The National Research Council of Italy (CNR) has among its missions the promotion and direct enhancement of results and skills for productive and social purposes and the transfer of technology and knowledge. The Institute of Bioeconomy (IBE) has internally developed two working groups, one closely linked to the activities of the Lamma Consortium (LaMMa Lab) which plays a role of technology transfer towards the Public Administration, and one strictly linked to the technology transfer to the wood industry (Legno Lab).
Legno LAB
The research units dealing with wood, about 25 PUs between the Trento and Florence offices, are unique within the CNR, where they have their origin and continuity since 1954, the year the National Institute of Wood was founded. The Institute of Wood, which later evolved into IRL and ITL, finally reunited in IVALSA, was created to provide a scientific basis for the development of the national wood industry and to improve the link between national wood production and industry. Even today these research units play the fundamental role of technology transfer towards the world of companies in the sector, in particular through an institutionalized link with the Trentino Habitec Technological District and with Federlegno-Arredo. In recent years, contacts with the construction and chemical industries have increased, confirming that even today no national research body or university department has personnel and facilities with the potential to develop research on materials, products, collection and uses of wood that will be found inside the institute being established.
LaMMA LAB
The LaMMA Consortium, Environmental Monitoring and Modeling Laboratory for Sustainable Development, is a public consortium between CNR and the Tuscany Region (LR 39/2009). The Consortium derives from a project launched in 1997 between the Tuscany Region and IBIMET, to develop an interface between institutions, components of scientific and technological excellence, industry and the various regional operational structures. The CNR annually assigns staff (up to now only from IBIMET) to the LaMMA Consortium for carrying out operational, development and research activities in the fields of meteorology, oceanography, climatology and geomatics. The main office of the LaMMA Consortium is located in the CNR Research Area of Florence, in addition to two thematic offices, in Livorno, for the marine environment and safety of navigation, and in Grosseto, for water resources and soil erosion. The LaMMA Consortium promotes national and international projects which constitute important research and funding opportunities also for the CNR institutes, which are involved by the consortium in such initiatives. The LaMMA Consortium is also an operational oceanographic meteorological service for regional civil protection; has specific skills in the field of marine and oceanographic modeling for which it provides operationally weather-oceanographic forecast data to the Coast Guards on all waters of national interest, and is a candidate with its specificities to be an integral part of the new Italian Weather Agency. Some of the activities are aimed at various entities, including private ones, operating in the sectors of transport, tourism, sport, energy, air quality, water management, agriculture. All of these activities are developed in close cooperation with the CNR staff who work in various capacities within the Consortium. LaMMa-Lab will therefore be trained by this CNR staff, and will have the task of enhancing the skills acquired in terms of technology transfer and in terms of integration with the research lines of the Institute of Bioeconomy.