Sustainable agriculture: the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies is coordinating the NUSYC project to obtain fertilizers from biological and food waste and urban residues

How can we tackle crucial challenges such as resource scarcity, waste management, and land use efficiency in urban contexts? New solutions for urban food production, through the reuse of agricultural residues, food waste, and treated human urine, are coming with the NUSYC Project “Novel Urban cultivation SYstems enforcing green and Circular economy.” The first official event of the project is the kick-off meeting, scheduled at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies on Monday, July 21.
The NUSYC project, funded by the PRIMA-MED program on the theme “Enhancing urban and local food systems for the transformation of sustainable food systems,” is coordinated by Antonio Ferrante, professor of horticulture and floriculture at the Institute of Plant Production of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. Project partners include the University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli,” MEG srl (Italian SME), the Université 8 Mai 1945 Guelma (Algeria), the École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Sfax (Tunisia), and Dokuz Eylul University (Turkey).

The project aims to develop innovative solutions for urban food production by reusing residues and waste and converting them into soil improvers, substances that improve soil characteristics, and fertilizers for horticultural cultivation, integrating sustainability objectives and circular economy principles.
The proposed cultivation system uses innovative technologies to maximize resource efficiency. Human urine, rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, together with urban green maintenance residues and food waste, is collected and transformed into nutrient-rich fertilizers (through treatment with diluted and/or nitrifying bacteria), hydrochar, or compost to support urban agriculture. This approach reduces dependence on synthetic products and growing substrates, limits nutrient loss, and helps increase crop yields.

By recovering these materials, the system closes the nutrient cycle, promoting circularity and contributing to the transition to a green economy with lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced water consumption, and less waste production.

Finally, NUSYC encourages the active involvement of local communities through participatory approaches to food production, thereby strengthening urban resilience and social cohesion.