Universita degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche

The Origins

Pollenzo is a small village, part of the municipality of Bra, which has always shared a profound historical and territorial connection with agriculture and winemaking.

Pollenzo traces its origins to the Roman city of *Pollentia*. The city reached its peak development between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE. Pollentia’s prosperity stemmed largely from the wine trade—a sign, evidently, of its destined path.

The Savoys and Pollenzo

Over the following centuries, Pollenzo changed hands among local noble families until 1762, when it came under the control of the House of Savoy. For Pollenzo, this marked a new Renaissance. In 1832, King Carlo Alberto of Savoy ordered the restoration of the castle, the village, and over 600 hectares of land. Within this project, the current *Agenzia* served as the estate’s financial and economic hub, where Carlo Alberto aimed to advance studies to improve the profitability of agricultural activities. In 1843, Pollenzo hosted the “First General Assembly of the Agrarian Association,” a landmark technical-scientific gathering with national experts from diverse agricultural fields. Further signs of destiny.

The Birth of the University

In the late 1990s, Carlo Petrini sought a symbolic building to establish a foundation for Slow Food’s future. In 1997, when he visited, the *Agenzia* lay in ruins, worsened by the Tanaro River flood three years prior, which had swept away everything. Yet Petrini saw not debris but a complex capable of housing a wine museum, a hotel, a restaurant, and a European Academy of Taste with university-level prestige. A public company, *Agenzia di Pollenzo*, was formed, restoring the entire architectural complex over six years.

Meanwhile, the concept of an academy evolved into that of a private university. Restoration concluded in 2004, and the *Agenzia* became home to the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Today, the site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list under “Savoy Residences.”

The University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo (Italy)

Founded in 2004 by Slow Food, in collaboration with the regions of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, the University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) in Pollenzo is a non-profit private institution with legal recognition from the Italian government. A dynamic university with a strong international flavor, UNISG is characterized by a diverse student body that, over 20 years of activity, has reached more than 100 countries with alumni and current students.

This diversity of experiences, opportunities, origins, and encounters is one of the most distinctive features that contributes to the uniqueness of UNISG within the academic landscape in Italy and beyond.

UNISG's original educational formula brings together study and practice books and life stories, science, and rural artisanal knowledge and is enriched by study trips that encourage exchanges with food producers across the globe. This methodological approach provides students with a *global vision* of food production systems and teaches them how to develop scenarios for the future of food in the world, allowing them to appreciate the richness of cultural diversity.

In Pollenzo, an innovative professional figure is born: the gastronome.

Gastronomes are food specialists who can promote and value the diversity of food, young entrepreneurs and managers who can lead the processes of reconversion of food systems according to the principles of environmental, cultural, and social sustainability and the circular economy—food sovereignty experts who can contribute to the implementation of solutions aimed at building culturally appropriate participatory food systems.

Mission and Activities

The university's mission is to offer academic training and develop scientific research on the themes of Gastronomic Sciences and to share this with the outside world, with a focus on sustainability and sovereignty, through training, research and Third Mission. At its core, Pollenzo is committed to empowering its students with the knowledge and skills to drive change in the food world. By fostering a focus on environmental, social, and economic sustainability and sovereignty, we aim to create a future where food systems support a healthier planet and society.

UNISG is comprised of the community of students, faculty, and technical administrative personnel working on campus, but also of the hundreds of international relationships that the University has steadfastly built with its alumni, the Terra Madre and Slow Food network, universities, international research centers, and with all the stakeholders who support the idea of complex, cultural, holistically sustainable gastronomy. At the center of the project are the students who, with the knowledge and skills acquired at Pollenzo, will have to influence and transform the world of food production, processing, and consumption around the globe. In addition to the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which are the main policy framework for UNISG's project, the University places two other keywords at its center: innovation and digitalization. In the coming years, the University will have to equip itself in an increasingly resilient way to provide the world of businesses, civil society, and institutions with cultural guidelines and developmental direction capable of responding to a constantly changing global context. On this basis, UNISG, along with a process of asset consolidation, intends to contribute through its Education, Research, and Third Mission activities to:

• Know, explore, and study the world's gastronomies (raw materials, transformation, products, foods, production and consumption systems, communication, and representation) and their continuous evolution on a social, historical, and political level;
• Promote the ecological transition; environmental, cultural, and social sustainability; and the circular economy of food systems in their production, processing, distribution, and consumption, especially in the context of the current climate crisis;
• Contribute to the realization of the food sovereignty of local communities and implement ethical, social, and political responsibility of all participants in the foodscape (businesses, institutions, consumers, and associations). Within this framework are projects aimed at documenting, preserving, and interpreting the diversity of food on the planet, maintaining a constant dialogue between traditional knowledge, scientific knowledge, and their potential hybridizations.

Courses and Programs

• Three-year undergraduate degree in Food Sciences and Culture (in Italian and English)
• Two-year MSc in Food Industry Management (in English)
• Foundation Year
• Master of New Food Thinking (in English)
• Master of World Food Studies (in English)
• Master in Food Communication & Marketing (in English)
• Master in Agroecology and Food Sovereignty (in English)
• Hybrid Master in Local Food Policy (in English)
• Executive Master in Cultura e Management del Vino (in Italian)
• Executive Master in Circular Economy for Food (in Italian)
• PhD in Ecogastronomy, Food Sciences and Cultures

Study Trips

Study trips at UNISG are learning tools that give students unique access to knowledge about the world’s gastronomic cultures.

The study trips highlight the opposites that characterize different gastronomic cultures (small-scale versus industrial, rural versus urban, new trends and mass production methods versus artisanal traditions), transmitting a deeper understanding to the students. To do this, they generally develop around chains of production, processing, distribution and consumption, with visits, workshops, guided tours and tastings.

The itineraries are designed so that similar attention is paid to small-scale producers and production on an industrial scale. The trips represent essential opportunities for the realization of the holistic ambition that characterizes UNISG’s vision and activities.

These experiences are constructed around the local communities, which grow stronger through the process of opening up to travelers, while also enriching the host students with a new understanding and awareness.

Research

The research activity of the University of Gastronomic Sciences aims at increasing knowledge and promoting innovation in the field of gastronomic studies and is developed through collaborations at national and international levels, with universities and research institutions, with UNISG partners (supporting partners or strategic partners), and other third parties (private or public) which can sign suitable agreements with the University.

UNISG Research is based on three interdisciplinary areas: Environment, Perception and Quality, and Mobility.

UNISG for research is: funded research projects, doctorates and research grants, and scientific dissemination activities.

Future

The future vision of UNISG is based on two main pillars: on one hand, a significant investment in our faculty through a recruitment plan aimed at attracting new professors and researchers capable of providing solutions for stakeholders engaged in the ecological transition of food systems—a crucial transition for the future of humanity on our planet. On the other hand, we are increasing the resources dedicated to the right to education. UNISG aims to become more inclusive, welcoming, and capable of attracting the best global talents committed to creating a fair, sustainable, and just food system for all. In particular, we want to significantly increase scholarships for students from low-income countries so that they can access our educational offerings and actively contribute to building a better future.