ICONS joins the Agri-food Innovation Festival 2026

ICONS is taking part in the fifth edition of the Festival dell’Innovazione Agroalimentare (Agri-food Innovation Festival), organised by Food Hub. It will contribute in three ways across the online programme and the in-person meetup in Bologna: a talk on giving value to agri-food innovation, a presentation of the CULTIVATE project’s Food Sharing Compass platform, and an interactive working table with stakeholders from the sector.

The Festival will take place online from 9 to 12 November 2026, with more than 40 free sessions covering topics such as R&D, food safety, sustainability, packaging, agritech and open innovation. The programme will involve companies, startups, universities and research centres. ICONS will participate in the online programme and in the in-person meetup in Bologna on 27 November.

Online sessions
On 9 November, ICONS will contribute to the online programme with two sessions:

• 10:15 am CET – “Dare valore all’innovazione agroalimentare: strategie per valorizzare, far conoscere e adottare nuove soluzioni” (Giving value to agri-food innovation: strategies to exploit, promote and adopt new solutions)
  Sofia Francescutto, Senior Dissemination and Outreach Officer, will discuss strategies to support the communication, valorisation and adoption of agri-food innovations.
• 2:30 pm CET – “Food Sharing Compass: piattaforma e cinque strumenti per rendere l’innovazione utilizzabile” (Food Sharing Compass: one platform and five tools to make innovation usable)
  Marco Petazzoni, Junior Social Innovation Officer, and Nicoletta Gomboli, Graphic and Web Design Officer, will present the Food Sharing Compass platform developed within the CULTIVATE project and its five tools supporting food sharing initiatives, illustrating their practical applications.

Food Hub Community Meetup in Bologna: co-designing agri-food innovation
On 27 November, the Festival will host the Food Hub Community Meetup in Bologna, featuring business matching, thematic roundtables and networking activities. During the event, Jelena Lazić, PMO Coordinator, and Jasmin Jabbarpour, Project Management Officer, will facilitate an interactive working session with agri-food stakeholders to discuss challenges and opportunities related to innovation, from making the most of resources and accessing investment to creating long-term impact.

The full programme and registration form are on the Food Hub website: https://www.food-hub.it/festival-innovazione-agroalimentare-2026/