Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria

Carla Abitabile is senior researcher at CREA – PB. Trained in agricultural economics and policy, during the first part of her career she worked in the context of the Agricultural Accounting Information Network (FADN), of which she has been responsible for about ten years. In this context, she participated in national and international projects for the exploitation of micro-economic data for the evaluation of agricultural policy and for macroeconomic purposes. Currently, her areas of interest and research are related to the sustainability of agro-food, to organic agriculture, to the processes of farms internationalization, to the evolution of policy related to these issues. Among others, she has also been involved in research projects on green chemistry.

I am a researcher in agricultural economics at CREA-PB. My main fields of research are: regional analysis of agriculture and agricultural policies; assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of rural development measures; regional planning with reference to rural territories and environmentally sensitive areas; farm and co-operative management.

I am the project reference of the business system area of CREA-PB and I am involved in the Italian Rural Network coordinating two WP tasks, on organic farming (RDP M11) and training actions (RDP M1).

In RUSTICA I am particularly interested on developing business models and in evaluating innovation adoption to support entrepreneurial strategies and territorial development. I can also contribute to the multi-actors approach, analysing stakeholders issues and needs, especially for dissemination of innovations and training of management skills.

Federica Cisilino (female) is a researcher and the coordinator of Friuli Venezia Giulia headquarter at CREA-PB. She is an experienced agricultural economist, specialized on statistical-economic analysis of micro-economic data (FADN), with a special interest on the relations between farming and the environment, organic farming, Innovation and training. Expert of Research and Innovation for the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and University Lecturer at the University of Udine. She is involved in several research projects both at national and regional level, in charge of some related to specific agricultural sectors, agri-environmental/climate and sustainability issues, CAP reform and rural development policies. During the last years, she has worked on rural development measures’ impact assessment using both quantitative and qualitative methods in the context of the Italian Rural Network activities and research projects. Thematic experience relates to agri-food chains, agri-environmental collaborative projects and participatory approaches for sustainable innovations.

I am a researcher in soil and environmental sciences at the Branch of Gorizia (Italy) of the Research Centre for Viticulture and Enology belonging to CREA. My major expertise are in the area of sustainable recycling of organic residues, soil microbiology and assessment of soil fertility and quality. In the last years, I have specialized in the study of GHG emissions and C sequestration potential in soils treated with exogenous organic matter. I developed a version of the RothC soil organic C model specifically suited for amended soils. I supervised several BSc and MSc students and I have published over 200 papers and conference proceedings of which 69 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

In Rustica, I will be the person in charge of the project for CREA. I will be particularly involved in the activities of WP7 dealing with the characterization of the innovative fertilizers and in the laboratory and field trials aimed to the agronomical and environmental evaluation of the fertilizers and their mixtures. I will also collaborate to the activities of WP5 and WP6 providing useful information for the implementation, integration and demonstration of the new technologies for crop waste valorisation.