At the 2025 Food & Science Festival, the Politecnico di Milano brought innovation and public engagement through hands-on workshops, exhibitions, and a conference on sustainable food. Engaging both schools and the general public, the university offered opportunities to reflect on packaging, space and the future of food.

The ninth edition of the Food & Science Festival, held in Mantua from 16 to 18 May 2025, was once again a crossroads of taste, the food industry, and scientific research. With “Change” as its central theme, the event explored the ongoing transformations in food systems — from production to consumption — addressing key challenges such as sustainability and food safety.

In this dynamic context, the Politecnico di Milano returned to the festival for the second year in a row, showcasing its expertise and projects, including contributions developed within the OnFoods project. The university played a leading role in various initiatives aimed at a diverse audience, from students to adults.

The Politecnico’s participation took shape through the organisation and curation of targeted events, reflecting its strong commitment to science communication on food and food industry-related topics.

Among the events offered, particular attention was given to schools — considered key stakeholders of the festival. On Friday 16 May, in Piazza Concordia, two closely linked yet distinct events were held specifically for school audiences.

The first, titled “Hey, Don’t Break the Box!”, was a workshop for pupils in their final year of primary school and lower secondary school. Led by the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, the workshop featured Prof. Luigi De Nardo, Dr Andrea Fiorati, Dr Arianna Rossetti, and Silvia D'Alesio. The activity involved a challenge to design packaging capable of protecting an egg. Through this hands-on, playful approach, pupils learned about the role and importance of food packaging, the need to reduce it, and how to manage its end-of-life effectively.

The second activity, titled “Tasty Spaces: Designing a New Food Experience in School Settings”, was also held at the stand in Piazza Concordia. This initiative was curated by the Department of Design at the Politecnico di Milano and presented the results of the Ephemeral and Temporary Spaces workshop, led by Prof. Davide Fassi, Prof. Ambra Borin, and Prof. Claudia Mastrantoni, with support from tutors Irene Bassi and Mathew Spialtini, within the MSc programme in Interior and Spatial Design.

Research themes from the PPP_URB project – Public and Private Procurement in Urban areas and short food supply chains – were proposed to 37 international students, who developed 10 innovative spatial models to reflect on everyday eating habits, rethinking our relationship with food in school and academic environments.

Throughout the exhibition, visitors were able to interact with simulations related to self-production, shared consumption, and food waste management, experimenting with new ways of accessing and managing food.

• Se also: New Publication Explores Food Procurement and Short Food Value Chains: A Systemic Design Approach

The Politecnico’s contribution also extended to talks and panel discussions. On Saturday 17 May, at the Loggia del Grano, a session titled “Why Do We Package Food?” was held. On this occasion, Prof. Luigi De Nardo from the Politecnico di Milano gave a talk exploring the crucial role of food packaging. Moderated by journalist Riccardo Saporiti, the session addressed why packaged food remains the norm and how the industry ensures safety and quality. The discussion covered the functions of packaging, its evolution towards more sustainable and safer solutions, and the rationale behind choosing different materials for specific food needs.

• See also what happened at the 2024 edition of the Food&Science Festival.