Research and Initiatives), a network of 3,000 scientists, scholars and innovators focusing on creative solutions for pressing problems
and the redesign of production and consumption into clusters of industries. He initiated and inspired over 50 pioneering projects
throughout the world demonstrating a new production and consumption model that uses all locally available resources without
generating any waste. This lead in 2008 to the creation of Biomimicry Ventures, a partnership with Paul Hawken and Janine Benyus
to translate the best technologies from nature into competitive businesses.

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Carlo Petrini
During the plenary assembly of the last edition of ―Terra Madre‖ in October 2008, in front of nearly 7000
farmers, fishermen, food artisans and nomadic picker coming from 153 nations around the world, I felt like
telling them that they will be the protagonists of the new industrial revolution: the third one, the one that will set
us free from non-renewable energies which has characterized the two previous revolutions. To assert that
farmers will be the protagonists of an industrial revolution could sound like a straining or a provocation, an
impossible forecast suggested by a particular moment, or maybe the urge to please a large and diversified
audience just like the one of ―Terra Madre‖. But I was not exaggerating, and I am still convinced that it will be
like this: farmers will be the protagonists of a revolution that will affect all productive sectors and many aspects
of our daily life.
When I talk about farmers, I am talking about those of Terra Madre, mostly small-scale farmers who do not
belong to the global agri-industrial system of food, strongly rooted in their local reality, often very poor and
considered backward by many observers, not only by the most negligent ones. In fact this humanity has
always been seen as a nonentity, protagonist of a minor economy, a market niche, maybe nice to show off,
exotic, but definitely it is not up to the great economic Powers that a system based on products of the agri-
industry could be developed (products as: seeds, fertilizers, pesticide, increasingly elaborated machinery,
transportation and distribution systems that reach every corner of the planet transforming food in commodity).
These people feed their local communities, they do not expect to sell their products to the other side of the
globe, but simply they want to continue working with their stile, a mixture of tradition and innovation; a stile that
has great respect for natural resources and for biodiversity and that continues on the cultural track traced by
their ancestors in those territories.
The most fascinating aspect of the new forthcoming revolution is that we do not have to ask these people to
invent anything, to change their habits or to do something in particular: it is sufficient they keep working as
they know, as they always did and that the world pay to them the right attention. The world must not consider
them as inefficient pockets of underdevelopment to be converted to consumerism or cheap labour to exploit,
but as a cutting-edge able to teach new productive and consumption styles. Their knowledge, a traditional
knowledge, should have a positive and equal attitude towards scientific knowledge and new technologies:
research must take into account this huge corpus, resulting from experiences and customs (for this reason non
scientific) but able to till the land without compromising it.
These farmers are the protagonist of what I like to call local economy - a term that due to its uniform use could
result contradictorily vague.
We could also talk about nature's economy, because this farmers' work is symbiotic with natural world and
does not want to dominate it without respect and far-sightedness. But the focal point, the one to keep in
consideration to imagine new form of development, it's the local dimension and how the idea of system
(intended as specific local single system or as local network systems and therefore a wider system, potentially
global) could make us understand better the innovative importance of a re-location of the agri-alimentary
economy and on the other hand helping us to plan better the interconnections with the other systems, the
other productive chains and all its conducts.
The systemic vision allows us to understand the complexity and the deep meaning of the way of working of
farmers on a small scale, their importance for the territories and the well-fare of communities. Consistently
examining these process they might seem inefficient, little profitable, in a few words ruinous and consequently
marginal, to be changed. But while the economic system on which the consumer society is based – which the
global industrial agri-alimentary system is part of – reveals limits to say the least dramatic for its
unsustainability much ecological as economic (and human), local economic systems prove to be little virtuous
models, easy to handle, able to have unexpected effects in the territories they are implemented.
Local agro-alimentary systems originated from those economies that used to be for pure subsistence (in some
poorest parts of world still exist) and that have had a slow and gradual evolution in accordance with what
surround them. Let's make this clear. I am not proposing a return to ancient and outdated productive systems,
but what really matter is the principle: the ability to have a system integrated with the territory, able to make it

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productive without despoil it, to be nourished by it without consume it, to produce sustainable well-fare from all
points of view. The principle can be applied to all levels of the so called ―economic development‖: from the
most poor and depressed areas of the world to agricultural areas belonging to much more rich communities
and populations. The principle gives us back agricultural economies that meet all the modern and current
requirements: food and its quality and healthiness, respect for tradition, identity and diversity of people,
preservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, relationship between ancient knowledge and science, integration
between new and old technologies, energy conservation, ability to deal with crises of all kinds more quickly
and effectively.
If we think about it, in this farmers' world we are talking about these new needs, imposed by the failure of the
consumer model, already contemplated, almost naturally, in the system itself. Food productive communities of
Terra Madre don't waste (what exactly is waste if not the greatest symbol of consumerism?), they recycle, they
reuse, they make use of reject items from one productive system into another one, they look at nature as a
precious commodity to protect and to renew. They use nature with common sense. What is all this if not the
best of modernity, the ability to respond to the enormous problems we have created with the global economy?
So far these systems have not been taken into account from those who thinks they are not reproducible on a
large scale and that they do not give a solution for all kind of situations. They are all different from each other
because they perform in different territories and environment; we could state that they are shaped over time by
a constant systematic interaction between territories and populations. They are not perfectly replicable
elsewhere: to say the least they can provide ideas and intuitions applicable in other contexts. But this is
exactly their innovative importance: together they represent the value of diversity, a major characteristic, a
crucial condition in every creative process without which every invention is destined to remain sterile and loss
over time its revitalizing importance. This fixity – fruit of a thought that tends to homologation rather than
diversification – damages the tradition itself: with the intent to defend tradition and identity we often risk to
retire them into themselves, hoping they will self-regenerate from within, without comparison. It's with
confrontation and through systemic differences and interrelations that every identity emerges and acquires its
specific value; thanks to diversity we can hope to progress and make sure that our stay on Earth will be the
less harmful possible to the planet itself. Communities of Terra Madre teach us the pride of our identity that is
however in conflict with the rest of the network they belong to; traditions that evolve, that are daily lived on
someone's skin, in an environment that reacts to behaviors and lifestyles. All this make us understand how a
systematic approach is probably the best approach to solve the problems we are facing, and that an one and
only solution for everywhere does not exist: we have to resort to local economy, nature economy, and to many
local systems on the network. Besides it is the closest concept to the world idea of ―glocalism‖, a very nice
word that is often emptied of real meanings.
Systemic approach allows to understand the work of these communities and at the same time to find new
interconnections with other near or far communities. Its is not only the example of how this farmer society
reuses wastes, maximizes the use of raw materials, masterfully manages new energy sources (like the solar
one, the main driver of agriculture) but it is its attitude that teaches us the most. They are unaware of carrying
out what the systemic design is trying to teach to the productive world which has lost the way of sustainability.
It is for this reason I am convinced that they will be the protagonists of a new industrial revolution, being
already the forefront from where to get inspired.
I think that the unsustainable situation of agro-industry and of the global food economic system, as structured
from the second post-war, has reached today a point of no return. Almost all of the scientific world is warning
us: food production is the human activity that works the most negatively on earth balance; keep carrying on
with the present productive and consumption system would mean to cause irreversible damages and dramatic
consequences. This unsustainable situation, which does not concern those producers who do not care about
the context in which they work but they only care about profits and returns, affecting society with all the
negative externality of the processes carried out. This is the result of the belief that food can be comparable to
other industry product . The food has progressively been emptied of its deepest meanings associated with
nature and culture and it has lost sight of its many connections with the world.
With the attempt to transform the production of food in a large-scale linear process, food has lost many of its
values and from vital element ( not only because it nourishes us, but because it is part of Nature and of our

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metabolic relationship with it) has become a commodity just like others. We became aware of it because food
quality has deteriorated, because we do not know where the food we eat comes from, who prepared it, what
ingredients were used; because sometimes a time of crisis, scandal, something that went wrong during
production or distribution put at risk thousands of helpless consumers, and it triggers off an emergency state
difficult to control. ―Mad Cow disease‖, chicken or mozzarella with dioxin: there's no need to list all food
scandals that have accompanied us over the past decades.
If the process is centralized, standardized and mechanized, food stops being a part of the metabolic
relationship between us and nature, loses its symbolic and cultural meanings, and leaves us disconnected
from the Earth, without understanding what we are doing to it. Now that the Earth begins to warn us showing
changes in its balances that start having major impacts on our lives, we feel the need to do something about it,
but we do not realize that it is our way of thinking the processes that we have to change, that we must make
sustainability a key element of the whole process rather than a new variable to be included in a linear process.
If we would make this mistake while attempting to repair the damages committed so far, we would do anything
but create other problems. We must change the way we look at the production and consumption, change our
point of reference starting from the food, because it is the most systemic element, the one that best suits the
situation for its intrinsic characteristics, that can help us the most in this effort. The agro-industry will
necessarily take up this challenge and reinvent itself, otherwise it will face not only a damage of its image
because of its obvious increasingly unsustainability, but also a complete failure in economic terms.
Economy and ecology have never been so linked as they are today. We cannot speak of one without referring
to the other. It is not only a matter of elementary respect for the environment, dictated by ethical rules, but
ecology represents nowadays a real economic opportunity. Research in this field still has much to give and
there are a myriad of opportunities in various fields of production, both for the reorganization of existing
processes and for a total innovation. Ecology has never been explored because it has never been seen as a
resource but rather as an obstacle, an annoying restrictive rule, a restraint on economic activity and
production. Today the time is ripe because the barriers between economy, ecology and ethics will fall open up
to a new era. Food manufacturing field is strategic, but it will make its important contribution to the revolution
as long as it will change its way of thinking and it will give back importance to food. To put food at the heart of
the system does not mean to put the product there, because food is not simply a product, but it is the closest
element to man and nature. Focusing on food means focusing on man and Nature and their inescapable
relationship.
Reconsidering food productive systems over the idea of food, the larger and most multidisciplinary one, it is
the key to tighten things around this area so fundamental to human activity. This has to be done through a
systemic approach , supported by a serious, modern and interdisciplinary gastronomic science, and through
the relocation of production on a scale as local as possible, using resources from nearby territories if
necessary.
We have already talked about the contribution of the systemic approach and ―local economy‖, now we need to
define the meaning of gastronomic sciences, a discipline , or even better a corpus of disciplines, took for
granted by people and by the classical academic world too. The University of Gastronomic Sciences,
established in Pollenzo, near Cuneo, in 2004, seeks an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to
gastronomy, a subject very elaborate that goes beyond the folk context it was confined in. The new definition
of gastronomy comes from the one that Jean-Anthélme Brillat-Savarin gave in his book ―Phisiology of Taste‖
(third consideration): Gastronomy is the reasoned science for everything related to man as he feeds himself...
So it is gastronomy that drives farmers, vine-dressers, fishermen and the large family of cooks, whatever their
title and professional qualifications are to take care of food preparation. Gastronomy belongs to: natural history
(for its classification of foodstuff; physics (for food analysis and separations); cooking (for the art in food
preparation); commerce (to look for a way to buy and sell at the best possible price; political economy (to
create incomes for tax authorities and for establishing trades between nations).
The statement ―everything related to man as he feeds himself‖ is not only about the product and the
processing of raw materials or a particular method of consumption. It is everything that revolves around food,
man and their relationship; therefore nature, culture, history, science: a range of very specific disciplines that
could be extended with lucidity and far-sightedness as regards to the one proposed by Brillat-Savarin. We

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could consider: botany, genetics and other natural sciences, chemistry, agriculture, zootechnics and
agronomy, anthropology, sociology, geopolitics, technology, industry and traditional savoir faire, medicine and,
of course, ecology. If we do not begin to consider food as a system that can convey all this human knowledge,
we risk to turn it into a commodity(what else could it be if not an effect of the prevailing reductionism) or fuel for
the body or a status symbol: partial and incomplete ways to look at food and therefore wrong conditions for
productions, distributions, processing and consumptions that ,not by chance, will have negative and
uncontrollable impacts on our lives and on the environments in which we live.
What is happening in the communities of Terra Madre meets, more or less consciously, all the three criteria we
propose for a reorganization of the global food system and therefore it could offer new and important
opportunities to all operators: from the farmer who works mainly for his subsistence to the big agro-industry,
large retail chains, but also simple consumers. If they would seize the economic opportunity created by the
transformations taking place on the planet (it seems paradoxical but it is so), if they would start a new
industrial revolution, they will need to take into consideration what follows:
as gastronomic sciences teach, we need to highlight food considering it as multidisciplinary as
possible, as a key element of our lives and connected to a great number of human and natural activities.
In this context, traditional knowledge plays a significant role and therefore needs the right attention.
strong of a new way of thinking for a new humanism. A systemic approach that reverses our
approaches and changes our points of view in account to all the variables that food has during its
production and consumption processes.
reconsider the economy as a large system of local systemic economies, interrelated and able to
collaborate through a management of resources and all the following processes that is more accurate
and free of waste.
Of course these are three major changes that affect the way we think about gastronomy, production and
economy. Change the way of thinking it is not easy, especially after an historical period distinguished by strong
and contrasting ideas and values. It will be a slow process, but I think to same extent it has already begun in
many areas and it is already put into practice by those productive communities never considered important so
far. It is a new way of thinking that will also involve what is now known as a consumer, who will become more
and more a co-producer, that is a final integral part of a systemic productive system; it will be the active and
educated part of the system. But you cannot become a co-producer without the correct information, the
development of the taste, the true interest to that productive world that was never took into consideration until
now.
But what make us more optimistic about these changes it is the fact that the current system will not stand for
much longer. Its limits, its points of no-return, are already coming to light: the system itself calls for a radical
change. Of course the first to understand the importance of what we have to change, starting from our forma
mentis, will benefit from it, and even those who are not afraid to face this challenge will benefit because
basically winning this challenge will mean to produce great quantities of welfare, pleasure, beauty and, why
not, wealth.
Carlo Petrini, was born in Bra (Cuneo, Italy) on the 22nd June 1949; he is the founder of the International Slow Food Movement. He
first came to prominence in the 1980s for taking part in a campaign against the fast food chain McDonald's opening near the Spanish
Steps in Rome.
In 1977, Petrini began contributing culinary articles to communist daily newspapers il manifesto and L'Unità. He is an editor of
multiple publications at the publishing house Slow Food Editore and writes several weekly columns for La Stampa. He was one of
Time Magazine's heroes of 2004. In 2004, he founded the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic
Sciences), a school intended to bridge the gap between agriculture and gastronomy.
In order to strengthen his campaign against intensive food production, he refers to the Pope's call for the protection of local
agriculture.

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Now let's talk about open systems. We therefore wonder how they rank in the current
environmental regulation
Massimo Settis
The key point from which the analysis starts it is the legal status of the objects exchanged in the system. This
is represented as a network of flowing material (as well as energy) linking the single processes. What happens
in the processes, where the material is processed, is less important for our considerations, at least in the first
instance, as the processes themselves are acceptable if they respect the specific emission standards 109. In our
case the legal aspect is easily identify: the discarded material that the operator of a process wishes to hand
over to another operator able to exploit it, it is legally called waste, therefore it is managed by this rule. The
historical definition of waste, given by several EU directives, states ―any substance or object in the category
listed in the Annex I and of which the holder discards or wish to or he is required to discard‖. This definition is
therefore based on the concept ―to discard‖ meant as a will or a necessity, when you are in the situation to use
that certain ―thing‖ and if you have either eliminate it or hand it over to another operator, maybe the first of a
chain, able to start a process of waste disposal. The regulation aim to require an objective idea of the waste
regardless its final destination, even in case of recycling. We have to leave no room for subjectivity, as it could
be a danger for the environment. The principle of ―discarding‖ has always raised many objections. The
economic objection is the most natural one, as the idea of waste is inevitably associate to the idea of negative
economic value. If the object I am getting rid of has a market value, that is positive and therefore there is
somebody interested in buying it, how can I call waste? For years environmental guardians of orthodoxy
keepers, especially in Bruxelles, have repeated that the economic value was insignificant and that the
definition had to be taken literally, regardless what was around it110. Yes, admitted someone, maybe the
definition is not perfect, but nobody has ever found a better one. But what does it mean ―a better one‖ in this
case? If we think about it, to find an acceptable compromise between two opposed needs is the key problem
in defining the concept of waste. On one hand the need to preserve the environment , that leads to fear that
―discarding‖ with no policies means to pollute with no control and however, at the lowest possible price as it
use to be before environmental awareness. On the other hand the need to help the circulation of recycling
material and recycling itself that, in case the profits are low, can be easily compromised by high taxation, with
the consequence to jeopardize the less obvious ways of recycling. If this is the dilemma, we could argue that
there is no chance in discarding a material with a set economic value, assuming a normal rational behaviour
by operators. From this prospective, in the nineties the Italian legislator had left out from the waste disposal
regulation all those materials that had a market value, using a public tools to monitor prices. This tool was a
market list of a wide range of goods that the Chambers of Commerce used to published regularly to inform the
trade. The idea itself was logic and it worked also because the introduction of a new item in the market list was
subjected to public control, but the European Court of Justice judged the Italian regulation to be in clash with
the Community legislation, as it is not acceptable that being an item in the market list does not mean being
exempt from the waste regulation.
A part from all the formal matters, some more important objections of the objections could be raised against
these economic arguments: the favourable value of the recycling material could be temporary, as in some
particularly unstable markets, and even a low value could be less than incidental expenses as logistic, making
the exchange costly for the producer. Even the inevitably relationships in the single market, in particular in
case of recycling monopoly, could rise a negatively the face value of the waste. Or the material could be
negotiated at market price only in case of big quantities, as a result the producer of small quantities will not be
able to access the distribution chain with the same conditions as the big producers. We could therefore assert
109 should however be noted that the modern approach to production regulation through the BAT (Best Available Technologies)
definition, though positive in many respects, could theoretically lead to conflicts where what is best for the single process, it could not
be best for the distribution chain.
110 paradoxically the operators of the most important recycling chain have often deployed in favor of the more restrictive ideas,
allowing more constrains at the entrance of new players.
Now let's talk about open systems. We therefore wonder

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that the economic value can not represent a guide-line, even if in the current regulation a negative value
allows recycling because discarding is much more expensive111. As a matter of fact, the objection raised by
who is in favour of a strict interpretation of waste (but a broad interpretation of the law for applicability) is about
control: the making of a waste, should be easily traceable otherwise the risk that a dishonest operator could
confuse illegal operations of waste disposal with form of recycling, it is very high and unbearable.
In these terms the issue becomes unsolvable in the strict environmental field, and this could explain why in
many years of discussions at any levels have not led to definitive results. It is necessary to invest in it with
more important legal principles and cultural aspects, in particular to some extent in which for the State is
legitimate to control the behaviour of private industries to avoid illegal activities. In fact an hint of Orwell ideas
can be found in the waste regulation and in the past this attitude was often mistaken, probably not wrong, with
a lack of confidence not so much in the operators but in the ability to control through the bodies in charge. The
fact remains that the producer or the company who handles waste has the impression to be treated as a
dangerous criminal trough the subjection of complicated and detailed formal regulation involving the constant
risk of sanctions often disregarding the nature of the illegal activities and the possible environmental
consequences.
Perhaps, with no need of big principles, the problem could be reproposed in economic terms, even if different
from those mentioned above: what could be the standard of regulation with which maximize the positive
difference between benefits, obtained by facilitating recycling, and damages, consequence of a loosening of
restrictions?
To attribute to an object the status of waste it is not only an academic or nominalistic issue, because it involves
important operational consequences. Let's go back to open systems, under which some residuals are
generated that need to be discarded by the producer as they are not reusable in the process and then called
―waste‖. The provision of Community law provides in this case that the transfer of these wastes to a subject
able to recycle, it is permitted if the subject has the proper authorisations. In this terms, the consequences
could seem less important. After all many companies are subjected to some authorisation, and one more legal
proceedings should not be an insuperable obstacle for anyone. But in real world, unfortunately, you could run
into some unexpected complications. Let's assume, as it is likely, that the refuse collector in our distribution
chain is not a company working professionally in the field of recycling, but the owner of a productive activity,
maybe even a small dimension activity, that can use the output of another subject as his input. For this
operator the acquisition of the authorisation to handle waste is not an easy thing to do. The bureaucratic
procedure is much more complicated from the normal environmental authorisation and the amount of
informations required is much more. The readers who would like to understand more could easily find some
forms and the required documentations, in the web site of Regions and Provinces. More complexity means, of
course, more expert advices, longer time of approval, higher uncertainty on the result, which result could
depend even on immaterial elements like authorities territorial policy or the level of professional competence of
the responsible of the proceeding. Costs and time requirement unforeseeable and tending to grow; these are
conditions that the entrepreneur will never accept. Other critical factors are involved, that catch the company
unprepared: local administrations and often the local residents become worried if a private company tries to
obtain an authorisation to handle waste. It does not really matter if we are dealing with recycling that might
have lower precessing impacts than many others traditional manufacturing activities. Who handles waste is
treated with suspect, even if, from an environmental point of view, is doing a remarkable job; an hostile local
context is meant to discourage any investments. Even after obtaining the authorisation, the natural
technological and managerial evolutions of every productions, requires a constant comparison with the
relevant authorities. In this situation, if our potential refuse collector does not depend for its activity on the
waste offered by the open system as raw materials, he will end up with refusing it, because the cost-benefit
ratio will be negative. The outlined situation could become more significant if the distribution chain planned for
111 in facts, what seems to be important is not the presence of a positive value, but the difference between the market value and the
operating costs with no reuse and recycling, that is the disposal.

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the total recycling of industrial processes output fields more actors. Each operator in the distribution chain
could face some problems such as those mentioned above, and the loss of only one ring of the chain could
irreparable compromise the final result of overcoming recycling.
A further problem must be considered. Dealing with waste regulation means to be submitted to any new
disposition in regard, that is not target to any specific case. But as waste regulation tends to be very strict,
there is the risk that the legislator does not distinguish between cases and that the operator in charge of a
recycling process, in fact a production process, should comply with particularly expensive norms studied for
others with a different environmental impact. This is the reason why certain production sectors with an high, or
even exclusively, use rate of virgin row material (production of second fusion metal, paper mills, glassworks,
...) have always been very reluctant to transform their plants into recycling plants. Let's consider for instance a
combustion process that, even if fed with material qualified as ―waste‖, is assimilated by an incineration (the
legal term is coincineration), with the application of very rigid environmental and managerial standards, too
much for a ―normal‖ industrial process.
The general legal context, therefore, is not in favour of an open systems organization for total recycling of
waste, in virtue of the European legislator careful attitude, even if the companies operating in the EU market
are very well aware of the fact that local regulations, in single State or in their regions, tend to mitigate the
Community severity. However, in the last few years some important positive developments have been
recorded. In Italy, for example, the latest revision of the waste legislation, the D.Lgs. 152/2006, has introduced
the much more analytical definition of two key concepts that could be very useful to break the deadlock. Those
are the concept of ―by-product‖ and ―secondary row material‖, clear attempts to give an independent legal
status to what is between ―virgin‖ row material and proper waste. As usually, this development takes place in
the wake of changes in the real world, where the price if row materials and the international demand of
recycled materials is constantly increasing. Operators have been so far very cautious in taking advantage of
these new definition, also because the legislation has been reported to the European Court of Justice to verify
if in accordance with the EU regulations.
But even this is changing and, above all, it is following the lines of conduct of the Italian legislator. The new
waste policy (2008/2009/CE) has been recently published (November 22nd, 2008) which has replaced the
previous one (2006/21/CE) which text is dated 1991. In the light of the above, it is not surprise if for the central
issue (what must be included in the definition of waste?) a tough confrontation has been recorded between
two different regulation approach among the Community institutions, where reason has been represented by
the Commission and environmental radicalism by the Parliament. The good news is that reason has won all
along the line and without the normal political compromises of the case. It must be said that the signs of
change were already clear for some years through some decisions of the European Court of Justice and an
announcement of the Commission to the Council and Parliament112, but the event represent a turning point.
The new policy carries as a matter of fact two important news in relation to the two key concepts anticipated by
the Italian legislator. The first one is the definition of ―by-product‖. This term, whose use is at least as old as
the industry itself because it connotes a very specific type of output process separate from the product itself,
has in fact been ignored by the legislator until 2002, when it was introduced almost by stealth in a regulation
on the so called ―animal by-products not intended for human consumption‖113. So that an heated debate was
immediately opened on how to consider these by-products, if a subset of waste rather than a distinct kind, a
separate case. In the end the second thesis prevailed, and the by-product was legitimized in the legal world,
albeit in a specific field. Now, with the new policy, the legislator gives to the concept a specific meaning. The
Art. 5, paragraph 1, states:
“A substance or object resulting from a production process whose primary aim is not the production of such
112 Explanatory Communication on waste and by-products, COM(2007) 59, February 21st, 2007.
113 Regulation n. 1774/2002, October 3rd, 2002.

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item, can not be considered as waste according to Art. 3, point 1, but considered by-product if the following
conditions are met:
a) It is certain that the substance or object will be further used;
b) the substance or object can be immediately used without any further processing other than normal industrial
practise;
c) the substance or object is produced as integral part of a production process; and
d) a further used is legal, as long as the substance and object meet, for the specific use, all the requirements
concerning the products and health protection and environment and it will not cause negative impact on
environment and human health.”
It is interesting how this policy does not contain a definition of by-product, but it merely establishes some
binding common sense conditions to cover all those materials that, for the exception of the word, have always
been defined as such especially by the chemical and food industry.
Even if the definition is necessary, this does not solve all the problems about the recycling incentive, for the
simple reason that the by-product represents basically a product and not waste. The conditions under Art. 5
could seem quite detailed, by the word ―by-product‖ still retains its proper meaning. And here the second
news, under Art. 6 with the curious heading ―Discontinuance of waste qualifications‖:
“1. Certain specific waste are not considered such under Art. 3, point 1, when subject to a reutilization,
recycling included, and meets the specific criteria to be established according to the following conditions:
a) the substance or object is normally used for specific purposes;
b) there is a market or demand for this substance or object;
c) the substance or object meet the technical requirements for specific purposes and obey the regulation and
standards applicable to existing products; and
d) the use of the substance or object will not lead to negative impacts on environment or human health.
Criteria include, if necessary, limit values for pollutants and take into account all possible negative effects
caused by the substance or object on the environment.
2. Measures intended to amend non-essential elements of this regulation, completing it, should be taken as for
the control procedure under Art. 39, paragraph 2. These measures are related to the adoption criteria under
paragraph 1, and specify the kind of waste to which these criteria are applied.
Their purpose is to set the life duration of a waste as, among the others, paper and glass, metals, tires and
textile waste.”
Basically, the legislator states that these wastes, that is the discarded material, could loose this defamatory
label if they are involved in a recycling operation, provide however to meet special ad-hoc criteria fixed by
proper regulations, under the fundamental rules specified by the policy. Strangely, this does not give a name
to these materials that, however, back in 1988 they have been already identified by the Italian legislation and
called ―secondary row material‖, term also used in other languages. Even more surprising is the instruction,
mentioned in the ―recitals‖ 22 (and not in the article), stating that ―the recycling could simply consist in
checking the waste to establish if they meet the required criteria aimed to set the life duration of it‖. Recycling
as virtual operation.
It should be noted a certain shyness from the Community legislator that, while firmly pursuing a stronger
deregulation than in the past, is trying to keep the original layout of the rule. The explicit reference to
paragraph 2 to certain materials which top priority is to be deregulated, explains in all case the Community
legislator priorities, which intent is to deduct from the waste regime at least the most important recycling cycles
of basic materials of our production system: metals, paper, glass, textile, etc. The number of these non-waste
will remain numerus clausus, in relation to the criteria identified.
This Manichee visions belonging to the past seem, therefore, being overcome, but no matter how important is
a step forward represented by the new regulation, the requirements imposed by the open systems could not
be yet met. By-product are likely to represent a relatively small case record, whereas we could talk of

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secondary row materials only in case of legislator intervention. Innovative recycling, therefore, will always be
seen with suspicious and for them no simplified disposition are expected.
What is missing in the present legislation is the recognition of open systems and distribution chains, within
which material flows can be considered as one, regardless the physical location in which the different stages
of the process are taking place. In order to boost the development of the distribution chain and at the same
time to give a credible answer to control issue, some form of recording of distribution chain and its
components, as the only administrative requirements other than the usual authorisations for each single
activity, should be implemented. It would be interest of all distribution chain participants to ensure the entire
system to work properly, because if the distribution chain lacks the necessary qualifications it will cause a
damage in the entire system.
Therefore open system pose new challenges to the environmental legislator. To open up to these requests is
an essential condition to overcome problems that still not have definitive solutions even after years of debates
and disputes.
Massimo Settis, he graduated in Pure Chemistry at the University of Torino in 1976, he has then acquired a diploma in Business
Administration at the School of Business Administration at the University of Torino. He has always worked in the field of environment,
beginning his career as a researcher at the Ecological Services Centre belonging to Fiat Engineering, where he was dealing with air
pollution issue. He then held the position of Environmental Engineer for Iveco and he was in charge of environmental management
and investment of the production process for the group's European plants. Since 1988 he has been working for the Industrial Union
of Torino where is at the head of the department of Environment and Energy. As well as to operate locally, he works together with
Confindustria, for which he is the European representative in the task force for Sustainable Consumption and Production. For some
years he has been a lecturer at the Politecnico di Torino, 1 Faculty of Architecture, at the graduate program ECODISEGN, where he
teaches a course in environmental design.

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Fabrizio Valpreda
Talking about design means talking about project, that is to say teamwork, because ―project‖, in its most noble
meaning, arises from different types of knowledge that have the same result through shared choices. This
matter, which is considered as a golden rule by those who want to start on design, takes on a wider value,
almost a universal one, when it comes to its application using the typical criteria of global networking. Internet‘s
value increases intrinsically by the possibility of spreading the knowledge and it is the place where everything
that is shared is available for whomever instantly. This chance, for the first time reachable by man in his path
towards knowledge, is expressed in the most various ways and on different levels of depth and quality; all of
them, infinite, of course. In fact, online you can find almost everything that you need to do your daily job and
you can do it at home or at work, or while you move from a place to another; so many are the tools that can be
linked to the Network. All this, obvious and well-known by now, still hides a potential that is expressed in a
minimum way even today: people and their ability to produce and increase knowledge. For the first time in
human history, thanks to the spreading of Social Networks, humanity endows itself with a means of global
communication integrated and spread by every single user. The meaning and the importance of such
innovation are not even included in the same Social Networks, but they pass the borders of these means and
they take the meaning of global agora. Everything can be said about these new ―places‖, but no one can hide
the fact that they contain the key word of a new model of sustainable socio-economic development: sharing.
With the advent of the Industrial Revolution a new belief spread and deeply took root: the intellectual property
right is the key to success and economic development. This belief was valuable until people realized that it
was possible and, in many cases even better, to publish and so, to share and make the contents of knowledge
freely available.
There are some clear proofs of this in the Network, such as the HTML code (Hypertex Markup Language114),
that is used to make websites, or the SMTP protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol115), all of them freely
modifiable and available to anyone.
Failing freedom to use these tools, Internet would not exist.
In fact, the reason of its success does not lie in the technical performance of these very same tools, which
were very simple if not rudimentary at the beginning; it lies in their free availability, that is to say in their
possibility of being exponentially spread in the network and modified in order to improve them.
A closed product, sold on the market even at a low price, could not be spread because that would mean that
the base condition linked to sharing had failed: any product created by the human mind linked in an
indissoluble way to technological contrived bonds, more frequently legal or fiscal, linked to a person or
administrative or business entity, does not allow a free use and obliges whoever to refer in a compulsory way
to whom holds these rights116.
Without getting into the twists and turns of a debate started years ago about the reasons why we should or
should not adopt an open or a closed model, we point out that the approach we want to talk about is the one
that arises for the first time thanks to the development of the Open Source software; making clear right away
that we deal with a strategic approach, not with a product117.
The OS is based on the assumption that creative works can be released with right of use, adjustment and re-
distribution keeping intact the origin of the first creator; this way, his name stays linked to the work, yet without
the negative consequences linked to the ownership of the work itself.
Such position, theorized by Richard Matthew Stallman in 1985, releases the market of creative works from the
profit earned from the sale of the very same works; this is anything but crazy as for the products, such as
software or, more simply, the written texts. It also releases the market from the allied activities generated by
114 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML
115 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMTP_protocol
116 Richard M. Stallman, Lawrence Lessig (introduction), Joshua Gay (editor), Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of
Richard M. Stallman. GNU Press, www.gnupress.org Free Software Foundation Boston, MA, USA, 2000.
117 Open Source vs Closed Source -- Its about investing in People: http://www.o3magazine.com/0/7.html

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the free spreading of the creative works in favour of the original creator and the users who have integrated and
improved the work later on.
From an economic point of view this type of strategy is an easy prey to critics by those who think that the
market loses its reason for existence failing a direct economic profit: this is true only if we consider the market
in its traditional configuration. That is to say leaving out the obvious wrong ideas that this old approach points
out when facing a global market where the open competition and the spreading of a greater awareness among
the people have laid bare the limits linked to the concept of ―idea sales‖.
In order to understand better the difference in terms of productive process we can schematize, for example,
the development and the distribution of software in two ways. The first one traditional and linear while the
second one free and made of open relationships among the different parties interconnected in the Network,
where the software arises from the shared action of whomever has a personal or a professional interest.
Further on you can check the difference between the development process of linear software (on the left) and
the one based on the open approach (on the right).
The difference between the linearity of the Closed pattern and the multi directional spreading of the possible innovations of the Open
pattern is obvious.
At this point Social Network has decreed the defeat of the market approach linked to the sale of the creative
product118, at least in some areas. A positive example is the music industry that had to face a deep
reorganization due to the songs‘ download: e-shops that sale single songs and also the proliferation of
websites that offer the work of up-and-coming artists for free. These artists manage to get themselves known
and they bring themselves to the fore as authors very quickly, very often in an independent way, rather than as
factories of musical products. The sale price of big artists‘ work has fallen due to the contemporaneous review
of the way live performances are organized and due to the severe action of sponsors.
At this point we can ask ourselves what relationship there is with System Design, whose essential
characteristics have been defined elsewhere in this volume. The key word in this case is again sharing and
participating.
118 Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, Portfolio, USA, 2006.

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System Design means multi level relationships of the input-output kind, it means elaborate network
connections and so it means that the knot that has to be kept quite loose is the knot of sharing information,
that has to be free from bonds of any kind as much as possible.
This is not enough though. Another key element is needed, the only one that, thanks to its own personal, local
and specific characteristics, can trigger the chain reaction needed to the working of the network: man.
Another scheme can be used to understand better the environment in which it is possible to develop these
new ways of working, in every area of human knowledge. We tried to simplify and sum up the different
hierarchical levels of this structure.
In the centre there is the place that is the auto-generative Network, virtual and technologic place with its free
tools. Right after that it follows the level of who will be the main character of the events, people, followed by
what, that is knowledge and information. The scheme is closed by the key idea, summarized in sharing what
by who.
At this point one can legitimately wonder if such strategy has already been applied with success.
There are some reliable and important examples.
For example, Red Hat provides the biggest multinationals but also small companies with support services with
its Linux version, an operating system used in companies but also at a desktop level. In 2009, it invoiced 748.2
million $ thanks to the subscriptions of the licences and to the services associated.
Google, among other things, financing itself through the supplying companies with advanced web services and
through publicity, provides the final users with free services. Facebook and Twitter, started with little money by
keen students, are among the biggest economic realities online: they gather millions of users who share fresh
and personal contents, through which, quite often, they manage to get in touch with unexpected professional
circles, generating new connections.
At the end we can mention two interesting cases of physical product released with an Open Source licence.
The first one, Arduino119, is the first example of hardware-software platform released freely, including the
specific techniques that decline its functioning.
119 http://www.arduino.cc/

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The second one, RepRap120, is the first 3D printer whose diagrams, included in the rights freely released, can
be used to reproduce the printer itself to freely re-distribute it in further copies, as well as to duplicate spare
parts in case of maintenance.
The scenario defined is a valid basis to what (hopefully?) might happen in the following years. One more time
Don Tapscott helps us understand these predictions by setting them in economy‘s river-bed from which no
society can hide.
The authors‘ right matter and the alternative freedom as regards them will represent, in fact, one of the knots
to undo to allow the definite improvement to our successors‘ society.
Part of the work is actually already under our very eyes, where big, at times spectacular121, examples make us
understand how sharing, closely related to consciousness, is one of the most effective key of the next
development. Companies are already open to the new opportunities offered by sharing knowledge: creative
contents and what used to be considered as something to be protected. This process is likely to be only the
120 http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page
121 http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2007/id20070201_774736.htm

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beginning of a bigger phenomenon that tends to destroy the argument that makes register, patent, practically
makes unavailable, even the simplest colours perceived by our visual system, possible; just as in the case of a
particular shade of the magenta colour, patented by Deutsche Telekom122.
Actually it doesn‘t seem as a real battle between who is in favour and who is against of this or that vision, it‘s
more as a natural passage to new approaches that hopefully will find in the next generations a more fertile
ground to development: who starts facing new development models, new and more effective strategies at an
early age finds it less difficult to apply these approaches to their own life, personally and professionally.
To make this happen all we have to do is spread a conscious use of the Network and of its tools in order to
allow the new generations to experiment the ways of sharing in all-level schools. This way they will generate
participation and awareness that is the true value to protect and spread.
Fabrizio Valpreda is an architect and researcher at the Politecnico di Torino where he works in the field of new technologies,
participating, planning and digital communication.
He is also involved in the different aspects of sharing creative contents through the strategic approach of Open Source and of the
tools provided by Creative Commons licences.
Fabrizio is in charge of the Informatics Laboratory III of the Industrial Design Degree Course, of the Visual Communication Design
Course I of the Specialist Degree Course in Ecodesign in the Faculty of Architecture 1.
122 http://www.repubblica.it/2007/11/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/magenta/magenta/magenta.html

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Consumerism adjustment to the cognitive niche. Awareness change at a social level
Davide Vannoni
The mass production system has caught on in our culture more than a century ago, the industrial era has
certainly brought big benefits, on one hand it has allowed big investments in research, production, promotion
and distribution; all justified economic processes on a large scale123 that, in turn, have allowed a costs‘ drop
and the concentration of the different phases in the hands of a few big authors.
Therefore, the entire economic system has changed in the past century in order to adapt to the production and
consumption model. Still, the entire process required several expensive simplifications. In fact, as a function of
that, at least four big paths have to be obeyed:
objects have to be all the same or, in any case, with little changes in order to be produced overall in
few concentrated geographic areas;
the objects produced are distributed worldwide through long and expensive journeys
the distributive systems tend to be concentrated in order to have an impact on the economy on a large
scale linked to the purchases made
services (starting from planning, to marketing and communication) tend to be concentrated and to be
bound to forms that work all around the world.
Such system is an integral part of the ―non‖ culture, that is to say, of the ―non products‖ (as they are lacking in
cultural specificity); they are distributed in ―non places‖ (identical in every country as supermarkets), to ―non
users‖ (as they are lacking in identity).
Marketing, consumption models and communication world is therefore made up of ―non-persons‖, namely the
simplification of requirements, needs and tastes.
This system is perfect on the paper: passive users that can be manipulated on the basis of the production
requirements, and who are bound to tastes enforced by mass communication systems and whose life cycle is
stressed by functions and needs like the ones attributed to the products themselves.
Reality is different, people are not mere graphics of consumption progress, they are not bound to few and
simplified product or service requirements.
Of course, people are manipulable both by publicity and by what they think other people do and so,
consumerism world is based on making believe that we all are the same and that we all have the same
ambitions. By paradox, this happens also with the products that are sold because they make us believe that
their possession will allow us to distinguish ourselves, to be different from the masses.
Simple as that and the product is always served in the same way, in identical places regardless of the fact that
you belong to a culture rather than to another one (we don‘t go into the systems of subculture and groups to
make things easier).
The outward benefits of this system hide, instead, some big traps and it didn‘t take them long to show up. The
first ones are practical: global production and distribution are little effective, expensive, polluting and
environmentally destructive. The second ones are cultural: this way man and his cultural specificity are
humiliated and transformed into a reductive destruction of stereotyped behaviours and thoughts.
Focusing on the second aspect issued from this system and which is object of study of the cognitive sciences,
at least two other essential elements have to be specified.
For what concerns the first one we have to begin from a corollary of Darwin‘s thought: the key to survival is
adaptation and this occurs concomitantly to the environment in which there is life. The idea that a body
changes to adapt, not necessarily in geological time scale, but in the space of a few generations, is by now an
element ascertained by science. Instead, the idea that the mind and its thoughts, which consolidate in each
culture, are part of the same process is an element that is more difficult to understand. We are used to
consider the thought process as something abstract, little measurable and highly fickle; but reading an
anthropology or social psychology essay is enough to understand that culture itself is adjustable and it‘s made
up, in many of its aspects, of essential functions to the survival of a group in a particular background.
123 ―scale economy‖ stands for the existing relation between the increase in the production scale (that is the quantity of producted
pieces) and the diminishing of the average single production cost (that is the cost of every single piece producted).
Consumerism adjustment to the cognitive niche.

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Building a mass culture detached from its respective environmental context is an anti evolution form of man
and it might be a reason of extinction in the future. Internet itself, even if it is so extolled for its plurality of
voices, is actually a standardization form, some sort of general mind that allows little linguistic variations. And
so, it is a standardization of the thinking process. Therefore, ―non product‖, ―non communication‖ and ―non
language‖ are not a plurality guarantee; they are a general impoverishment of thought in a global perspective.
The subsequent element issued by the cultural standardization is the intrinsic opposition to innovation. In fact,
even the smallest innovation that draws on the big process of economy and of culture on a large scale
represents a threat that can affect the entire system with unexpected consequences. Therefore both big and
small innovations are violently blocked by the system; only the innovations that optimize the functioning of the
system (in terms of profit) are allowed.
For this reason, touch screen disposals and video calls are more than welcome, provided they work through
the same objects, the same vehicles and the same languages. Man and his language have to adapt to the
means of communications at the expense of the cultural biodiversity that has always distinguished us.
In short, the Arian breed of ―non-objects‖ is stereotyping our cultures and, with them, our ―cultural biodiversity‖.
There is no space for small innovators and if there are any the big ones engulf them immediately.
The 2.0 culture, where everybody fools themselves that they can own a space to express their opinions, is
creating instead a 0.0 culture where everybody thinks and talks in the same way.
I do not intend to demonize the Internet, that has transformed part of our way to acquaint with other people
and communicate, and its big utility. I would like to remember that it is only a means of communications and
people make it a system. Personally, I do not consider it a highway of communications, but more as a maze of
dark alleys where the lack of control transfers the heavy and often unprepared information selection on the
users.
Just to make an example close to my world: if somebody puts an article with a mistake in the bibliographical
note, you will find this mistake in school papers, degree thesis and sometimes, unfortunately, even in articles
written by my academic colleagues. Knowing the traps of the contents spread by this means is not a
motivation not to use it, it is the result of a due critical approach that every scientist must have towards his or
her studies. The birth of a sort of ―digital ecosystem‖ made of its niches of ability and of its relational system
cannot and must not represent a sort of general mind that swallows up our biological minds. On the contrary, it
must stimulate in us the force to use it as active subjects and not as passive users.
The road to regain possession of our own culture and keep evolving cannot pass only through objects or at
least, not only. First of all it has to consider ―non subjects‖ as active subjects and leave them an autonomous
space to express themselves, no matter how chaotic this is. At this point it does not matter that our thoughts
written on the blog are read by the whole world; it only matters that they are shared by our reference group, it
only matters that the objects, the means and the services that we use are compatible with our environment
and our culture. In the end, all this in order to protect the only things that really matter: our freedom of thought
and our survival.
So the planner has to be a ―cultural‖ planner who operates in the various environments protecting and
integrating their peculiarities. At the same time his job is to integrate the planning with the most general mental
characteristics of the subject and respect the mind processes typical of any culture.
In a global perspective, marketing uses the people‘s cognitive illusions and weaknesses to breed consumption;
and so, the subject becomes a user that can be activated easily through his weaknesses. In this perspective,
the global ―non subject‖ responds based on the behaviours, on the limits of cognitive elaboration, on the
sensory illusions, on the simulated social pressure and on the social ambitions induced. In the environmental
perspective, all these limits of our mind become an opportunity to produce knowledge, interest, awareness and
decision-making ability. The strategies to which global marketing appeals have to become opportunities of
development and source of growth to the subjects: obligations used with respect to man, to his individuality
and to his culture.
Let‘s see some of these peculiarities of our mind simplified and how they can become an opportunity for
planners to create objects and services that can have a wider cognitive ergonomic significance in step with
what has been said above.

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Limits in the elaboration
It is known since the Fifties that, at average, people can elaborate a maximum of 5 or 2 packages of
information simultaneously (Miller, 1956)124. This intrinsic limit is genetically preordained and it is subject to all
mental forms that make up the totality of our mind. Obviously, one package of information is not determined a
priori; in fact, our experience creates the depth of it, that is to say the totality of information that are subject to it
and that are implied in each package of information. Each language uses words as wider concept indexes so
that each word represents a conceptual quantum, even if it occupies ―just one package‖. Specialized
languages are a glaring example: the name of a disease said by a doctor implies a particular pathology or one
of its variants, a particular series of symptoms, a hypothetical diagnosis and a possible series of treatments or
surgeries. All this occupies only one package of information; something that is impossible for a non expert who
should use, instead, more words to describe this series of things; so he or she would use more packages of
information and would be less accurate. The same rule applies to other specific areas of knowledge (from
aerospace engineers to electricians) but also to different cultures. Every language is born and develops as a
function of the environment, of its specific abilities and social dynamics and of the rules that are subject to the
interactions with the other members of the same culture.
In short, the result of the Tower of Babel is not source of confusion and incommunicability; it is, instead, a
specific and adjustable process for different environments. Therefore, language is the main cultural phenotype
that determines specificity and adaptation of a particular culture or subculture to a certain environment. For
example the Inuit have several words to say white in regards to the utility to accurately define the different
types of ice and snow of their ecosystem. Language standardization among different cultures means basically
the death of the cultures and a great danger for survival. The ―non language‖ that many people have dreamed
of so that we can all understand each other through identical words is essentially a chimera that would
produce more damages than benefits; it would be a supermarket language, that is to say a ―non place‖
language.
Limits in the evaluation (cognitive-emotional)

Interaction between us, people, and the world is not defined only through rationality, but also by a delicate
alchemy that complements cognitive and emotional aspects. Emotiveness plays an essential role in all our
interactions with environment and its peculiarities: starting from the fear that allows us to act fast against
particular dangers of our environment, to the love that determines our actions in choosing the partner with
whom to reproduce; implying a lot of adaptable variables that are the basis for the transmission and the
dominance of particular genes in the following generations; to the disgust we feel when some type of food is
dangerous, uncertain for our metabolic processes. Therefore, nature has endowed us with a parallel system to
interact with the environment in an adjustable way (for example the beauty canon in choosing our partner
varies from a culture to another); but this system is greatly interactive with the rational/cognitive elements. Van
Raaij (1984)125 had already detected the interaction between these two aspects of our being at the
macroscopic level. He quantized them in an inversely proportional dynamic: when emotiveness increases in a
particular situation the cognitive ability decreases. The excess of emotiveness raised by a product/service or
by its communication can inhibit the logic abilities of people who want it and so they can make irrational
choices. This does not mean that we have to produce neutral or insignificant product from an aesthetic point of
view; but the marketing strategies can‘t be based exclusively on evoking strong emotions and inhibiting
people‘s rational abilities. In fact, the balance between these two aspects has to go beyond the logic of pure
sale where the benefits of a functional innovation become subordinate to some aesthetic improvement that
feels as if it was new. Besides, the wish to create a ―non aesthetic‖ form accepted by everyone is again a
threat to cultural peculiarities. Even though emotions have a universal root (in fact, they are common to all
human beings) they maintain a great and significant function of their own, that is adjustable to particular
systems (environmental and cultural) where they are evoked.
124 George A. Miller, The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information, in:
Psychological Review, n° 63, American Psychological Association, Washington D.C., USA, 1956, pp. 81-97.
125 Van Raaij F.W. (1984), Affective and Cognitive Reaction to Advertising, in: Marketing Science Institute, Report, pp. 84-111.

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Limits in judgement and decision-making
Human mind, in order to save energy, often uses shortcuts. In fact, our brain is an organ that requires a lot of
energy (it uses around 20% of our resources) and the time needed to define a judgement or a choice made in
full awareness is often incompatible with the time available. A classic example of shortcut is behaviour
(Fishbain, Aijzen, 1975)126. In fact, behaviour is a judgement that is generally made in a concise way, based on
few elements that tend to steady in our mind; then they are slavishly applied to all the conditions in which this
behaviour is evoked, even only by similarities to the original object.
A lot of marketing strategies are based on evoking simplified behaviours in order to infer product or service
quality that often don‘t exist (for example, some scooters‘ design tries to evoke the idea of motorcycles
originating behaviours linked to their performance and strength).
A great design founded on the will of creating real behaviours based on the real characteristics of the object
starts from looking for a bigger and true awareness of the product/service. The concept of parts design 127 and
of the consequent actions of choosing elements in regard to the functions and the real needs of the subjects
can only be based on a bigger emphasized and communicated awareness of what is purchased. In this
perspective objects are not some ―black boxes‖ anymore, that is to say boxes that we purchase based on what
we think they can do, but without knowing their content. Behind this concept it is hidden a wider outlook which
does not consider the subject based on his or her illusions and presumed passivity; it considers the subject
based on the transmission of real contents that can make the subject aware of his or her choices and of their
consequences.
This does not mean that people should become experts, but neither that they respond passively to stimuli
without judging and understanding, as they usually do today in many areas. The dog of the famous Pavlov
experiment (1927)128 is far-away from the concept of man and his real cognitive processes.
Limits of social pressure

The representation of social approval and disapproval is a tool used to make pressure. The idea that people
are accepted or rejected by their reference groups based on what they purchase and own is a superficial way
that ends up by breaking up a society and its principles. Global world has no values, it only has
products/services and purchase behaviours. And so, the deserving concept of ―you have based on what you
are‖ turns into the concept of ―you are based on what you have‖. What should be a stimulus to improve and
grow turns into a lever of consumption without criterion where people get into debt to prove what they are not;
having the Illusion that the other will value and consider them based only on the possession and consumption
criteria.
According to Darwin, the peacock‘s tail has an adaptive purpose, that is to say if the animal has such a bulky
and costly body part, from a biological point of view, it means that it has good genes that allow it to survive all
the same, in spite of this evident handicap. Our peacock tail is essentially our mind and our intellectual abilities
that are absolutely disproportioned compared to the need of survival of our species. Human brain weighs 1500
grams, it has 100 billions neurons and a hundred trillions of interconnections among these and the rest of the
body. An incredibly complex organ which has, as a consequence, a heavy cost. First of all, it is bulky, the
female pelvis can hardly shelter the baby‘s head, so much that its planning required a different balancing of the
walk; this made women worse walkers than men, at a biomechanical level. Besides, the position of a big jolting
head above the neck puts human beings to bigger injury and damage risks, for example subsequent to fall.
Thirdly, the brain is energy-requiring, even though it represents the 2% of the body weight, it uses 20% of
energy and nutritive substances. Besides, in order to be used, the brain requires a lot of time and that is why
we spend most of our lifetime as children or looking after children. Last, the brain is limited and slow: in order
to react to the environment it requires a long time for simple tasks due to the neuronal paths; some insects can
bite in less than a millisecond. In conclusion, the brain has a cost and, in order to incur it, the human species
126 Fishbein M., Ajzen I., Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research, Addison-Wesley,
Reading, MA, USA, 1975.
127 see: Bistagnino L., Il Guscio Esterno visto dall’interno/The outside Shell seen from the inside CEA, Milano (Italy), 2008.
128 Pavlov I.P., Conditionig reflexes. An Investigation of the psychological activity of the cerebral cortex, Oxford University Press,
London, 1927.

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had to give up to bigger muscles, to thicker bones, to more eggs and to other abilities that characterize
different species; think about cheetahs‘ biomechanics, about snakes‘ infrared steno scopes, about bats‘ sonar,
about Cirripedia‘ superglue, about the strong spider web or about the incredible regenerative ability
salamanders have. And yet, instead of explicitly drawing attention to the characteristics of these peculiarities
we have to get us noticed by the others, we use secondary fetishes; and so, our purchase ability becomes an
indirect indicator of cognitive abilities.
The exploitation of this indicator by the global consumption market ends up being an opposite indicator. Buying
without discerning only to be approved it is not an intelligence indicator, anything but that, it becomes a
manipulability and passivity indicator.
The ―non subject‖ is confined in a little adaptive and constant insecurity and so, it resembles less and less to
the biggest representative of the cognitive niche in which our species developed. Passivity and non awareness
of a lot of choices do not belong to the reason why our mind evolved and they become a simplified ersatz of
the concept of award and social admiration. Also in this case social pressure and the distorted ways of
representing the interaction with our fellow creatures appear as a non adaptive transformation of the
cooperative and communicative ability that characterize our species. The specialization of the competences on
which a society is based and the ability of passing on and storing up knowledge loses importance in the ―black
box‖ world; where only a small part of the population is aware of how and why an object works in a particular
way. The world of easy interfaces which hide the real contents of what we use stops people from implementing
and consciously interacting with the objects, turning them from actors into passive executors.
The actual reality is that man is not as it is represented and considered and, sooner or later, the excessive
simplifications will end up by producing unacceptable simplifications. Effectively, I think that it is intellectuals‘
duty, but also a great opportunity for enterprises to start changing these global processes. Systemic design
represents a first step in this direction which does not concern only the ecological sustainability of goods; it
also appears as a path of awareness towards a more realistic and adaptive system that is consistent with the
cognitive niche to which our species belong.
Davide Vannoni is an associated professor of General Psychology at the University of Udine, he is administrator of the Research
and Education Institute Cognition srl of Torino. He is also chairman and scientific director of Stamina Foundation Onlus. Among the
main publications we mention Psychology Manual of Persuasive Communication, Utet Libreria, 2001, and Objects in the mind, mind
in the objects, Utet Libreria, 2009.

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glossary and bibliography
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Conceptual scheme analyzing the main relations of the glosses existing around the 4 keywords.

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Every title in the bibliography is linked to the keywords thus giving an immediate idea of their topic.

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edited by S. Barbero, B. Cozzo, G. P. Marino, P. P. Peruccio.
ENVIRONMENT
The etymological origin of this term denotes ―what is surrounding‖, so the word can have different meanings
and values depending on the context. In the Systemic Design, the environment is strictly connected to the
concept of ecosystem, that is a group of (natural and/or artificial) elements and (physical or cultural) factors
that constantly interact, generating a complex (material or cultural) trade network. The environment is
therefore a system in which matter, energy and information are self-regulating and can keep constant in time
without altering. Furthermore, the term environment can denote the territory depending on the number and the
complexity of the connections between the system elements: its definition can then widen to territory, products,
processes and anything that relates to an open production system.
Lidia Signori
BIODIVERSITY
It is defined as the “coexistence of different kinds of plants and animals in the same ecosystem, assuring a
dynamic balance in time through a network of internal relationships”129. The Rio de Janeiro Convention on
Biodiversity, approved in 1992, admits the intrinsic value of biological diversity and its ecological, genetic,
social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural and aesthetic component parts, which need to be preserved
by an in situ safeguard of ecosystems and natural habitats.
Beatrice Lemma
THE 5 KINGDOMS
There exist 5 kingdoms in nature: bacteria, algae, fungi, plantae and animalia. They represent the
interconnected and interdependent parts of the system par excellence: Nature. Here the concept of waste
does not exist because what is waste for a kingdom, for another kingdom it‘s food; consequently, the surplus is
metabolized by the system itself. None of the kingdoms uses its waste, otherwise abnormal phenomena would
manifest.
Clara Ceppa
DEGRADABILITY
This word entered the common lexicon in the 20th century and it has specific meanings depending on different
scientific areas:
- in geology it is the possibility for a rock to undergo the deteriorating process;
- in physics it is the possibility to reduce the available energy to produce work, due to its transformation
into heat energy;
- in chemistry it is the possibility of a chemical ―demolition‖, that is the separation of a chemical compound
into simpler compounds with a lower number of carbon atoms in a molecule;
- in biochemistry it is the possibility for a process to be divided into simpler organic substances.
Furthermore, we talk about biodegradability when a compound can be divided into simple elements and enter
the cycle of nature again.
Sergio Corsaro
ZERO EMISSIONS
With this expression we usually mean the elimination of every kind of emission, at solid, liquid or gaseous
state. In the Systemic Design this target can be reached by re-using the outputs as raw material for new
productions (see OUTPUT-INPUT and FLOW).
Andrea Di Salvo
129 see the original Italian entry in: AA.VV., De Mauro Dizionario della Lingua Italiana, Paravia, Torino (Italy), 2000.

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LIMIT
The idea of limit is inseparable from the idea of infinity, in Greek ―apeiron‖, that is to say without limits. We are
living in a space that is defined by borders and where resources are not endless. We have to go beyond the
positivistic conception of infinite growth of the linear system without overstepping the ―development limits‖; this
is the biggest challenge of our age. It is a matter of going over the mechanistic thought that considers the
Earth a perfect clock in the man‘s hands and adopting a conscious approach which is aware that the
resources are not infinite.
Dario Toso
RESOURCE
This term identifies any physical or virtual entity used by a system to maintain, improve or modify its structures
or working ways. Resources can be natural or artificial. Natural resources can be taken from renewable
sources (solar energy, wind power, hydraulic energy, etc.) and from non-renewable sources (fossil fuels);
artificial or industrial resources can be divided into renewable and non-renewable resources depending on the
raw material used for their production. The systemic view wants the system to feed autonomously so that it
can obtain the resources it needs from the flow of matter that runs across it.
Veronica Gallio
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
In 1987 the idea of sustainable development was universally defined in the Brundtland report: “sustainable
development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the abilities that
future generations will have in order to meet their own needs”130. This definition entails that, at the core of the
concept, there is not only the ecosystem and the survival and well-being of all living species, but also the
future of human generation in particular. This definition was criticized because of its vagueness and because
of the use of ―sustainable growth‖ and ―sustainable development‖ concepts as synonyms, with an oxymoron in
the first concept. In 1992, with Beyond the Limits the same authors of the first Club of Rome report, stated
three fundamental premises to pursue a sustainable development:
- admitting the immeasurable value of the environment and of the ―free goods‖ such as air, water and
other fundamental and non-reproducible resources;
- expanding the cultural horizon to promote long-term policies;
- achieving intra-generational equity (today) and inter-generational equity (in the future).
In 2001, UNESCO extended the concept of sustainable development and claimed that “diversity is as
necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature, and cultural diversity is one of the roots of development,
not simply meant in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual,
emotional and spiritual existence”131.
Silvia Barbero
GAIA THEORY
This theory describes the Earth (Gaia) like an auto-regulating system that can maintain its chemical and
physical characteristics in conditions suitable for life thanks to the living organisms behaviour. Natural
ecosystems are the ―Gaia‘s organs‖: every organ has its own independence even if constantly integrated into
the Earth-System. This implies that the Earth can be seen as an organism where all its subsets contribute to
the stability and well-being of the system they are part of.
Franco Fassio
130 G. H. Brundtland, Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford (United Kingdom), 1987.
131 UNESCO, Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, 2001.

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SYSTEM
A system is a group composed by supportive, correlated and interdependent parts, which act as a whole. The
components of a system are the product of relations among interconnected elements inserted in a certain
context.
In the word system we can distinguish two concepts: the idea of a ―system as a whole‖ and the idea of a
―generating system‖. In the first case, the word system refers to a particular aspect of a single thing: a system
as a whole is not an object, but it is the way of looking at an object. It points out some holistic properties that
can be understood only as the product of a reciprocal action among the parts of the system. In the second
case, the word system refers to a group of parts and rules that are able to generate several entities. A system
is a group of:
- entities connected in an organized way;
- active relationships;
- entities that influence each other.
Franco Fassio
AUTOPOIESIS
Autopoiesis is the property of every living system to auto-organize and to constantly redefine themselves
depending on the relationships (the system organization) existing among the elements which compose the
system (the system structure) and depending on the reciprocity that regulate its connections with their
environment.
In an autopoietic system, which is open to the context, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and the
system goals (balance or evolution goals) are valid for every component. The components are interdependent,
strategic and necessary in the direction of matter and energy flows and in the endogenous generating and
transforming processes into the system.
Cristian Campagnaro
DYNAMIC / STATIC (SYSTEM)

A dynamic system, organized in a non-linear way, can evolve in time according to the rules that connect the
present condition to the future one. The system can modify itself and auto-regulate, increasing and reducing its
dimension and the complexity of relationships, and depending from the input it receives and on the
surrounding conditions. A static system with a linear organization cannot positively react to these changes.
Andrea Virano
FLOW
It is a constant energy, substance and communication cycle. In an open system, matter is constantly
transformed and re-used: waste does not exist.
This transformation cycle must be fed by a continuous energy flow, where energy can be accumulated or
converted into other forms.
Communication flow, on the contrary, enables interaction and the creation of social networks. Therefore, every
vital process is based on chemical, organic and knowledge transformation networks.
Vassilia Gallio
INNOVATION
It consists in the implementation of the quality of human ways, instruments, values and targets. This can
happen by introducing new (material and immaterial) elements that are not chronological (the most recent…,
the latest…) but ontological (different from…, deduced from…), which after a time span can be considered
valid and useful, and therefore accepted as common.
In the field of Systemic Design, innovation influences:
- socio-cultural, cognitive and technologic preconditions of productive and reproductive processes in a
certain context;

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- necessary factors for production and the fruition of products or services (process innovation), human
resources, knowledge, technologies and substance and energy flows;
- production, exchange and consumption behaviour in a system and among systems (system
innovation).
Cristian Campagnaro
OUTPUT - INPUT
The output is usually the final product, the result, the data transmission; on the contrary, in the processes
management it is the flow of outbound data. Systemic Design methodology considers as outputs all the
(material and immaterial) data that are transformed into input (raw material) for new production processes.
Waste must not be discharged because it is a dynamic element in the different production processes and can
turn into raw material producing economic value.
Brunella Cozzo
MULTIDISCIPLINARITY
It is the mutual enrichment that occurs when different disciplines collaborate and complete different fields of
knowledge to obtain a vision that includes the aspects analyzed by several specialist points of view.
Overstepping disciplinary ―barriers‖ towards multidisciplinarity (and its declensions: pluridisciplinarity,
interdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity) is a fundamental characteristic of systemic approach.
Pier Paolo Peruccio
FEEDBACK
It is the ability of a dynamic system to change depending on the results obtained. In Nature, this ability of
different systems to auto-regulate according to the effects created brings to a change in the whole system,
coevolving it (see: GAIA THEORY).
Franco Fassio

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PRODUCT
Nowadays it is the result of a production process which is composed by an independent sequence of actions,
to produce a good. In parallel to this definition another idea is developing and spreading: the product is not a
single and independent entity but it is part of a more complex system whose aim is carrying out requirements
and giving performances in a certain relationships scenario.
So, the product is seen as a group of components and interconnected parts; it can also be seen as an integral
element of a wider system: the product is closely tied to it, it is generated by the system and carries out its
tasks in it.
A product is the concretization of ideas, thoughts and strategies which are different but interconnected and
linked to the product life cycle.
A product is the combination of goods and services offered on the market to be used, consumed or acquired in
order to fulfil society real needs and consumer expectation.
It is a group of tangible (materials, ...) and intangible (brands, status-symbols, ...) elements that give the
consumer material or emotional benefit; intangible elements are linked to the social and psychological sphere
of each individual, so they are assimilated in a different way by consumers or homogeneous consumer groups.
Clara Ceppa
BIOMIMICRY
It is a new science that studies Nature‘s model and then imitates or takes inspiration from it to satisfy human
needs. It is a new approach to see Nature as a system, which has been evolving for 3.8 billion years and
improving the transformation processes of substance and energy flows only to preserve Life. Biomimicry
“introduces an era based not on what we can extract from Nature, but on what we can learn from them” 132.
Biomimicry studies, for example, the mechanisms that bring Abalone sea snail to build its own shell (tough like
special potteries produces by men) with a slow process at 4°C and constant pressure; it also studies
mechanisms that allow the spider to produce a silk ―similar‖ to Kevlar at room-temperature without high
pressure and without environmental harmful outputs. Biomimicry oversteps the mechanistic and positivistic
view which created a linear socio-productive system unconnected to the life cycle; it tries to connect human
activity to life network.
Dario Toso
COST
It has an economic meaning and is the amount of money required for getting or producing something. Social
cost is the money influence of an action on society. It is always negative: society has to take strong policies to
recover all the damages caused by that action. In parallel, environmental cost is the economic consequence of
an action on the environment.
Andrea Di Salvo
MATTER
“In classical physics, this term generally means anything that has a mass and a spatial location, or the material
that composes physical objects excluding the energy of force fields”133.
So it is an undifferentiated entity that generates bodies and the physical objects that surround us. In industrial
design this term means the raw substances that are going to be manually or mechanically modified so to
generate semi-finished or finished products. We can distinguish:
- raw (virgin) material: the basis for the invention and production of new goods, with industrial
processing that allow the creation of the final product.
- secondary raw material: those materials derived from the recovery of manufacturing scraps, industrial
waste and exhausted matter extraction that can be reused; they are already processed materials.
132 Janine M. Benyus, Biomimicry. Innovation inspired by Nature, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, New York (U.S.A.), 1997.
133 see the original Italian entry in: AA.VV., Dizionario Garzanti della Lingua Italiana, Garzanti Editore, Milano (Italy).

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In the field of Systemic Design, this diversification does not exist: secondary raw material or every kind of
waste are considered as new raw material to use following the output/input principle, and not as something
with less material or economic value to dismiss in landfills. (see: OUTPUT-INPUT).
Gian Paolo Marino
INDUCTIVE / DEDUCTIVE METHOD

A method is the group of processes that aim at knowing reality and obtaining certain results. Inductive and
deductive methods are the most important ones in science.
Inductive method is a process that concludes a reasoning moving from the particular to the universal. It is also
named ―a posteriori‖, analytic or experimental method and looks for universal laws starting from the particular,
through the observation of a phenomenon and reconstructing its path.
On the contrary, deductive method is linked to the process that moves from general to particular, from a
presupposition to a conclusion. It is also called ―a priori‖ method because it starts from an axiom or a
hypothesis and deduces the laws involved in it.
Cristina Allione
LINEAR PRODUCTIVE MODEL

It is a productive logic, born with the industrial revolution, that develops around the concept of exploitation of
natural and human resources (seen as copious and eternal) and of mass production. An approach where the
quantity of goods or facilities is fundamental is due to this model, to maximize profit without taking waste into
account.
Andrea Marchiò
SYSTEMIC PRODUCTIVE MODEL

It is a non-linear model, where actions and processes necessary to the realization of a product or a service are
not part of a rigid sequential series, but are inserted in a network of goods, information and services flows, that
are exchanged among the system elements and towards external systems.
As in Nature, this approach considers outputs of a production as inputs for another production, following the
autopoietic logic and re-creating internal and external relationships of a production process, allowing external
systems to metabolize wastes (see: AUTOPOIESIS and OUTPUT-INPUT).
Riccardo Vicentini
SCENARIO
Critical mass of data and references about a topic that define the historical, social, cultural, production,
technological and environmental context where a new system is going to be inserted in order to realize an
aware project. A scenario is the description of context conditions and users that characterise the background
in which the project will be inserted in. The scenario clearly adds information like the points of view, context
and relationships, overstepping the flow and sequence of the procedure.
Silvia Barbero
SUSTAINABILITY
environmental sustainability
Environmental sustainability is a quantifiable value and concerns the conservation in time of physical and
relational balance among the geosphere and biosphere elements (see: ENVIRONMENT, BIODIVERSITY and
FLOW).
social sustainability
Social sustainability is a qualitative concept of well-being in a broad sense. This is why it departs from any
system of quantification. Sustainable societies are based on a product life cycle coherent with environmental
needs and have a socio-economic system that can satisfy human needs with few resources. “Attenuating the

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most evident negative consequences in Western lifestyle, instead of taking action on the causes, only causes
very little incisive actions“134.
Cultural sustainability
Cultural sustainability is a qualitative aspect of human life and is the sphere that links present generations to
their past. Cultural diversity must be preserved because it generates uncontrollable and unpredictable multiple
choices and contexts. “Instead of cultural and biological pluralism, the factory produces non-sustainable
monocultures in Nature and Society”135.
Silvia Barbero
TARGET
It is a consumption scenario that defines the characteristics of different final consumers to which a
product/facility is aimed at. On the contrary, in Systemic Design the term ―target‖ is never mentioned. Actually,
it is replaced with the term ―active subjects‖, which makes reference to people related one another within an
open system.
Silvia Barbero
Silvia Barbero, Carla Lanzavecchia, Paolo Tamborrini, Il fare ecologico, Edizioni Ambiente, Milano (Italy), 2011.
134
Vandana Shiva, Monocultures of the mind: perspective on biodiversity and biotechnology, Zed Books, London (United Kingdom),
135
1993.

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MAN
The man is a ―cultural artefact‖ because he is an individual that lives in a social context, who acts and
establishes relationships.
Biologic evolution begun 7-8 million years ago, since it was confirmed the self-consciousness of
anthropomorphic apes. From that moment on a casual co-evolution process has started, and the man has
developed a better cerebral an physical structure, cultural abilities and complex social structures. These
elements enabled the man to innovate, relate and make choices. In this process, language has a crucial role
because it defines the ability to exchange ideas and to cooperate, basic actions for development and progress
in a complex social context.
So, according to this view, evolving change is the result of the intrinsic life inclination to ―create innovations‖
and it does not always depend on environmental adaptation. Nevertheless, the man is part of the environment
and he exists thanks to interconnected and interdependent phenomena networks called ecosystems, which
control the life and character of ecological processes.
Lidia Signori
WELL-BEING
This concept refers to a prosperous health, physical and psychophysical energy. It is different from the
property of material goods and must be seen as chosen frugality, as smart consumption. According to the
hierarchy of needs, generated between 1943 and 1954 by the American psychologist Abraham Maslow, the
individual fulfils himself by covering the different stages of the so-called ―Maslow pyramid‖. On its basis there is
the fulfilment of primary (physiological) needs and on the top there is the self-realization, that is the
concretization of the human potential, defining one‘s identity, expectations and taking an acceptable position in
the social group.
Paolo Tamborrini
ECO-COMPATIBILITY
It is the industrial systems, products and processes compatibility with the environment where human beings
live and with the surrounding ecosystem. A project is eco-compatible when it fulfils the consumer needs but it
also has a relationship with the physical and anthropised context and it assures well-being conditions with a
reduced environmental resources consumption and a small pollution level. An eco-compatible project
promotes the sustainable development with relation to economic, environmental and social fields.
Silvia Barbero
ETHICS
In the systemic vision, ethics is not only a philosophic position, but also a necessity to maintain the Earth in life
and healthy.
The fundamental idea is that the man is part of the nature, not an external element; this attitude contrasts with
mechanistic anthropocentrism which, considering the living world something subordinated, causes a crisis in
the general planet homeostatic abilities. The solution is recognizing the man role in favour of the living beings
relationships; this would bring a values system renovation, which entails respect, generates and safeguards
environmental, social and economic balance.
With a long-term global idea, the Systemic Design model offers an economical and social growth within the
ecological possibilities of the Planet, without endangering the ecosystems integrity and their ability to fulfil
future generations needs.
Claudia De Giorgi
RELATIONSHIPS
When two elements condition or interact each other both reciprocally and unambiguously, a relationship
establishes between them. In every system, linear or complex, every element (knot) influences its context
depending on the relationships scheme where it is inserted.

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Complex systems, like social, biological and information networks, have similar flexibility characteristics where
some components (hubs) can establish a great number of relationships, offering network strength and
decentralization.
Alessandro Balbo
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
In a system, everyone acts in agreement with the others and is responsible for his actions in front of the whole
system. In this way, each and every man control and monitor the perceptive environment simultaneously.
Carla Lanzavecchia
VALUE
In general it represents positive qualities that can be found in a person, situation, thought. It is an abstract term
and denotes the importance of the concept it refers to.
For what concerns goods, use value is a qualitative property that represents the ability of a product to fulfil a
need which is not always enough to define the exchange value, or economic value (it quantitatively establishes
the costs on the product).
Alessandro Balbo
LIFE
With this term, systemic view means not only ―the condition of something that lives, essential quality for living
organisms that are born, grew, reproduce and die, that is the group of these organisms characteristic
phenomena”136, but also “the system of situations, relationships and of the individual, familiar and social
problems”137.
With different adjectives we can expand the concept of life (biological, social, cultural, ethical life) according to
a systemic view so to specify the way we biologically live in connection with our body, with the aspects that life
can gain depending on the social outlines, with the ―networks‖ it generates or with particular ideals it can
comply with.
Gian Paolo Marino
136 see the original Italian entry in: AA.VV., De Mauro Dizionario della Lingua Italiana, Paravia, Torino (Italy), 2000.
137 see the original Italian entry at: www.treccani.it/vocabolario/vita/

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Bibliography
S. Barbero, C. Lanzavecchia, P. Tamborrini, Il fare ecologico, Edizioni Ambiente, Milano (Italy),

2011.
L. R. Brown, Plan B 4.0 - Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Earth Policy Institute – W. W.
Norton&Company, New York, New York (U.S.A.), 2009.
F. Capra, The Web of Life, Doubleday-Anchor Book, New York, New York (U.S.A.), 1996.
F. Capra, The Hidden Connections. Integrating the Biological, Cognitive and Social Dimensions
of Life into a Science of Sustainability, Doubleday, New York, New York (U.S.A.), 2002.
P. Hawken, A. B. Lovins, H. Lovins, Natural Capitalism. Creating the Next Industrial Revolution,
Little, Brown and Company, Boston-New York, New York (U.S.A.), 1999.
B. B. Mandelbrot, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, W. H. Freeman & Company, New York, New
York (U.S.A.), 1982.
H. R. Maturana, F. J. Varela, De maquinás y seres vivos. Autopoiesis: la organización de lo vivo,
Editorial Universitaria, Santiago del Chile (Chile), 1992.
G. Nicolis, I. Prigogine, I. Stengers, M. Andreatta, M. S. De Francesco, La complessità. Esplorazioni
nei nuovi campi della scienza, Einaudi, Torino (Italy), 1987.
G. Pauli, The Blue Economy. 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs, Paradigm Publications,
Taos, New Mexico (U.S.A.), 2010.
G. Pauli, Breakthroughs. What Business Can Offer Society, Epsilon Press, Hanslewere, Surrey
(United Kingdom), 1996.
A. Peccei, D. Ikeda, Quale futuro? L’ora della verità si avvicina, Biblioteca dell‘EST, Milano (Italy),
1974.
C. Petrini, Slow Food Nation. Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean and Fair, Einaudi, Torino
(Italy), 2005.
C. Petrini, Terra Madre. Forging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities,
Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Jct., Vermont (U.S.A.), 2009.
L. Von Bertalanffy, General System Theory. Foundations, Development, Applications, George
Braziller, New York, New York (U.S.A.), 1969.

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annexes
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annex 1
Systemic Design
feasible way of analysis and plan
edited by. L. Bistagnino, C. Campagnaro, F. Fassio, P. Tamborrini, L. Signori.
The social, economic and productive structures that mark out the industrialized society are based on two
fundamental points:
Flows of matter and energy required for the functioning of agricultural and/or industrial production
processes or areas of investigation;
Relations that are activated among these trade flows and processes, that is flows of various kinds of
connections that are created on the territory among the different actors that are subject or object of the
actions.
The Systemic Design moves its design process by considering all the variables produced by the flows, the
relations, mutual connections and by each aspect that substantiates around the production process and use of
a product or service. The holistic survey is the first step of this operating system.
holistic survey
This survey on the state of the art provides an indication of the quantity and quality of what each process
involves; it considers all aspects of the investigation scope and reports all the connections that are created
both in the system existing between the individual parts constituting it, and the context in which it is located 138.
The holistic survey will lead to the definition of the product/service system based on two fundamental and
necessary categories.
1
flows of matter and energy
Anything that physically allows production, exchange and consumerism of goods and services:
the resources (input) that allow the functioning of the productive processes or the fruition processes,
such as energy, raw materials and semi-finished product;
the waste (output) and surplus; each productive process, in fact, makes use of resources that can
generate various forms of output, whether material, energy or information data that a linear productive
approach usually neglects;
the realized products and the provided services;
the logistics of goods and people: ways, shapes and timetables, handling and distribution of raw
materials, semi-finished products, products, services and manpower; the logistics processes and their
management.
2
active relationships
All the relations that processes can generate directly or indirectly:
the territory is the key area to consider as it provides a physical, social, cultural and virtual space of
exchanges that the process creates (e.g. the relationship between customer and supplier; the effect of
the processes of extraction, processing and consumption of resources; material culture expressed);
138 in his book The Web of Life, Fritjof Capra underlines a proper distinction between the meanings of holistic and ecological; but for
interpretative simplicity, we included in the holistic term also the connection with the environment.
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the local governments that manage the network of primary services relating to electricity, water,
garbage, etc. They are necessary for the development of primary processes that, moreover, oversee
all the regulatory and legislative apparatus that limits and defines a process. The systemic design
must deal with possibilities, prohibitions and restrictions that the law - which is set on the linear
production model - puts for the achievement of an open system;
the private institutions that provide services to support the production process. They prepare and
make accessible informative and managerial resources that are necessary during the process;
the producers of goods, services, components and semi-finished products used and consumed by a
process. In fact, a process creates a series of productive relations and so it will not be considered only
the manufacturer of the specific item required in the process, but also all the initial and intermediate
producers or suppliers coming into relationship with the product or the final good;
the users: the actual users (consumers and users of products and services), who are main aim of the
process at issue;
the operating users: those who manage or take care of the maintenance of products and services in
their next phase of use.
The holistic survey is therefore the detailed study of the structure at issue and the behaviour of the sets
of entities/individuals that interact reciprocally.
criticality
To follow the preparation of a detailed holistic survey, the task of the designer consists in the investigation of
the qualitative and quantitative criticalities of the analyzed system.
They will deal with social, cultural, environmental and economic spheres of the system at issue; furthermore,
they will also concern the flows of matter and energy and the whole of relations in action or the potential ones
that link the system to the actors and the territory.
Particularly, we will investigate the cause and effect relationships that concern:
the quality of available resources (output) and the used ones (input);
an excessive use of matter and energy during the course of the process;
emissions of CO2, polluting substances, wastes and soil exploitation;
disproportion and/or surplus of production, managerial, logistic and disposal costs;
overproduction of goods in relation to the demand;
disconnection between the product system and the local territory system, that is dependences on
capitals, matters, energies and extraterritorial cultures;
unemployment and underestimation of the abilities and local manpower.
According to the relations established between the different elements of the system, imbalances may be due
to the contribution of the resources, to their dispersion, or the amount of goods and products compared to the
necessity of users and managerial users; the importance of public and private entities may be disproportionate
to the role of producers and the logistics of goods and people may have deficiencies in meeting the needs of
the area.
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Conceptual framework of the holistic survey: in the planning stage, and in a specific territory, flows of matter and energy interact
together with all the other relationships activated by all different actors.
design guidelines
The critical evaluation of all the qualitative and quantitative parameters that constitute the holistic survey is the
first step to outline the possible design interventions to solve all the problematic aspects found.
Systemic Design guidelines, mentioned below, are the basic methodological approach to the project and also
the essential tool to understand, evaluate the system as a whole and to start the definition of new possible
relationships useful to the system. They are based on the fundamental consideration that the centre of a
systemic project is the Man. This latter, however, must be related to environmental, social, cultural and ethical
context of which he is part and not be regarded as a superior and dominant figure, closed as in a superb
anthropocentrism, that act on the surrounding. The Man is an harmonious part of the complex natural system
to which he must communicate and interact.
Nature, the most efficient system, defines the lines of a model that is in favour of a critical reading of the
processes and the redefinition of the latter as open systems. There is no waste and every excess is
metabolized by the system as a dynamic flow through the 5 kingdoms (vegetables, animals, fungi, algae and
bacteria):
all that is waste or toxic for a kingdom may be considered as a source of food and raw materials for
another;
diversified and highly localized systems are durable and efficient;
the interaction between species within a self-generating system, permits to create and separate the
matter at room pressure and temperature and stabilize toxic and potentially harmful elements.
In this way it is possible to realize an integration between manufacturing culture and design research that
brings out connections and coherences, now hidden between productive and reproductive processes and
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nature towards efficient and sustainable scenarios. The principles that are valid and applicable to the anthropic
systems are:
- the outputs (wastes) became inputs (resources) to another one

This innovative relationship, which sees as resources the quality and quantity of the waste products, is the
basic a new economic model: it uses the continuous flow of matter and energy and generates new products,
new jobs and new economy.
Contrary to the linear view in which the waste is a problem, in the systemic approach it is raw material for other
processes.
- relations generate the system itself

As well as in a net, the different knots are connected to each other and give strength to the whole complex, so
that the relations between the various parts constitute the system itself, and allow its identification. Each
element or knot is strategic only if it is related to another one, which may be internal and external to the
system, creating new relationships and new dynamics of development.
- self-generating (autopoietic) systems sustain and reproduce themselves

Biological systems are characterized by the principles of mutual learning, self-regulation and dynamic ability to
change in relation to the results obtained by co-evolving the entire system as a whole: they are able to sustain
and reproduce themselves, they also know exactly what they need and in what amounts, in order to maintain
the internal balances and the external relations. Our manufacturing facilities should be guided by these
operations, try to regulate each other and, then, co-evolve together.
- act locally in the context in which it operates

This guideline points out the need to exploit local, social, cultural and material resources. By using wisely the
resources of the territory you feed the local development; you effectively fight the delocalization of production
and the contribution of external resources and you promote the preservation in situ of the heritage of material
culture.
The systemic design shifts the attention to a ―human‖ dimension that informs, in a sensible and responsible
way, a system of places, communities, practices and processes. This is possible by intervening in the
processes with a view toward sustainability from a supplementary relationship between community and
territory, between natural and artificial, between man and ecosystem. The design of products, services or
processes cannot consider anymore its own specific sphere and be restricted to a linear flow of information,
know-how and production; but it also has to cover several applicable scopes and establish relationships with
those that allow an integrated and systemic development, not only of the processes but also of the society, the
culture and the territory. This design will require multicultural and design approaches, inclusive of a complex
system of active skills or to activate on the territory.
The identified design solutions will have two temporal scales of application:
the first one is short-term and consists of punctual interventions starting with perceivable results in
the immediate future;
the second one is long-term, and is the sum of all interventions that enable the final dynamic
activation and realization of the open system.
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annex 2
A new event model with a reduced environmental

impact
edited by F. Fassio.
The systemic vision applied at the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2008.
systemic project developed by Design, Politecnico di Torino and Slow Food
The real voyage of discovery does not consist in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes (Marcel
Proust).
The evolution of the project

The application of the systemic approach as a means of quantification and ―qualification‖ of the environmental
impact of an event such as the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre, allows to look at the issue of
sustainability in many ways.
The guideline of the Systemic Design that is expressed in the need for territorial relations, leads to an
assessment of environmental consequences that may result in every gesture, in an order of magnitude which
is larger and full of variables. Believing to be able to fully quantify and predict what can happen in a context as
wide as the one we live in, is certainly an utopia. We can also be aware that the way to sustainability of human
actions can only pass through the attempt to emulate the natural system. This is the unique law that can be
defined with Zero Emissions.
This first report of the project called ―A new event model with a reduced environmental impact‖ has therefore
as its primary goal to explain how various factors determine the sustainability of an event; it also explains how
each parameter should be analyzed not only for its features of innovation, which are the principles of an
evolving efficiency technology, but also as it ―lives‖ and relates to the context.
The innovation does not lie in the continuous technological updating, but in the point of view used to look at
the problems.
Innovation does not consist in the study of a technological aspect or its completion, but in the constant
research through the culture of the project which is unlikely to be taken away and possessed by others,
because of its inherent characteristics. However, technology is easily exportable and now seems destined to
remain in those countries where labor costs are almost zero.
The designers, the industry and also the users of our cultural/economic Western model of so-called economic
development, are focussed on the “linear sequential” all targeted on delivering products; they fulfill the dreams
of buyers, move the economy and encourage the company in the continuous growth of this objective.
This would not be harmful if it was not for the fact that even industrial waste products and the final products
increased exponentially with the production rate.
Only at the end of the production cycle or life cycle you will deal with waste and then look for a technology that
can solve the problem.
You cannot obviously solve the situation intervening at the end, you must change in fact the way to deal with
and manage the processes (L. Bistagnino).
The project called ―A new event model with a reduced environmental impact‖ moves its first steps in
September 2006. It plunged into a complex world of well-established and stable relationships between the
organizers, partners and technical sponsors that are the elements of a system which launched the message:
―Good, Clean and Fair‖. In particular, within this collective learning process towards a better awareness in the
choices of food consumption, the need for a trade fair sustainable, capable of harmonizing and aligning the
container (Lingotto Fiere and Oval Lingotto) and the content (products, events, workshops etc.) is developed
within Slow Food, Regione Piemonte, Città di Torino, promoters of both events. In 2006 we started a
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collaboration with Design, Politecnico di Torino, towards the implementation of the systemic view of the events
at issue as a methodological tool for reducing environmental impact.
The purpose of the project, introduced in the program of Torino 2008 World Design Capital, was to
progressively reduce the environmental impact of the event, through the creation of a network of
interdisciplinary knowledge that had taken into consideration different and complex areas of design, with the
aim to promote more sustainable consumerism and output management (e.g. waste), making them usable for
other processes and giving them a new economic value.
Starting from the ―life cycle‖ of the fair / event Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006
regarding the situation of energy consumption, water, waste production and emissions of CO2, the project is a
"holistic relief"139 view of the current state (in 2006) Input into and output out, then outline scenarios in which to
develop research. Various design experiments, research milestones, such as fairs during Slow Fish 2007
(Genoa, Italy) and Cheese 2007 (Bra, Italy), allowed us to identify innovative strategies from companies
directly involved in the planning of the event itself.
The systemic approach of Design, Politecnico di Torino, therefore, as the ―engine‖ of the fair sustainable
development has led consumers, producers and designers to reflect on the concepts of local and territorial
identity, reducing the environmental impact of product life cycle, input-output from the use of waste. It was
necessary to start a process of behavioral innovation: ―new eyes‖ that optimize the flows of promotion,
exhibition and trade by looking at the problem and without sacrificing the components that characterize the fair
product. These ―new eyes‖ optimize the flows by adapting them to local quality of the territory in order to
educate, protect and promote a new environmental culture.
The research starts from the first goal of the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2008 and
traces a starting point for an evolutionary process lasting several years. It reaffirms the innovative role and
educational function that the celebration has had since the first edition in 1996.
The project areas taken into consideration this year, through an interdisciplinary approach, increased
compared to 2006; it involved the preparations, the packing, the materials for the fruition of food, logistics for
transportation of goods, the mobility of Terra Madre delegates and visitors and energy resources, in addition to
energy, water, waste production and emissions of CO2.
Technical partners have been identified for each project areas: companies that thanks to their economic
initiative have followed us in this journey into new cultural background by establishing working and dialogue
groups between different stakeholders. The result is a complex relational system that has gradually gained a
consciousness and a unity that is surprising enough to become a driving force for all the measures put in
place: the sum of the reports proved to be more valid than the sum of individual items.
The project called ―A new event model with a reduced environmental impact‖ demonstrated ongoing to be an
effective instrument for cultural, social and ethical activities aimed at reducing the environmental impact of fair
events. Recently (November 2008), the project was mentioned by the Premio Biennale Italia for Innovation in
Design Event. It was recognized for ―the cultural action demonstrated in the project addressed to the territory
and the created experience that has established a cognitive and emotional bond with the audience‖.
The Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre can now therefore be regarded as a ―living event‖ for its
dynamism, its constant evolution that focusses on the most recent internationalization dynamics of the
Country-system. These two events are increasingly linked to network processes that are oriented to the
territorial development and to dialogue and education policies with the visitors. It‘s a lab, where projects like ―A
new event model with reduced environmental impact‖ represent, plan and metabolize new trends and
lifestyles, new alliances between producers, promoters and distributors, new languages that accelerate the
diffusion of an innovation that restores dignity to the environment. This innovation develops by shaping and
informing, by creating awareness, responsibility and sharing of the same principles.
Nowadays, the research is evolving because of the ―enthusiasms‖ generated by this first global example of
systemic event, which are leading us in the development of an exportable model of a fair event with reduced
environmental impact. It can become a vehicle of communication of the Piedmontese excellence in this area.
139 see annex 1.
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Partners of the project and the development of project scenarios
This project adopts for the first time at international level a new design approach: the Systemic Design.
Features of the Master Degree in ECODESIGN of Politecnico di Torino, the Systemic Design can activate a
new economic model based on the planning of open industrial cycles.
Its focus is the Man, integrated into the system in which he lives and where he activates its relations. It‘s a
methodological approach that advocates the application of dynamics and natural timings to the industry.
Productive activities may reflect the way Nature works and where also the surpluses are metabolized by the
system. In Nature nothing is wasted because what is output for a system becomes input for another, ―Nature
provides a strong value to its output (waste)!‖140.
Following this approach, the Systemic Design provides for the analysis of several contexts and factors and
redesign them focusing on a reduced environmental impact. This led to change the architecture and the
organization of the event and also gave great benefits from an economic and working point of view on the
entire Piedmont Region by building a system of relations with local companies.
Below are summarized some of the developments of analyzed and designed project areas.
Set up: the design of systemic elements

In collaboration with Set Up, we decided to change the setting by 50%, replacing the normal pre-arranged
elements with other consisting of Celenit (that is a mixture of wood mineralized wool and cement), a material
that is not chemically treated to meet the parameters of the fireproofing. The reason is that it is its nature and
is also a natural thermo-acoustic insulator.
However, the real change, in addition to the technological innovation in using this kind of material, is its
employment by Società Autostrade, Co.Ge.Fa. S.p.A. (a company that at first bought the material and then
rent it to Set Up for the setting), when it will not be used for any other exhibitions. The company, avoiding the
landfill, will use it to construct formworks for the basis of roads. We are therefore faced with a practical
example of Systemic Design that promotes the creation of new economic models in which output becomes
input in another workplace.
Another strategic choice of an architectural point of view is certainly the removal of the carpet that has always
been one of the most common constructions in fairs, even if it has a very short life cycle. For this reason, the
Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre have decided to abolish the use of carpet and so 78,500 m 2,
that are the floor of Lingotto Fiere and Oval Lingotto, are free. Furthermore, some special washable paints of
natural extraction (supplier Spring Color) were tested in about 2,300 m2 (Slow Food, Regione Piemonte, Città
di Torino, Strada Maestra space). Certainly, the arguments developed on the produced material for
communications (billboards, posters, warnings) that internal or external to events. The material used for the
communication has been designed in collaboration with the non-profit institution Papili Factory Onlus,
specifically to be reused at the end of the fair in other applicative areas (extension of the life cycle of materials
for the preparation), as well as it has significantly reduced the production of papery materials (reduction of
about 20%) in favor of a disclosure of the information available through Internet. 80% of the billboards has also
been made (supplier Cartiere Paudice) with recycled and recyclable cardboard that has a low content of
chemical element harmful for man.
The use in an experimental way of 10 Evergreen sheets (supplier Dickson Coating – a material considered
environmentally compatible in a technological way) is really interesting. Sheets, hand-painted by students of
the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Torino (the Academy of Fine Arts in Torino), were used in the event to
increase the communication and are now on display at the academy. We want also point out the initiative
promoted by the non-profit institution Papili Factory Onlus together with La Stampa: about 150 seats were
produced in the same place by recycling old newspapers La Stampa and used for the exhibition.
140 see Systemic Design Guidelines, chapter 1, paragraph systemic/interdisciplinary innovation.
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companies/institutions involved
SET UP works in the planning and organization of many kind of events and
exhibitions, managing all phases of the project, from brief to creativity - prepared
according to the target – from the preparation to the following control and monitoring.
At bottom of the business philosophy there is the belief that that e satisfaction of a
customer, environmental protection, worker safety and progression of the company
are the elements that must coexist for the development and a continuous
improvement of the organization.
Co.Ge.Fa S.p.A. works in the construction of roads and highways and all matters
relating to road signs.
PAPILI FACTORY Onlus (non-profit institution) is an association (since 2004) and a

co-operative (since 2007). Its purpose is to pursue the general interest of the
community to human promotion and social integration of citizens through artistic
manufacturing activities that provide for the employment of disadvantaged people.
Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti in Torino is one of the oldest in Italy. It has
the purpose of preparing to arts and is the seat of higher education, specialization and
research in the artistic sphere.
La Stampa is one of the best known and most popular Italian newspapers, based in
Torino. The daily sale of 300,000 copies makes it the third biggest selling information
newspaper in the country.
Waste collection: an event designed from the needs of waste disposal

In collaboration with Amiat, we designed, through an analysis of the flows of waste production (analysis that is
developed from the location and the typology of displayed products), a system of divestment of waste that
aspired to 50% of differentiation. This initiative is remarkable; in fact, for the first time an exhibition has been
designed from the needs of waste divestment. Therefore, we discuss about the areas needed for the
development of a proper separate collection of household waste inside and outside the fair, before the
arrangement of the stands. All the materials collected have also followed the stricter rules of divestment and
optimization that identify and trace the chain and have also allowed a safety generation safe materials, such
as new objects resulting from a proper recycling. The control of the various operations was further monitored
by other partners of the project like Comieco and Consorzio Nazionale Acciaio.
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In particular, in both sectors, proper waste separation has yielded benefits on the system: packaging and
recycled paper are partly returned to Slow Food to meet future editorial needs while the compost produced
from the recycling waste will be used to fertilize the land that Slow Food will re-use to reduce their emissions of
the remaining CO2.
The initiative of the Buon Samaritano project continued in the edition of 2008: in 2006 were collected 1.4 tons
of food while less than 6 tons of surplus food will be given to charity to the Arsenale della Pace in Torino at the
end of this fair.
During the fair, the promoters of the initiative were also pride of having already avoided about 56,500 kg of
waste and other 69,400 kg depended on the correct differentiation of the waste produced by visitors, thanks to
a proper design of the exhibition at all stages of its life cycle (exhibition, event and dismantling). The
involvement of the people, properly informed through timely communication and efficient collaboration of
Palmar in the management of waste internal to the event, were crucial to achieve this objective: according to
Amiat data, we can now claim to have achieved a waste differentiation of 59,8%.
AMIAT, Azienda Multiservizi Igiene Ambientale Torino S.p.A., manages and delivers
an integrated health services of the soil, the collection and disposal of the waste for a
catchment area of over 1 million inhabitants. AMIAT's challenge for the future is the
optimization of waste, through a proper management of the treatment system and
through a recovery that turn waste into resources, generating fewer environmental
impacts.
PALMAR is part of the Onama Group since 2001 and is responsible for integrated
environmental services. It is responsible for cleaning of the exhibition spaces and
common ones at Lingotto Fiere.
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Packaging: the design and the improvement of packaging
New patterns of consumption, production and management of food packaging have been spread and
promoted by many strategic partners such as Comieco, Consorzio Nazionale Acciaio, ReAcademy and the
brand I Was. The design applied to packaging aims to reduce the environmental impact of the entire life-cycle
of packing, seeking the best solutions to meet conservation‘s requirements of the product, the consumer, the
producer and the distributor. You cannot absolutely think of a better packaging but only about the best
packaging for a specific product.
Here are design projects related to the topic of food packaging:

- Comieco attended the Salone ―Gusto così‖ and ―Salvavino‖: to bring home food or wine you hadn‘t
consumed in the restaurant is not news. However, this is a tangible way to remind us that we
leave our mark on the environment every day. Therefore, packaging becomes a tool for
environmental communication, as well as helpful support for the landfill to save the food and wine
cleverly packaged. Save wine also allows you to drink responsibly with the result of having safer
roads and more peaceful nights;
- enhancement of steel packaging: recycling project developed by the Consorzio Nazionale Acciaio
and present in their institutional space;
- Mr. PET is a system of collection and disposal of PET bottles that becomes baskets and trolleys
for supermarkets. It is a project developed by ReAcademy and present in their institutional stand;
- KEOBOX are cardboard bags for shopping, produced by the re-use cardboard boxes for food
packaging. They could be used and re-used instead of plastic shopping bags. It is a project
developed by ReAcademy and present in the slow Bazar.
The theme of the design applied to the packaging has been developed at Terra Madre in a conference entitled
―STRATEGIES – When the product speaks. Promotion and communication through sustainable packaging”
(speakers: Clara Ceppa e Franco Fassio, Design, Politecnico di Torino). This was an event of great interest
because the manufacturers of packaging have met the producers of the Presìdi and the Comunità del Cibo di
Terra Madre to discuss and find solutions about the issue of sustainability of food packaging (more information
on this site www.polito.it/design).
COMIECO was founded in 1985 as a free association of paper companies interested
in environmental protection. As a guarantor of the proper functioning of the cycle of
recycling paper and cardboard, the Consorzio collects the production chain of the
cellulose based packing.
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CONSORZIO NAZIONALE ACCIAIO aims to facilitate and promote the collection and
recycling of steel packaging (tins, cans, caps and kegs). It was born in 1997 and
consists of 242 companies including manufacturers of steel packaging and raw
material producers. In 2007, the consortium has started to recycle 69% of steel
packaging on the market.
REACADEMY is the place to implement the eco-sustainable projects. If you have a

good seed to be planted in the landscape of the economy which is respectful of the
environment, you will find the necessary logistics to the design of the idea, its
industrialization, production, distribution and sale.
I WAS is the brand of ReAcademy research, companies, products and services. Its
objective is to develop the concept of “recycling” that according to ReAcademy has a
wide potential and will become a cornerstone of the economy of the future thanks to
technology.
Biodegradable materials: from nature to nature!
We have adopted some materials for the use of food and biodegradable paper bags; it is the only common
alternative applicable to exhibitions of great importance (about 180,000 visitors in 2008) that could reduce the
environmental impact of disposable components.
The waste produced by the use of biodegradable and fertilized items have become part of the chain of
collection plan bound to the production of composts used to fertilize the naturally soil.
Initiatives, in collaboration with Novamont, EcoZema and Eco Technologie, that permitted the dissemination
of these materials within the event:
a free kit provided to all exhibitors made up of crockery, bags, napkins of cellulose pulp and Mater-
Bi®;
in the canteen of Terra Madre (about 7,000 guests) biodegradable and compostable dishes in
cellulose pulp and Mater-Bi® were used;
a year before (January 2010) the European law that has banned the use of plastic bags becomes
effective, the Salone has promoted alternatives such as bags of biodegradable materials, recycled
paper and natural fabrics. All exhibitors have been given a free supply of bags made of Mater-Bi®.
During the exhibition was also set up a location where these components were sold at a competitive price so
they would widely adopted within the fair.
NOVAMONT is an innovative industrial company engaged in the R&D of products

containing renewable raw materials of agricultural origin. The objective is to promote
an industrial policy that creates an integrated system between chemistry, agriculture,
industry and environment for a development which must be truly sustainable and with
a low environmental impact. You can create biodegradable and disposable tableware
through the Mater-Bi®.
ECOZEMA rivenditore di una gamma completa di articoli monouso per il catering,

realizzati con materiali derivanti da fonti vegetali e smaltibili in compostaggio come il
Mater Bi®.
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ECO TECNOLOGIE studies how to implement alternative technologies and
products that have less environmental impact with the same result. It promotes
enzymic products and disposable tableware. The line of ECOZEMA products, which
is a valuable partner for those events where the educational message of
environmental awareness is a good part of the same event, has its sole agent, Eco
Tecnologie, in Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d'Aosta.
Energy resources: energy supply from renewable local sources

The strategy of energy supply derived from local renewable sources has been developed once adopted and
promoted good practices and new design guidelines to reduce the total area of energy required to the event.
The analysis of Piedmont territory developed by Design, Politecnico di Torino, showed that there is avery
attentive and efficient company in the production of alternative energy: the Marcopolo Environmental Group.
Strategic partner of the project ―A new event model with a reduced environmental impact‖, the group provided
the energy for the fair, putting a equal quantity of ―green‖ energy on the market. It comes from their plants of
biomass fueled with waste of zootechnical farms located in Piedmont; it also derives from reclamation systems
and safety of regional landfills, through the capitation and the cogeneration of biogas (This process prevents a
pollutant such as biogas from dispersing into the atmosphere and, through the rain, on the land).
The use of renewable sources to supply electricity to the needs of the event, allowed to take the first step
towards the promotion of a sustainable energy fair at a lower environmental impact. In this sense, it promotes
energy coming from the same area which is also generated from the enhancement of output from different
working sectors.
The main advantages of these energy production systems are:
- clean and friendly environmentally processes;
- preservation and promotion of what is currently a waste product (manure);
- electricity and heat energy without the use of fossil products which would decrease energy
dependence on imported raw materials;
- reduction of emissions that affect climate;
- generation of additional products through the use of waste (output) from the process of energy
production;
- it actually contributes to the gradual reduction of environmental pollution and the greenhouse effect,
according to the guidelines of the Kyoto Protocol.
The company Terra ricerca&sviluppo which belongs to the group Marcopolo Environmental Group, at the
end of the production process of energy through the use of animal waste (output) out of the process, has
created more products like Humus Anenzy®, which were used to fertilize naturally green areas within the
event and on an experimental basis on the grounds of Slow Food Presidium of San Marzano tomatoes.
MARCOPOLO ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP is a Piedmontese company that operates

internationally on the environment for the industrial “active” exploitation of waste and
the production of energy from renewable sources. Marcopolo Environmental Group
develops, different activities in the environment field through group companies. Its
philosophy can be summarized as follows: “renewable energy research and
development, with economic profit and social benefit of all those products considered
waste, both solid and liquid, urban, zootechnical or industrial”.
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TERRA RICERCA&SVILUPPO is a company that buys the zoo-biomass raw material
from farmers, solving the serious problem of a wide quantity of nitrogen existing in
soils and meeting the recent Nitrates Directive. The biomass is processed for about
thirty months, through a chain of anaerobic / aerobic digestion that uses
methanogenesis - Annelida - insects and microorganisms, to obtain the Humus
Anenzy®, a mixed amender composted which is particularly suitable for crops and for
improving the structure of the ground, for the supplying of mineral elements and for
the enhancement of microbial flora to contrast the attacks of plant parasites.
Water: one small step for a big goal

The first step of the event was the promotion of drinking water ―on tap‖ by adopting, in collaboration with
SMAT within ―Pensa che Mensa‖, bottles and jugs of drinking water from public sources. Water quality has
been carefully monitored by the Partners of the project. This design choice, which has prevented the use of
plastic bottles (glass bottles are not used by law in events for security reasons) and then the resulting waste
production, was accompanied by a communication to raise awareness of a sustainable watering:
do not use more water than nature restores;
ensure the quality of water found in nature in the long run through the water protection and
environmental monitoring;
ensure that the price of water is accessible to everybody.
SMAT, Società Metropolitana Acque Torino S.p.A. Company, manages waterworks

and the largest and most advanced European system for the treatment of drinking
water and sewage. It annually produces more than 250 million cubic meters of good
and satisfying drinking water; it also dispenses water to more than 2 million
inhabitants, through a distribution system of about 7,000 km.
CO2 emissions: a measure for estimating the reduction of environmental impact

We have collaborated with AzzeroCO2 on a program of reduction and elimination of greenhouse gases
emissions. The parameter needed to assess the actual reduction of the impact of the fair, are the CO 2
emissions, which are part of a complex planning scenario full of actors. From a rough estimate of the volume
of CO2 emitted during the event in 2006 derives a production of about 1,600 tons (the amount of CO2 was
calculated on the basis of expenditure of energy, paper, CDs and movements of participants). Therefore, in
2008 it was necessary to propose measures aimed at the reduction of such emissions. Here follows a list of
the major initiatives implemented:
trasporto delle persone
car park: in collaboration with FIAT Group, Slow Food has started a process of replacing its own
company car park with vehicles with a low environmental impact (introduction in 2008 of two Fiat
Panda and a Fiat Multipla methane refuelled). The Fiat Group has also chosen to support, as partners,
the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre because it shares the values whom they draw
inspiration from (Good, Clean and Fair); it also displayed in 2008 some products as a proof of its
commitment to a sustainable mobility and a reduced environmental impact. In particular, at the
entrance of ―Pavilion 3‖, there was the new Grande Punto Natural Power;
the mobility of visitors: from Lingotto railway station to the Salone, in partnership with GTT, some free
methane refuelled shuttles were placed at visitors' disposal (with the contribution of the Agenzia per
la Mobilità Metropolitana);
the mobility of Terra Madre delegates: in collaboration with Bus Company, a GTT coach bus fleet
with low environmental impact was used for the mobility of the delegates. 90% of the vehicles used fall
within the category anti-pollution Euro 3 and Euro 4, 10% came under the Euro 2 anti-particulate filter
equipped;
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transport of water and food
Terra Madre canteen: in collaboration with Camst, Risteco and Lurisia Acque Minerali, the local
products were carried by logistics of a sensitive distribution to CO2 emissions;
the diffusion of the products of international Presidia: in collaboration with Sotral, we have developed
a logistic system aimed at reducing CO2 emissions (Euro 4 diesel car with refrigeration unit) and the
impact on the city for the transports from Caselle and Malpensa airports to Lingotto Fiere - Oval
Lingotto of some Presidia products; goods were transported by electric vehicles and men;
the diffusion of products for the ―Pensa che Mensa‖ stands: in collaboration with Sotral, we have
developed a logistic system aimed at reducing CO2 emissions (Euro 4 diesel car with refrigeration
unit) and impact on the city for what concerns food used in this stand;
the logistics of the transport was organized into two different ways:
1) direct transport;
2) use of the Moretta platform.
After these reduction activities, and the benefits gained through the design decisions taken in the other
analyzed backgrounds (construction, waste, biodegradable materials, etc.), the rest of CO 2 emissions will be
offset by a local project of conservation of the fluvial biodiversity (local tree plantings and drainages) in the
Park of the Po River in Torino. Near Carignano, in an area previously used for mining (quarry basin), there will
be drainage of the area and the following planting of:
% trees/ha
Quercus robur (oak) 20 228
Fraxinus excelsior (ash) 20 228
Carpinus betulus (white hornbeam) 20 228
Alnus glutinosa (black alder) 10 114
Prunus avium (cherry tree) 5 57
Acer campestris (field maple) 5 57
Ulmus minor (elm) 5 57
Populus alba (white poplar) 5 57
Populus nigra (black poplar) 5 57
Tilia cordata (wild lime) 5 57
TOTAL 100 1140
The old voice of the River Po evoked by the project of the University of gastronomic sciences ―Alla ricerca del
grande Fiume‖ (―Finding the big River‖ - 100 students and teachers that from September 26 to October 20,
2007 rode by bike along the river on the wake of the historical documentary by Mario Soldati) emphasizes the
need to preserve a cultural, natural and social heritage that is also unique and invaluable. Here comes the
need to respect the environment.
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AZZEROCO2, company set up by Legambiente, Kyoto Club and Istituto di ricerche

Ambiente Italia, offers to public institutions, companies and citizens the opportunity to
contribute actively to tackle climate change through a reduction of greenhouse gases
emissions.
PARCO FLUVIALE DEL PO TORINESE (PO RIVER PARK IN TORINO) the fact that
it is a protected area derives from the will of improving an environment plagued by
wild urbanization, overbuilding of banks, water pollution and instabilities arising from
mining activities. The rivers are also scenes of nature, exciting fluvial landscapes, and
corridors for the migration of birds, where there are still historical living proofs that
have linked the man to the River. The Park of Po was created to ensure that this
heritage won’t be.
RISTECO is a consortium that promotes a sustainable development in the field of

collective catering by using the approach of Life Cycle Thinking. Today Risteco acts
nationally and internationally as a facilitator, creating conditions for dialogue and
partnership between the world of research, business and institutions, using the motto
of the so-called “economy of knowledge”.
CAMST is one of the leading restaurant groups and of the main capitalized group in
Italy. It has built its success by providing the catering in each fraction of activity:
business, educational and medical and for seniors, commercial, fair and the
organization of receptions by offering personalized services.
SOTRAL is a company specialized in services of distributive logistics for foodstuffs

bound to collective caterings, that is the set of all those services that connect and link
centralized productions of meals to places of delivery or sale: from the transport of
meals for canteens in schools, companies, hospitals, barracks to a range of upstream
and downstream activities linked to its core-business. All their activities are designed
and created with the intention of promoting the growth of services’ market as a
support to the companies of catering in the sustainable development.
GTT, Gruppo Torinese Trasporti S.p.A., deals with local public transport and mobility
management. Its activities are: urban and suburban transports (metro, bus and tram),
railways in Torino and its province; design and construction of infrastructures (metro,
tramway, parking lots), parking management and tourist services.
AGENZIA MOBILITA’ METROPOLITANA TORINO is an association of local

authorities. It is the authority responsible for the public administration of the collective
mobility within the metropolitan area of Torino. It also aims at improving sustainable
mobility in the metropolitan area of Torino, optimizing the public transport service.
FIAT GROUP operates in 190 countries and employs more than 185,000 people
worldwide. It is currently engaged in a plan of international growth that will be pursued
with a full respect for the environment, the communities and the territories in which it
operates. For this reason and the values it represents, the Group has chosen to
support Slow Food.
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BUS COMPANY is a brand that groups five companies operating in the field of public
collective mobility: the ATI Trasporti Interurbani S.p.A., operating since 1879 in the
province of Cuneo, the SEAG bus services, company founded in 1973, Giachino
Linea Verde s.r.l. and FOGLIATI s.r.l., two major rental companies and grand tourism
services and the latest TM Mondovì. The group has experienced a growing
development and is the leader in public and tourist transports in Piedmont. It is a
reality in constant motion, with a fleet of about 250 buses that is regularly monitored
and renewed and that covers millions of kilometres every year.
The creation of a network of companies

The results realized from the project ―A new event model with a reduced environmental impact‖ show that it is
now necessary to activate a process of ―behavioural innovation‖ without sacrificing the elements that
characterize the event, but it optimizes the flows of promotion, exhibition and trade, adapting them to local
qualities of the territory, with the aim of educating, protecting and promoting an environmental culture that
should be widespread and shared by everybody.
The systemic approach, as ―power‖ for sustainable development, becomes useful to represent, design,
metabolize new trends and lifestyles, alliances between producers, promoters and distributors141, new
languages that accelerate the diffusion of an innovation that restores environmental dignity and develop
themselves by forming and informing.
Looking ahead, it becomes crucial to establish an economic connection between the elements of a system that
are currently acting separately (Universities, Companies, Authorities, Institutions and Associations),
developing a process of collective learning (co-evolution) that leads to a greater awareness in the choices of
sustainable development in Piedmont. The creation of a network of interdisciplinary knowledge will
facilitate the development of a relational, multicultural and interdisciplinary system that will be complex but
unitary. This system will generate a driving force for sustainable development in the territory. The
adopted applications will demonstrate to people and companies that a viable sustainable future does not
mean a loss of our habits or an increase of business costs. Thanks to the new interdisciplinary culture, the
Piedmont region will become a centre of attraction for learning the developed model and will bring about an
increase in employment for the companies involved.
An exportable model of zero emissions systemic event, which is set in the area and represents the territory,
comes into being.
The Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre are hoping that this project will inspire virtuous
behaviour, gradually improved, in institutions, national and international fairs, companies and that it goes so far
as to involve every single responsible person (Roberto Burdese, President of Slow Food Italy - Conference to
launch the project, Salone d’Onore Castello del Valentino, October 2008).
141 see scheme of relationships activated among the various partners at chapter 2, paragraph energy, case study: Salone
Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2006/2008/2010 (that one referred to the 2008 edition).
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2006
MACRODATA Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre
NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING PRODUCTIVE COMPANIES
exhibitors
346 stalls (Italy and foreign countries);
163 stands (Italy and foreign countries).
dining areas (Kitchens, Islands of Taste and Street Food)
16 (Italy and foreign countries).
NUMBER OF PRODUCTS ON DISPLAY
about 4,000 foods;
1,800 wines in the wine stand.
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
about 172,400 visitors;
1,000 newspapers;
5,000 operators of food (Terra Madre).
HOST STRUCTURE NUMBERS
Salone Internazionale del Gusto areas (Lingotto Fiere)
13,288 sqm commercial area;
9,586 sqm area for educational and tasting activities;
The Salone Internazionale del Gusto occupies about 52,457 square meters in total.
Terra Madre areas (Oval Lingotto)
Terra Madre occupies about 26,043 square meters in total.
Total of Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre in 2006
approximately 78,500 sqm of the fair (pavilions 1-2-3-5 Lingotto Fiere + Oval Lingotto).
NUMBER OF THE IMPACT OF THE EVENT IN 2006 (duration of the event: 5 days)
WASTE
the waste has been differentiated for about 16%:
- plastic 12.1 tons – 6,4%;
- glass 11.12 tons – 5,9%;
- wood 6.79 tons – 3,6%;
- oil 0.4 tons – 0,2%;
- undifferentiated waste 157.65 tons – 83.8%;
- setting: 20% of the setting was disposed of in landfills (moquette, pre-prepared materials and
supports of communication). This material is not counted in the calculation of the separate collection
of household waste because it was not activated during installation or dismantling in 2006.
WASTE NOT PRODUCED
Buon Samaritano project: 1.4 tons of recovered foodstuffs.
ENERGY
fair demand: about 4,652 kWh.
WATER
consumption of drinking water by the management of the structure: about 100,000 litres.
EMISSIONS
CO2: estimated approximately 1,600 tons.
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2008
MACRODATA Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre
NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING PRODUCTIVE COMPANIES
exhibitors
335 stalls (Italy);
97 stalls (Foreign countries);
Total: 432 stalls +25% compared to 2006.
171 stands (Italy);
17 stands (Foreign countries);
Total: 188 stands + 15% compared to 2006.
dining areas (Kitchens, Islands of Taste and Street Food)
21 Italy;
5 Foreign countries;
Total: 26 dining areas (in 2006, where there were not Street Food) + 62% compared to 2006.
NUMBER OF PRODUCTS ON DISPLAY
about 4,500 foods + 12.5% compared to 2006;
2,000 wines in the wine stand + 11% compared to 2006.
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
about 180,000 visitors + 4.5% compared to 2006;
1,200 newspapers + 20% compared to 2006;
7,142 operators of food (Terra Madre) + 42.84 % compared to 2006;
as follows:
- 6,325 delegates
4,073 farmers, breeders, fishermen and handicrafts
797 cooks
299 university teachers and representatives of research institutes
943 students
213 musicians
- 817 technicians and representatives of local associations and institutions
- 153 Countries represented
- 1,652 food communities
HOST STRUCTURE NUMBERS
Salone Internazionale del Gusto areas (Lingotto Fiere)
17,557 sqm commercial areas + 32% compared to 2006;
16,212 sqm areas for educational and tasting activities + 69% compared to 2006.
48% of the cover area of the Salone Internazionale del Gusto is devoted to educational and tasting activities.
The Salone Internazionale del Gusto occupies about 62,349 square meters in total +18% compared to 2006.
Terra Madre areas (Oval Lingotto + Pala Isozaki)
Terra Madre covered about 27,651 sqm + 6% compared to 2006.
Total of Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre in 2008
Approximately 90,000 sqm of the fair (Pavilions 1-2-3-5 + external pavilion Lingotto Fiere + Oval Lingotto +
Pala Isozaki) + 14% compared to 2006.
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NUMBERS OF THE EVENT IMPACT 2008 (duration of the event: 5 days)
WASTE
reached 59.8% of differentiation
plastic 14.7 tons, - 6% - 0.4% compared to 2006 (due to the non-use of plastic materials for food
consumption in favour of biodegradable and compostable materials such as Mater BI, PLA and
cellulose pulp);
glass 21.8 tons, - 9% +3.1% compared to 2006 (has improved the collection of this material);
wood 41.4 tons, - 17% +13.4% compared to 2006 (the increase is due to the construction and
dismantling of the waste collected in the count. In 2006 the collection was not done during those two
periods);
oils 0.5 tons, - 0.2%;
organic 17.4 tons, - 7.2% +100% compared to 2006 (the collection did not exist in 2006. The greater
part of the percentage is made up of biodegradable materials for food consumption),
paper 49.7 tons, - 20.4% +100% compared to 2006 (the collection did not exist in 2006);
undifferentiated waste 97.8 ton, - 40.2% - 43.7% compared to 2006.
WASTE NOT PRODUCED
avoided
279.74 tons of undifferentiated rubbish compared to 2006 (difference of the
waste properly cast off between 2006 and 2008 + waste not produced);
25,177 Euros (cost communities) for their disposal (it is the cost avoided to the
community: in Torino and its province, the average cost of contribution of undifferentiated products is
approximately € 90 per ton - Torino‘s province data. If these 279,74 tons finished in the circuit of mixed
waste, it would require about € 25,177 for their disposal).
Buon Samaritano project: 6 tons of foodstuffs + 77% compared to 2006 (they were given as charity
to the Arsenale Della Pace, Torino).
biodegradable materials: exclusive distribution of biodegradable and compostable disposable

products has led to the production of about 7 t of compost from the collection of 17.4 tons of organic
waste. This allowed us to avoid about 10 tons of undifferentiated waste destined to the dump and the
incinerator.
construction materials:
moquette:
2006 – approximately 78,500 sqm;
2008- 0 sqm, about 51 tons of construction material (carpet composition:
100% polypropylene fibre - support background: synthetic latex - total weight:
about 650 gr/sqm - thickness: 2.5 mm approximately) less and whose 60%
would be over in a landfill.
construction recovered materials: 50% of material used consisted of Celenit; 138.25 tons of
this material have been recovered and will be used until the end of their useful life (Slow Fish
2009, 2009 Cheese, Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2010). At that moment,
it will be purchased by the company Co.Ge.Fa. S.p.A. to build formwork for the foundations of
roads.
media communication and furnishings:
paper-based communications have decreased by 20%;
80% of the posters has been produced with recycled and recyclable materials
(supplier Paudice Cartiera) avoiding derived petroleum-based media such as
PVC;
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1.6 tons of recycled cardboards have been recovered. 1.3 tons of them went
to Italmaceri, paper recycling centre, and 0.3 tons Papili Factory Onlus non-
profit institution that will use them to build new objects. Thanks to this
operation Amiat and Comieco have recognized a financial reward to Slow
Food Promotion;
as an experiment we used a natural washable egg varnish (supplier Spring
Color), to report 2.300 sqm of floor area (Road Master);
we tested 10 sheets in Evergreen (supplier Dickson Coating - material based
on a friendly environment technology) for graphic communication. The
paintings by the students of the Accademia Delle Belle Arti of Torino, are now
on display at the academy;
about 150 seats that have been produced locally by the non-profit institution
Papili Factory Onlus were used in the making of the fair, by recycling old
newspapers provided by La Stampa;
the “event system” as a whole, in addition to supplies from renewable

sources, has avoided the use of approximately 103,011 kWh, 5 tons of crude
oil and produced approximately 34,230 kWh
fair demand:
about 4,641 kWh – 0.2% compared to 2006 (needs kWh decreased despite the increase of the surface thanks
to a greater attention focused on the connection demand).
reduction actions
biodegradable materials: analysis of LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) carried out by comparing a meal
fed with compostable disposable products and disposable products in traditional plastic, shows that
were saved 515 kWh per 1,000 meals - the seats were about 200,000 (it corresponds to about 26,000
bulbs of 50 W not used during the five days of the event).
green energy supply: exhibition requirements have been fulfilled by introducing in the national circuit
an equal quantity of energy from renewable sources in Piedmont (animal biomass energy, biogas from
waste). In this way it was avoided a consumption of about 1 ton of oil per day (1-TOE Ton of Oil
Equivalent = 11,628 kWh = 4,545.45 kWh electric heat).
energy produced from insorte waste (97,8 tons): 34.230 kWh (the ENEA calculation from
Assoambiente data, shows that from 1 ton of urban waste it is possible to produce 350 kWh).
WATER
prevented 500 million litres of water from polluting
and promoting the “on tap” model
drinking water consumption management structure: about 110,000 litres +10% compared to 2006
reduction actions
“on tap” water: in the ―Pensa che Mensa‖ area was distributed only water on tap to about 1,125
people (estimated consumption: 562.5 litres of water). We can claim to have avoided the introduction
of about 1,125 PET bottles of 0,5 litres in the system, filled with water (weight 0,5 litre PET bottle in
about 20 grams. It takes about 2 kg of oil to make 1 kg of PET). In this way we prevented the emission
of 45 kg of oil and 103.5 kg of CO2 (the burning of one litre of oil produces 2.3 kg of CO2 emissions).
oils: the collection of 0.5 tons of cooking oils has avoided (if they had been disposed of in the sink)
that were polluted about 500 millions of water (one litre of oil pollutes one million litres of water, which
is the water consumption of a person for 14 years).
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CO2 EMISSIONS
a part was reduced by about 30% and the remaining one zeroed with a plan
to protect biodiversity along the River Po
The ―system event‖ has avoided the emission of about 473.2 tons of CO2 thanks to cutting measures
implemented. The calculations were made with respect to data collected in 2006 and comparing the means
used for this edition, with a category lower. This was because in some cases there are not sources of
information of the means used in previous editions or because we are facing a new initiative.
The remaining CO2 emissions (estimated at 1,126.8 tons) will be offset with a local project to protect fluvial
biodiversity (local tree planting and land reclamation activities) in the Po River Park of Torino (Carignano,
Italy).
reduction actions
biodegradable materials: analysis of LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) carried out by comparing a meal
fed with compostable disposable products and traditional disposable plastic products, shows that have
been spared 68 kg of CO2 for every 1,000 meals - the seats were about 200,000 (Avoided emissions
of CO2 as if there were 450 fewer cars circulating daily in Torino). Approximately 13.6 tons of CO2
avoided in 5 days;
electricity supply from renewable sources: CO2 emissions avoided approximately 494 kg of CO2
per day (calculated using the ―emission factor of the electricity mix‖, Ministero dell'Ambiente source -
factor of 0.531 kg CO2/kWh. For five days of the Salone have been avoided 4,641 kWh x 0.531 = 2.46
tons of CO2);
electricity supply from renewable sources: NOx emissions avoided approximately 1.4 kg of NOx
per day (calculated the factor ―Italian electricity mix‖ Source: UNI 10349 - factor corresponds to 0.0015
kg NOx / kWh. In five days of fair have been avoided 4,652 kWh x 0.0015 = 6.978 NOx);
separate collection of household waste:

plastic: 74.5 tonnes of CO2 avoided from 2006 (an average of CO2 emissions was calculated
from the recycling of PVC and PET. Emissions from non-incineration were also calculated);
glass: 20 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006 (analysis were made on the assumption that the
glass is a white guy. Emissions from non-incineration were also calculated);
wood: 0.5 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006 (all derived from the non-incineration);
oils: collecting 0.5 tons of cooking oils has avoided (If instead they had been thrown away in
the sink) that were polluted about 500 million litres of water (one litre of oil pollutes one million
litres of water, enough for the water consumption of a person for 14 years);
organic: 0.5 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006 (all deriving from the non-incineration);
paper media for communication and furnishings: 3 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006
(avoided emissions were calculated from the failure to produce new white paper; were also
calculated emissions from non-incineration);
undifferentiated waste: 49.4 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006 (emissions calculated from non-
incineration);
Buon Samaritano project: 0.13 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006 (all deriving from the non-
incineration);
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SYSTEMIC DESIGN
construction materials:
moquette: 213.5 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006 (were calculated tons of CO2 avoided for the
production and incineration);
recovered pre-set material: 20 tons of CO2 avoided from 2006 (were calculated tons of CO2
avoided because recycled into other materials).
on tap water: 0.1035 tons of CO2 avoided (we calculated the tons of CO2 avoided by introducing in
the system about 1,125 plastic bottles - PET of 0.5 litres).
improving Slow Food car park: 3 gasoline cars replaced with

2 methane Fiat Panda;
1 methane Fiat Multipla.
transporting visitors thanks to GTT vehicles: for the 5 day of the event a 18-meter articulated bus
powered by natural gas has brought visitors from the Lingotto train station to the Lingotto Fiere.
Total rounds in 5 days: 260;
mileage: 988 km.
Having used half methane (- 24.7% compared to a Euro 0) instead of a Euro 0 diesel, which
produces approximately 600 grams of CO2 per km, have prevented about 146,421 grams of CO2.
transportation of delegates to Terra Madre: 90 grand tourism diesel coaches were used, of which:
25% Euro 4 (makes about 160 grams of CO2 per km), 65% Euro 3 (produces approximately 250
grams of CO2 per km), 10% Euro 2 ( produces about 350 grams of CO2 per km) and in 5
transportation means fitted with anti-particulate filter.
Total number of trips during the event: about 1,100
Mileage 5 days event: about 200,000 km
Having used an Euro 4 methane vehicle instead of a diesel Euro 0, the emission of
approximately 72.5 tons of CO2 has been avoided.
mobility of International Presidia products: for the transport of some International Presidia products
from Caselle and Malpensa to Lingotto Fiere - Oval Lingotto, a Euro 4 diesel with refrigeration unit car
(which produces about 172 grams of CO2 per km, vehicle of about 65 tons) has been used.
Caselle – Lingotto travel: 12 journeys
Malpensa – Lingotto travel: 1 journey
total km for the transport of goods: 620 km
By using an Euro 4 methane vehicle, the emission of approximately 0.265 tons of CO2 has
been avoided.
“Pensa che Mensa”: a Euro 4 diesel with refrigeration unit car (which produces about 172 grams of
CO2 per km) was used.
Transport logistics was organized in two ways:
1) direct transport;
2) use of Moretta platform.
Total km for the transport of goods: about 6,431 km.
Using an Euro 4 methane vehicle, we reduced the emission of approximately 2.75 tons of CO 2.
Terra Madre canteen: menus with local products:

bread: local (Eataly);
rice: regional;
cheeses: local (e.g. Toma of Lanzo);
fruit and vegetables: local (Agricompany Torino).
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SYSTEMIC DESIGN
The reduction path of the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre
2006 edition: - 8% of the environmental impact
2008 edition: - 45% of the environmental impact 142
To calculate the percentage of the total reduction of the environmental impact avoided throughout the event,
considering the characteristics of the Salone and the type of data collected, we should group the design
backgrounds analyzed in three broad groups:
1. construction / components / waste / packaging
2. suppliers / logistics / mobility / CO2 emissions
3. energy / water
Reduction of the environmental impact of the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2008, referring to the three broad
groups, compared to 2006.
In relation to the variables that we were able to monitor and quantify during this year, we could believe that the
environmental impact of the event is reported for the
40% to Construction / Components / Waste / Packaging,
40% to Suppliers / Logistics / Mobility / CO2 Emissions,
20% to Energy / Water.
The results obtained in the design plans, developed in collaboration with Partners, allow us to quantify with a
good approximation the improvements achieved in the different areas.
Starting from the data collected in the 2006, we can realize that the environmental impact of group 1
decreased of about 55%, the one of group 2 of 35% while in group 3 of 45% (these figures are estimates
based on data collected, on the adoption of technological innovations actually on market and the design of a
system of relations integrated to the territory).
Considering CO2 emissions, we do not think over the zeroing of them as a satisfactory solution (even if it
allows us to say that we reduced the impact of CO2 emissions by 100%), but we calculated the decreased
percentage of the issued ones. the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre have afterwards reduced
their environmental impact of approximately 45% compared to 2006.
142 the reductions of environmental impacts are referred to the previous edition the Salone.
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annex 3
Systemic Policies
Green Pallet
This policies act143 is aimed at adopting the systemic approach to regulate the duties of the persons involved
in generating eco-sustainable pallets and specifies the commitments and obligations they must fulfil if they
want to use the Green Pallet mark.
These Systemic Policies form a normative act that establishes operational indications and/or procedures
the manufacturer of the certified product must adhere to, and represents the very essence of certification
since it defines the qualities guaranteed to the consumer who purchases the product. In this sense it is a
communication tool of the values linked to a product and an indicator of sustainable, social and ethical
development of a company. Basing itself on a spectrum of various criteria, it combines aspects of
functionality, sensorial evaluation, social, cultural and ethical setbacks, and parameters of
environmental sustainability linked to the phases of generation of raw materials, production, storage,
distribution, marketing, consumption and product disposal, with the market demand. It protects quality
pallets, and its strictness and capillarity is directly proportional to the class of quality of the pallet generated:
the stricter the regulation, the more guarantees we have that a pallet is ―Healthy, Systemic and Ethical‖.
Strategic definition of the Systemic Policies

1) it scientifically inflects the concept of “Healthy, Systemic and Ethical” delineating a new concept of
pallet quality correlated to a price inspired by a principle of social equity (Healthy: attention to the
characteristics of the raw materials used certified FSC/PEFC and guarantee of healthiness in
particular when connected with food packaging contact; Systemic: activation of the relational network
between the various subjects in the whole life cycle of the pallet, privileging environmental
sustainability as a vehicle of values to be pursued; Ethical: social and ethical justice);
2) it is a systemic policies act because it specifies the contribution of the various interconnected
subsystems in a special social context (geographic, historic), ethical and cultural;
3) it communicates the values of a company and a product, compared to the best productive models,
expression of the territorial culture it belongs to, to educate the consumer towards conscious
choices (the co-producer);
4) it is a tool of strategic communication that identifies new enhancement levers of the pallet
produced using a policy of diversification;
5) it is a tool for project and enterprise planning that aims at redefining the business model by
decreasing/optimising the costs of generating, manufacturing, distributing, marketing, consumption
and disposal of the product and at the same time decreasing the negative impact on the
environment and on the community;
6) it is a regulation to present/protect quality pallets (Green Pallet), with the aim of making the
community aware of the value of the product/service in addition to affecting the economic
sustainability of the system involved;
143 the policies act was drawn up by the company in close collaboration with Luigi Bistagnino (Design, Politecnico di Torino, Italy)
and Franco Fassio (Università di Scienze Gastronomiche, Pollenzo, Italy).
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SYSTEMIC DESIGN
7) the desire is to safeguard the environment, the countryside, the social, ethical and legal
equilibriums where the pallet is generated;
8) it is an instrument directed at public and private administrations and at the components of the
supply chain that generates and disposes of the pallets.
Potential impact on the pallet production system

The potential impact of the systemic discipline consists of encouraging more attention and
sensitivity in producing and using quality pallets searching for an equilibrium with the territory
and the natural and social system we live in. The product and the company will become the place
where symbols and marks will immediately bring new cultural values: man in the centre of the
project.
The Label
The systemic discipline includes the definition of the Green Pallet label.
The ―Green Pallet‖ attestation of specificity is reserved to the product coming from companies that
respect the characteristics identified in this systemic discipline, and grants them the possibility to use
the ―logo in use‖.
This type of pallet offers at least two important guarantees: the certainty of good quality (Healthy,
Systemic and Ethical) and the origin.
Proposal for a protective Systemic Consortium

Generally all the products that respect the particular disciplinary standards have a protective consortium,
meaning an organism made up of manufacturers and/or processors whose purpose is to protect, promote and
enhance. In this case we obtain a new organism: a Systemic Consortium.
This latter will have a role of information to the consumer and vigilance on productions in a systemic
relationship. It shall safeguard the product from abuse, dishonest competition, counterfeiting and improper
use of the name.
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| 1SYSTEMIC DESIGN

1 1.1 Preliminary considerations 9

1.2 Reasons for a change 15

1.3 Systemic/interdisciplinary innovation 18

1.4 Project related plans: Systemic Design 22

1.6 Economic assessments 61

with notes and comments by Carlo Petrini

2 2.1 Design methodology 67

2.2 Experimental projects – case studies 73

Communicating the Systemic Design 182

2.3 List of Systemic Design projects 197

2.4 The new opportunities for agro-industry: 199

Fritjof Capra 209

Giusto Giovannetti 213

Ashok Khosla, Karan Khosla 222

Carlo Olmo 238

Gunter Pauli 241

Carlo Petrini 247

Massimo Settis 251

Fabrizio Valpreda 256

Davide Vannoni 261

glossary and bibliography 267

new humanism, Allemandi & C., Torino (Italy), 2008, pp.9-18.

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment published by UN in 2004, most of the

Values generating from PRODUCT and MAN.

Reasons for a change

Reasons for a change

Reasons for a change

When we founded the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche (the University of Gastronomic

Systemic Design is the ability to:

Systemic Design, project related plans

Systemic Design, project related plans

Systemic Design, project related plans

Systemic Design, project related plans

Systemic Design, project related plans

Visualisation of the shift from linear to systemic model.

Systemic Design, project related plans

Product or service design

Product or service design

Product or service design

Product or service design

Product or service design

Product or service design

Product or service design

Scheme of the relationships connected to food in the house context.

Product or service design

Product or service design

Product or service design

Scheme of the synthetic holistic survey for the municipality of Saftica.

Synthesis of the current and systemic activities.

19 see annex 1 for its wider description.

Experimental projects – case studies

Graphic map of the site structure.

Experimental projects – case studies

Experimental projects – case studies

The software tool meets the following requirements:

Experimental projects – case studies

Experimental projects – case studies

Experimental projects – case studies

Experimental projects – case studies

Experimental projects – case studies

―Sugar instead of oil‖. This impressive innovation is about to be introduced in production.

Experimental projects – case studies