Verónica Arcas Pilz, PhD
Bachelor’s degree (2013) in biology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) where I gained a great interest for plant physiology and agriculture giving me the opportunity for an exchange semester at the University of Technology Sydney (Australia).
This interest led to a laboratory internship in the plant physiology department where I first discovered hydroponic agriculture. I obtained a master (2016) in “Environmental protection and agricultural food production” from the University of Hohenheim (Germany). Here I based my final thesis and field work on the coffee region of Dota in Costa Rica (granted by the Fiat Panis fellowship), with the first CO2 neutral coffee cooperative Coopedota.
I then obtained my PhD degree (2018 - 2022) at the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA) at UAB, specifically the Sostenipra research group. This opportunity was granted thanks to national funding from the Spanish ministry (MINECO).
I have actively participated in pioneering European projects like GROOF, SIRAH and BINAFET projects, which are focused on the implementation of symbiotic strategies between agriculture and the urban metabolism.
Since 2020 I has been a co-founder, associate, and active member of the advisory board of the start-up business Tectum Garden (https://www.tectumgarden.cat/).
The ResCUE-AB research team
The Research Center on Urban Environment for Agriculture and Biodiversity (ResCUE-AB) was established in 2013 at the Department of Agriculture and Food Sciences (DISTAL) of the University of Bologna.
ResCUE-AB brings together expertis in the field of horticulture and entomology, contributing to a range of interdisciplinary activities in the field of urban horticulture and biodiversity, both in Europe and in several countries of the global South.
Our main goal is to transform cities into eco-laboratories that connects the different experiences of agriculture and urban ecology and facilitates the creation of ecological corridors.
