The University of Trieste and the University of Udine signed a new Framework Agreement together with AUSIR – the Authority for Water and Waste Services in Friuli Venezia Giulia and the region’s leading water and environmental service providers. In addition to AUSIR, the agreement includes the following partners: AcegasApsAmga, Acquedotto del Carso – Kraški vodovod, CAFC, HydroGEA, Irisacqua, Livenza Tagliamento Acque, A&T 2000, Ambiente Servizi, GEA – Gestioni Ecologiche e Ambientali, Isontina Ambiente, MTF, and NET.

The agreement, signed today by all partners in the Predonzani Room of the Regional Government Building in the presence of the President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, renews and expands the earlier protocol signed in 2019. It reaffirms the shared commitment to collaborate on sustainability and innovation in the management of the integrated water and waste cycle.

The new framework promotes applied research projects, joint advanced training initiatives, participation in competitive funding calls, and the valorisation of shared data, experience, and technical infrastructure.

The University of Trieste brings a strong interdisciplinary approach to the partnership, represented by Professor Paolo Bevilacqua (Department of Engineering and Architecture) and Professor Fabio Barbone (Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences), who serve as the University’s scientific coordinators. The agreement also supports inter-university masters already launched in collaboration with public service providers, including those in ‘Technology and Management of the Integrated Water Cycle’ and ‘Circular Economy and the Integrated Waste Cycle.’

‘This agreement,’ said Roberto Di Lenarda, Rector of the University of Trieste, ‘offers a concrete opportunity to launch new multidisciplinary research capable of addressing the challenges of sustainable resource management in innovative ways. Collaboration will range from the study of aquifer systems and infrastructure networks to wastewater and sludge treatment, from the economic and regulatory analysis of public services to the reuse of waste within a circular economy framework. Just as crucial is our commitment to communication and training, which are strategic levers for raising awareness and driving change at both the technical and societal level.’