Energies Webinar | Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Energy Optimization and Circular Solutions for Water, Nutrients, and Bioresources in the Mediterranean
Part of the MDPI Energies Webinars series
23 April 2026, 10:00 (CEST)
23 April 2026
circular economy, nutrients, anaerobic digestion, bioresource recovery, life cycle assessment, mediterranean
Welcome from the Chair
The Mediterranean agri-food sector is increasingly vulnerable to climate change, water scarcity, and soil degradation, highlighting the urgent need for circular and eco-efficient solutions. This webinar is organized around the framework of the MedInCircle project, which is addressing these challenges by developing an integrated approach to water, nutrient, and bioresource management, fostering sustainability and resilience across the agri-food chain.
This webinar will provide an overview of MedInCircle’s innovative strategies and present key results from the first 30 months of research, mainly focusing on energy optimization and circular solutions for nutrients and bioresources. The project is developing modular technologies for on-site treatment, recovery, and valorization of wastewater and organic waste from Mediterranean agri-food activities. A key focus is the development of innovative bioreactors to ensure the recovery of bioresources that can be used in agriculture as biofertilizers or biostimulants.
Date: 23 April 2026
Time: 10:00 am CEST | 4:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 815 2978 9475
Event Chair
Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, University of Napoli Federico II, Italy
Giovanni Esposito is Professor of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering at the University of Napoli Federico II. As part of several national and international projects[EE1.1], he has coordinated the training of early-stage researchers through both education and research in environmental technologies, mainly focusing on developing, modelling, and engineering innovative biotechnologies for energy and resources recovery from waste and wastewater. He has co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in the environmental technology field, with more than 17000 citations and h-index 67 (Scopus source).
Keynote Speakers
National Research Centre, Agricultural and Biological Research Institute, Water Relations and Field Irrigation Dept., Cairo, Egypt
Professor Dr. Mohamed Abd El Hady is a distinguished academic researcher with an impressive scholarly record indexed in Scopus. His research interests span multiple disciplines, including [Soil physics, Agricultural Engineering, Water Resources Management, etc.]. He has published a significant number of peer-reviewed scientific papers in reputable international journals. His impactful contributions are reflected in a high number of citations and a strong H-index, indicating the quality and consistency of his research output. Prof. Dr. Abd El Hady is well-known for his collaborations with both local and international research institutions and for his substantial contributions to advancing knowledge in his field.
Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, University of Napoli Federico II, Italy
Stefano Papirio (male) is an Associate Professor in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering at the University of Napoli Federico II. In 2013, he was awarded a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio. From 2013 to 2014, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering of the Tampere University of Technology (Finland). In 2018, he was an invited visiting scientist at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has been co-coordinator of two international joint doctorate programs as well as PI and co-PI of other national and international research projects for 2019. He has been the main supervisor or co-supervisor of more than 30 PhD students. He has co-authored about 110 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, with more than 4,100 citations and an H-index of 38 (Scopus source). He is the co-founder of the start-up RethaiN (https://rethain.it/), which offers innovative solutions for the treatment and management of anaerobic digestate from biogas plants.
Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, University of Napoli Federico II, Italy
Alessandra Cesaro is an Associate Professor of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering at the University of Napoli Federico II. In 2013, she was awarded a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Salerno, where she worked as a post-doc researcher between 2013 and 2019. Dr. Cesaro was a visiting researcher at the University of Stuttgart in 2009 and at the Technical University of Hamburg in 2012. Her research interests focus on the advanced anaerobic processing of organic residues, as well as the sustainable recovery of valuable and critical elements from electrical and electronic waste. More recently, she has broadened her research focus to Life Cycle Thinking approaches for environmental impact assessment. In this regard, she is UNINA PI of the Interreg Next Med project “Innovatile” as well as the Leader of WP9 on environmental and economic assessment in the MedInCircle project. She has co-authored more than 100 refereed publications in ISI journals, books, and international conference proceedings.
Registration
This is a FREE webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.
Certificates of attendance will be delivered to those who attend the live webinar.
Can’t attend? Register anyway and we’ll let you know when the recording is available to watch.
Program
|
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CEST |
|
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Esposito (Chair) Introduction |
10:00 - 10:10 am |
|
Dr. Mohamed Abd El-Hady (Speaker 1) New ferti-irrigation strategies for tomato and barley production in the Mediterranean region |
10:10 - 10:30 am |
|
Q&A |
10:30 - 10:35 am |
|
Prof. Dr. Stefano Papirio (Speaker 2) Bench- and pilot-scale applications aimed at the upcycling of nitrogen from anaerobic digestate of bioenergy plants |
10:35 - 10:55 am |
|
Q&A |
10:55 - 11:00 am |
|
Dr. Alessandra Cesaro(Speaker 3) Towards energy- and resource-efficient technologies for sustainable agri-food practices: a life cycle approach |
11:00 - 11:20 am |
|
Q&A |
11:20 - 11:25 am |
|
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Esposito (Chair) Closing of Webinar |
11:25 - 11:30 am |
