Agrifood Clust-ER is one of the nine thematic clusters established by the Emilia-Romagna Region to encourage collaborations in strategic research and development sectors and thus support the region's potential for innovation.

Clust-ER focuses its action on four strategic lines of research and innovation through working groups (Value Chains) representative of the Emilia-Romagna agri-food system.

SOSFARM
Sustainable and precision agriculture to strengthen the economic and environmental sustainability of regional productions.

• Resilient and Climate-Smart Agriculture (RCSA)

• "Precision" management of plant and animal productions

• IoT and Big Data to generate essential knowledge elements for the management of increasingly sustainable production processes
   

INQUAN
Integrity and nutritional quality to promote safety, quality, authenticity, and traceability of food, assessing its role for human health.

• Foods with greater safety, durability, functional impact, and quality

• Advanced control techniques for food safety and traceability
   

PRIMPACK
Processes, plants, machines, and packaging to improve the quality of foods and increase sustainability and competitiveness.

• Innovation of technological processes, plants, and industrial materials to increase the sustainability and competitiveness of food products

• Application of advanced systems for the digitalization of food processes
   

SPES
Valorisation of by-products and waste from the agri-food sector to increase both the economic and environmental sustainability of agri-food production processes.

• Direct and indirect valorisation of waste, by-products, and co-products from agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture towards the food and feed sectors

• Valorisation of by-products and co-products from agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture through the development of biorefineries or innovative extraction processes for the production of chemicals and materials of interest for non-food and non-feed industrial sectors

• Valorisation of by-products and waste from agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture into energy products and biomethane
   

In addition to the Value Chains, which perform a transversal activity with respect to agri-food supply chains, Agrifood Clust-ER also promotes sectoral Focus Groups to identify the main issues and innovative solutions for each production chain (fruit and vegetables, milk, pork and poultry, wine, aquaculture, cereals, olive oil, organic productions).
 

The activity also includes collaboration initiatives with other Italian regions and participation in four EU S3 Thematic Sub-Platforms: High-Tech Farming, Traceability & Big Data, Ingredients for Circular Economy, Food Packaging. 
 

Thanks to these initiatives, Agrifood Clust-ER is a partner in several EU projects with significant benefits for its members.