Polisocial Award: funding green transition with 5 per mille donations

Also this year, Politecnico di Milano will invest €500,000 in high social impact projects

This year, the Politecnico di Milano is again investing €500,000 of 5 per mille funds this year in research projects with a significant social impact. The main topics: ecological transition and local development.

Of the five winning proposals, one will take place in Milan while the other four apply to international contexts (Africa and Brazil), each tackling different themes but all sharing the common goal of supporting the green transition with new ideas and development measures.

The working groups will have 18 months to work on: techniques and devices for converting organic waste into fuel and preventing deforestation; nature-based solutions for adapting cities to climate change; an integrated project for an efficient, connected and optimised farm using local resources; ancient techniques and new technologies for the  regeneration of an Algerian valley; innovative approaches in orthopaedics to reduce the environmental and social costs of Lombardy’s healthcare.

All of the projects have been selected as part of the 9th edition of Polisocial Award, a competition organised annually by the Politecnico di Milano as part of its social responsibility programme.

After two years of focusing on the pandemic and the need for recovery, the current edition is focussing on the ecological transition in connection with development objectives, with a particular emphasis on the themes of social equity, resilience and support for local businesses. There is a focus on multidisciplinary and partnership-based research projects that foster virtuous processes by targeting tangible, innovative outcomes, including from a medium- to long-term perspective.

The winning projects from Polisocial Award 2022 “Local Development and Ecological Transition”

AMAZING, Atlas Mountains, Aures Zone. INterconnecting local sciences and Global challenges

Giovanni M. Porta, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

To enhance the historic built environment and optimise the management of water with the aid of new technologies: this is the aim of the project that hopes to give new impetus to the economic and social fabric and identity of the Uadi Abiod valley in Algeria, which is under threat from global issues of abandonment, desertification and loss of knowledge.

CHAR:ME | BioCHAR and biomass-derived products from waste as sustainable and safe domestic fuel

Andrea Turolla, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Starting with a pilot case in Madagascar, the project will develop a sustainable technology for recovering solid fuel from organic waste in order to replace the conventional alternatives (wood and charcoal) which cause deforestation and to improve the safety of domestic kitchens in developing countries.

I-FERME | Intelligent inFrastructure dEsign foR a Multifunctional Efficient farm

Francesco Castelli Dezza, Department of Mechanical Engineering

A project aiming to improve the efficiency of multifunctional farms in the Congo and sub-Saharan Africa, using new tools for designing road infrastructure and supporting the preparation and storage of food products, optimised in accordance with local resources and needs and made available to the communities in question.

NBSouth | Nature-Based Solutions via retrofitting for Climate Adaptation: a case in the Global South

(Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies)

Beginning with a case study in Brasilia, an exploration of the possibilities of using nature-based solutions (NBS) to adapt to climate change, focusing in particular on water management, heat management and the broader process of upgrading or retrofitting areas with a high degree of urbanisation.

PRESTO | PReventive and ecologic Engineering Strategies for fragile bones: Towards green healthcare Objectives

(Laura Vergani, Department of Mechanical Engineering)

The project aims to curb the number of conditions characterised by fragile bones by focusing on ecologically sustainable preventative treatments and microinvasive approaches, trialling a strategy that may reduce the social impact of prolonged hospitalisations and the ecological footprint of Lombardy’s health sector.

For more information
The factsheets of all Polisocial Award projects