FIU leads sustainability conversation at EXPO Milano 2015


EXPO Milano 2015FIU is one of four U.S. universities participating in the EXPO Milano 2015, a showcase where countries present their best products, technologies and ideas for guaranteeing a healthy, safe and sufficient food supply while respecting the environment.

With the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for life,” the expo runs through October in Milan, Italy. Nearly half a dozen FIU faculty members from areas including sociology, anthropology, geography, history, biological sciences and environmental studies are currently participating in the expo, representing the university’s new food studies program.

“Food studies is a rapidly growing area of interest for our faculty and students alike, and this opportunity to actually be part of Expo Milano, a world’s fair dedicated to food and sustainability, is an extraordinary and exciting prospect for all of us,” said A. Douglas Kincaid, professor in the FIU Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies and faculty coordinator for the project. “We have an excellent set of partner universities to help ensure that our food studies program will be on the cutting edge of research and teaching going forward.”

FIU teamed up with Appalachian State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Florida, to collaborate on academic activities at the expo as part of an agreement with Comitato Scientifico Expo 2015, the scientific committee for the expo. The universities are teaming up with a consortium of Italian universities in Milan to help organize conferences, as well as research and training programs in food studies.

“As a Consul General of Italy in Miami, I am particularly glad of this important achievement that involves four prestigious universities in the United States and the consortium of Italian universities in Milan,” said Adolfo Barattolo, consul general of Italy in Miami. “It is particularly significant that the combined endeavor of such prestigious Universities, both in the United State and in the Milan area, will focus their joint efforts in a partnership which has as objective to enhance the theme of the Milan expo.”

A platform for the exchange of ideas and shared solutions on the theme of food, stimulating each country’s creativity and promoting innovation for a sustainable future, Expo Milano 2015 will give participants the opportunity to learn about and taste the world’s best dishes, while discovering the best of the agricultural and gastronomic traditions of each of the exhibitor countries. In addition to the more than 140 exhibitor nations, the expo expects to welcome over 20 million visitors to the global showcase.

“I am delighted to see this project moving ahead,” said John F. Stack, Jr., executive director of FIU’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. “It is emblematic of the Green School’s commitment to interdisciplinary studies and global partnerships that address the critical issues of our time.”