The research of the PhD candidates in this “curriculum” is focused on resilience, sustainable development paradigms, circularity and actions against climate change to be implemented in territories, communities and in production processes and consumption of resources and energy. Ambitious goals that involve a variety of technological and sectoral challenges, such as:

• the development and sustainability of the built environment in relation to structures and infrastructures and their impact on the territory, the survey and monitoring of the territory, the natural environment and the built environment;
• systemic design and innovation in transport systems and sustainable mobility solutions, with particular reference to the development of pedestrian, bicycle and electric mobility;
• the enhancement of cultural heritage and the landscape, urban and territorial regeneration;
• the study of traditional and advanced smart technologies for sustainable production systems conversion in order to ensure the resilience of production and of territorial systems;
• the management of the entire life cycle of raw materials with particular attention to native ones, the reduction and management of waste;
• new technologies for the production, transport, storage and use of energy, with particular reference to the development of renewable sources, the efficiency and resilience of energy systems, the methodologies for their management and implementation of energy communities;
• chemical technologies and methodologies for the development of new industrial processes, the understanding of chemical synthesis, mechanisms and reactivity, the study of materials and their properties, sustainable catalytic processes;
• the development of new materials, conversion systems and technologies necessary for the progressive electrification of transport and production systems.

An urgent and complex transition that requires the development of new multi-transdisciplinary approaches and integrated objectives, such as:

• the reduction of climate-altering emissions, the transition to renewable energy sources, the closure of the carbon cycle;
• the design of the built environment, plants and infrastructures through concepts of resilience and integration with the natural environment;
• the new models of territorial organization and use of city spaces;
• the extended application of the concepts of systemic design, circular economy, reduction of the use of natural resources and environmental impact, Smart City and sustainable Industry 4.0 paradigm to the economic and production system, to the management of public services, to energy networks and to transport;
• an assessment of the social and economic impacts resulting from the introduction of new technologies.

The PhD candidates will be encouraged to deepen and interact, also in the context of training activities, on components and transversal dimensions of the research, such as:

• the elements of integration and synergy with basic and applied sciences object of the other curricula;
• the technical knowledge framework, aimed at measuring, evaluating, monitoring territorial vulnerabilities, useful for experimenting forms and methods of innovation in actions and projects oriented towards resilience;
• metrics to assess the sustainability and resilience of territories, local communities, manufacturing organizations and production and consumption processes;
• territorial governance models to support the transition of institutions and communities, integrating mitigation, adaptation and transition objectives into plans, projects, strategies in order to implement the multi-scale and inter-sectoral perspective of resilience, sustainability and circularity.