The research team

After earning her Phd in 'Sociology and Social Research' at the University of Trento, she joined the University of Bologna as a researcher in 2005 and then Associate in 2014.

Her research looks at the social and political implications of technology - from ICTs to Artificial Intelligence (AI) - and focuses on forms of inequality and innovation processes.

Currently, the main research themes focus on: Artificial Intelligence, Algorithmic management, Platform economy, New forms of urban economy, Lifestyles and consumption.

In the past, she has worked on currency (complementary, alternative and virtual currencies) and natural disasters.

Role on the Editorial board of the international journal “Sociology”.

Laura Azzolina is an Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the University of Palermo. Her research interests focus on territorial inequalities and institutions,  governance of urban development, and university change. She recently concluded a national project (Prin)  on gender and academia "GEA-Gendering Academia" as coordinator of the local research unit. Besides being involved in the NUECity project as coordinator of a local research unit, she is currently involved in the national project (Prin) PERIGEO focusing on the theme of peripheralization processes of marginal areas in cities. Her recent publications concern university governance and territorial inequalities between the most dynamic areas and the areas with the highest concentration of hardship in cities.

Francesca Forno is an associate professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Research and a researcher affiliated with C3A - Centre for Agriculture, Food and the Environment at the University of Trento. Her research focuses on civic participation, social movements, consumption and sustainable lifestyles. She has led and contributed to several research projects, including PLATEFORMS, which examined socio-technical innovations and their relation to food sustainability, and FOODIVERSE, which focused on food diversity, new food chains and governance in promoting sustainable food systems. She currently leads the local research units of SURFIT, a project on the diffusion of innovations in the agri-food sector, and NUECity, and is the principal investigator for Making Food Democracy, a project dedicated to sustainable food governance practices.
Her work has been published in leading academic journals such as South European Politics and Society, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Journal of Consumer Culture, European Societies, and Food Policy, as well as in books from publishers such as Oxford University Press and Routledge. Recent publications include Sustainable Community Movement Organisations: Solidarity Economies and Rhizomatic Practices (2020, co-edited with Richard R. Weiner) and Digital Food Provisioning in Times of Multiple Crises (2024, co-edited with A. Dulsrud).

Research fellow at the University of Bologna since April 2024, she conducts her research in the field of politics, society and the environment, particularly on food issues. She currently focuses her work on a project of the Department of Political and Social Sciences, called “New Urban Economies (NUE): Mapping and Critically Assessing New Urban Economies in Italian Metropolitan Cities” funded by PNRR.

She got her master's degree from the University of Padua in 2022, in the Erasmus Mundus program called “Sustainable Territorial Development - Climate Change and Diversity Cooperation,” after spending one semester at KULeuven (2021) and one semester at the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris (2021-2022). She graduated with a thesis on the current food system and agroecology as a sustainable alternative. In particular, she focused on studying the Campi Aperti farmers' association in Bologna, where she did a curricular internship during the same period.

She achieved her bachelor's degree in Political, Social and International Sciences at the University of Bologna in 2020, with a thesis on the social effects of climate change.

She is fluent in English, French and Spanish and is currently studying Portuguese.

She achieved a PhD in Organized Crime Studies in 2022. From 2015 to 2018, she collaborated with CROSS (Observatory on Organized Crime) at the Faculty of Political Science in Milan. She has gained research experience in the field of migration, security and organized crime from a sociological perspective. She is currently a research fellow at the University of Palermo, where she collaborates on the project “New Urban Economies (NUE): Mapping and Critically Assessing New Urban Economies in Italian Metropolitan Areas.”

Cristiana Zara is a postdoctoral researcher in the NUECity project, where she works on the case of Milan. She holds a doctorate in human geography from Royal Holloway University of London and has been working for years on critical theory and cultural studies in an interdisciplinary perspective that crosses urban theory, critical studies on tourism and heritage, and geographies of development. He has a thorough knowledge of the main qualitative methods of social research, acquired through extensive field research experiences in various national and international contexts.

Studentessa in Politica, Amministrazione e Organizzazione, con un interesse specifico per l’amministrazione pubblica e le politiche pubbliche. Appassionata di sviluppo urbano sostenibile, desidero contribuire alla creazione di politiche inclusive che migliorino la qualità della vita nelle città e promuovano pratiche di governance efficaci e sostenibili. Il mio obiettivo è applicare le mie competenze teoriche e metodologiche per affrontare le sfide dell’amministrazione pubblica e dello sviluppo urbano.

Student in the faculty of “Political Science and International Relations” at the University of Palermo, I spend my days dividing my time between study and music. I joined the “NUE-New Urban Economies” project as an intern in spring 2024 with the intention of learning more, and better, about my city, approaching the work with great dedication and driven by strong motivation. English proficiency and problem-solving are my hallmarks.

Joel Puddu is a student in Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento. His main research interests are social innovation, communication and technology in postmodern society. He always tries to make available to the work team the theoretical, methodological and technical knowledge gained in social research and analysis experiences. His adaptability and curiosity lead him to actively collaborate in multidisciplinary and multilingual contexts.