Innovations, Living Labs, and Knowledge Transfer for a Sustainable Future. Salvatore Torrisi looks back on three years of MUSA and Previews the results to be unveiled on december 3–4
After three years since the launch of MUSA, the project is entering a crucial phase of reflection and relaunched initiatives.
On December 3 at the University of Milano-Bicocca and on December 4 at Palazzo Reale, the “Two MUSA Days” will offer a comprehensive overview of the work carried out within the Spokes, the innovations produced, the impacts generated, and the future trajectories of the ecosystem dedicated to sustainable innovation. Opening the sessions will be MUSA’s Scientific Coordinator, Salvatore Torrisi, who in recent days has shared the themes and significance of the event.
During the two days, the central session dedicated to the Spokes will be introduced by Torrisi and structured through the voices of the Spoke leaders. Each of them will present the vision and results of their respective area, then give space to young male and female researchers who conducted the fieldwork. “We will have eighteen presentations,” explains Torrisi, “demonstrating the richness of project lines and experiments born and developed within MUSA. In addition, during the first day, more than 150 posters will be presented to illustrate the main research results.” A way to convey the depth of the work carried out and highlight the contribution of the new generations of scientists and innovators.
From the outset, MUSA has been founded on the One-Health vision, which integrates the health of people, animals, and the environment. “Our goal,” emphasizes Torrisi, “has been to propose models and innovations that can be replicated even beyond the borders of Lombardy. We started with cascade calls entirely dedicated to research centers and businesses in Southern Italy.” This approach has guided all activities, both those closer to technological development—many of which have reached high levels of maturity (TRL)—and those aimed at social well-being and reducing inequalities.
Among the most significant legacies of the three-year project, Torrisi highlights the Living Labs and Joint Labs. The Living Labs—focused on topics such as circular economy in fashion and design, biodiversity, air quality, sustainable mobility, and road safety—have directly involved citizens, local areas, and the third sector, translating research into experiments of public utility. The Joint Labs, on the other hand, have represented a stable bridge between universities and companies, strengthening the fabric of industrial innovation. Among the partners involved: Thales Alenia Space, Huawei, Infineon, ENI, Pirelli, Edison.
“We have worked with public and private stakeholders in a logic of continuous collaboration,” Torrisi notes, “which will make it possible to offer new, more effective services, such as those related to geothermal management developed with local authorities, including the Metropolitan City of Milan.”
MUSA has also operated on the front of social innovation, in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan and numerous third-sector organizations, such as Save the Children, Emergency, Caritas, and Human People to People. This has led to the creation of several Social Inclusion Labs dedicated to reducing vulnerabilities and inequalities, with interventions on school dropout, inclusion of migrant families, and violence against women. Among the results cited by Torrisi is the Digital Education Pact, a model of shared educational responsibility between families and institutions that is now a national reference.
Another key area is circularity applied to production and distribution, with a particular focus on strategic sectors such as fashion and design. The Milano Circularity Framework developed by MUSA in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan is based on the three key words reduce, recover, reuse and on a set of 274 performance indicators, later refined into a more streamlined yet highly operational system. “We worked together with companies and sector stakeholders,” adds Torrisi, “to rethink product design, the organization of supply and distribution chains, and consumer awareness. This work was further enriched by hackathons and joint labs, such as the one on circularity in the textile sector.”
One of the project’s most significant effects concerns the training of researchers. “Around one thousand people have worked in MUSA,” explains Torrisi, “nearly 300 of whom with contracts dedicated specifically to the project. Many of them will go on to work in the companies and other organizations with which we have collaborated. This is a result that strengthens MUSA’s mission to foster the transfer of knowledge toward the productive system and public administration.”
“The impact of MUSA,” Torrisi concludes, “is technical, social, and cultural. But it is also an impact that will unfold through the knowledge and skills our researchers will bring into companies, institutions, and society.”
