SPECIAL SESSION #04

Margherita Masi

Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Italy

• margherita.masi4@unibo.it

Yari Vecchio

Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Italy

• yari.vecchio@unibo.it

Innovation represents one of the most promising pathways towards the sustainable transition of livestock systems, including aquaculture. However, its adoption often requires substantial initial investments and involves organisational, relational, and institutional barriers. These complexities add to the multiple economic, environmental, and social challenges already facing animal production systems, making the transition towards sustainability an increasingly multidimensional process.

Beyond technological advances, understanding how innovations are perceived, accepted, adopted, and valued by different stakeholders is essential for supporting sustainable transitions. This special session aims to explore the socio-economic dimensions of sustainable innovation in livestock and aquaculture, with particular attention to stakeholder perceptions, social acceptance, economic value creation, and the factors influencing innovation adoption and diffusion. The session welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions addressing emerging innovations, digitalisation, alternative production systems, circular economy approaches, consumer behaviour, and sustainability-oriented business models. Particular interest is given to research investigating the relationships between innovation, economic viability, social expectations, and institutional and policy frameworks.

Suggested Topics:

• Socio-Economic Impacts of Sustainable Innovation in Livestock and Aquaculture;
• Stakeholder Perceptions, Attitudes, and Social Acceptance of Innovation;
• Economic Barriers, Investment Decisions, and Financial Viability of Innovation;
• Innovation Adoption, Diffusion, and Technology Transfer;
• Digitalisation, Precision Livestock Farming, and Smart Aquaculture;
• Consumer Behaviour, Preferences, and Willingness to Pay for Innovative Animal Products;
• Sustainable Business Models, Value Creation, and Competitiveness;
• Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency, and Alternative Production Systems;
• Institutional, Organisational, and Relational Drivers of Innovation;
• Policy Frameworks, Governance, and Stakeholder Engagement for Sustainable Transitions.

Margherita Masi junior Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna, whose research interests lie in Agricultural Economics and Food Policy. Her research primarily focuses on innovation processes supporting the circular and sustainable transition of agri-food systems, with particular emphasis on the livestock sector and its socio-economic implications. She is actively involved in the development and implementation of national and international research projects and has contributed as an Italian expert to European and international policy discussions on socio-economic challenges, and livestock-related issues, in collaboration with national and international institutions and organisations.

Yari Vecchio assistant Professor at the University of Bologna, his research interests are aimed at deepening the linking between cognitive sphere and innovation adoption in aquaculture and in general in the agri-food sector. So far activities have been thereby focused on the study of the agri-food sector and more in detail the aquaculture system from a socio-economic standpoint, with particular interest to statistical methodologies to apply and interpretation of complex data. With his team, he is actively involved in national and international research projects and collaborates with several international institutes such as the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (Ciheam). Member of the Technical Scientific Committee of Re Soil Foundation. Vice Coordinator of the International master’s degree in Food Animal Metabolism and Management in the Circular Economy (FAMCE).