Sonia Massari, Ph.D. has over 20 years of experience in Food Design and Innovation, human-food interaction, Sustainability Education, and the Co-Creation and Co-Design of innovative agri-food systems.
After graduating in Communication Sciences and Interaction Design from the University of Siena, she worked as an evaluator for EU research projects and as a consultant in the advertising sector. She then lived and taught for two years in New York, where she attended adult education courses and served as a visiting professor for the course Introduction to Visual Art (Basic Design) at the School of Art and Communication, Montclair State University.
Upon returning to Italy, she began working in scientific research for the European Commission. In 2007, she contributed to the establishment and then directed Gustolab International ( International Institute for Food and Sustainability studies) for 13 years—the first academic institution entirely dedicated to Food Studies Abroad. From 2010 to 2020 she was the Academic Director of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Food Studies in Italy. Coordinator of the “Critical Studies on Food In Italy” program in Italy for UMASS Amherst ( 2010-2020).
She designed and coordinated more than 50 academic programs and over 150 place-based initiatives on food and sustainability for prestigious universities including University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Chatham University, New York University, New Mexico State University, UMass Amherst, SUNY Oswego, Auburn University, Bowling Green University, Redlands University, Vantan Japan, among others. She developed food and sustainability abroad programs in Italy, Japan, and Vietnam, and later in hybrid format in Spain, France, and Austria.
She holds a Ph.D. in Food Experience Design (Ph.D. in Engineering, Telematics and Information Society, specialization in Interaction Design – University of Florence), with a dissertation on the role of digital technologies in food systems, cultural transmission, and the innovation of food practices. Her research combines critical and empirical approaches to the intersection of food, technology, and education.
She served for five years as coordinator of the ADI Permanent Design Observatory (ADI Index) Food Design Commission, and has been a jury member for numerous awards for startups, researchers, and innovators (EIT Food Journalism Award, Food Startupbootcamp, Archiproducts, BCFN YES!, among others). In 2015, she co-founded and co-directed the first European conference on Food Design: Understanding Food Design: from user-centered to people-centered design (Milan), together with ADI, Politecnico di Milano Design Department, and SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design.
From 2012 to 2023, she was a scientific advisor to the Barilla Foundation, where she coordinated high-impact projects including:
– BCFN YES! (competition for MA and PhD students)
– The Milan Protocol (coordinating the Sustainable Agriculture section)
– The Youth Manifesto ( coordinating the whole process)
– National education programs supported by the Ministry of Education (“Noi, il cibo, il nostro Pianeta”)
– SKILLED for Food (Erasmus+), a sustainability training program for high school teachers
In 2020, she left her role as director of Gustolab to fully dedicate herself to scientific research, educational innovation, and participatory approaches in agri-food. Since then, she has collaborated with universities, research centers, public institutions, and food private companies and organizations as a researcher, designer, consultant and trainer ( LegaCoop, Parmalat, Nestle, PepsiCo, VTI, WFP, Studio Volpi, IIT, ….).
Since 2012 she teaches Food Design in numerous national and international institutions, including th Basque Culinary Center Department of Master in Gastronomic Sciences, University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Bologna Business School, Rome Business School, Politecnico di Milano, SPD, The New School, ELISAVA, ESTHE, Munich University of Applied Sciences, CHIEAM Bari and Austral University in Argentina, to mention a few. In 2017 she was selected as faculty for the SDGAcademy MOOC Course: Sustainable Food Systems: A Mediterranean Perspective
Since 2013, she has taught at ISIA Roma Design ( courses such as “Sociology of Change” and “Scenarios for Sustainability“) and co-lead workshops for Pordenone Design Week and RDE Rome. Since 2024, she co-coordinates the doctoral curriculum in Design for Social Change and conducts research on sustainability-oriented design education.
From 2017 to 2022, she was adjunct professor at Roma Tre University (Economics), where she taught the MA course “Sustainability Design Thinking” (64 hours) and supervised numerous theses on design and sustainability.
From 2020 to 2024, she served as Director of the Academy of the Future Food Institute, where she co-designed and co-coordinated programs such as Climate Shapers Bootcamps, Gastrodiplomacy Bootcamps, and sustainability education initiatives for schools and teachers, small and big food companies, collaborating with international organizations such as FAO, WFP, INTERHEI,EC, UNDP, Chef’s Manifesto, and different national ministries.
Since 2022, she has been a researcher at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at the University of Pisa, collaborating within the PAGE research group. Her work focuses on human-food interaction, participatory design methods, and the role of design in transforming rural and agri-food contexts. She integrates transdisciplinary learning, empathy-oriented methodologies, and transformative educational formats. She also launched and co-developed Tenuta Lab, a place-based education hub rooted in agricultural enterprises, and coordinated co-teaching initiatives between design, agricultural economics, bioeconomy, and agroecology. She launched and coordinated the national conference “Design, Food, Agriculture: More Connected Than We Imagine?“
In 2021, she co-founded FORK Food Design Organization, the world’s largest non-profit international platform dedicated to food design. With FORK, she launched the annually World Food Design Day (WFDD) and co-organizes the be-annual EFOOD, the European conference on Food Design.
She has published numerous academic articles on food studies, education, HCI, ICT, and food design. Her work has been presented at conferences and workshops across all five continents.
Her Special issues:
Special Issue: ID City, Italian Cities and Identities (Northeast Modern Language Association – 2011)
Her Books:
FOR ALL
Transdisciplinary Case Studies on Design for Food and Sustainability (Elsevier- 2021)
Experiencing and Envisioning Food Designing for Change ( Taylor and Francis, 2024) openaccess
Food Design for the Real World (FrancoAngeli – 2025 )
openaccess
FOR TEACHERS
She was a board member of the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), where she served as Vice President (2023–2025). She is in the board ( direttivo) of the Laboratorio di Studi Rurali “Sismondi” and she is one of the member of Linaria no profit. She is also part of international scientific committees, including the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Food Design and the Advisory Board of the International Food Studies Network. She is currently member of SID, SIEA and AIEAA.
She collaborates as an expert with TV programs, festivals, media outlets, and research hubs such as JRC Science Hub, RAI, Gambero Rosso Magazine, Elle Decor, and others.
Awards and recognitions:
– Tecnovisionarie – Women Innovation Award (2012)
– Innovative Research in International Education – NAFSA Award (2014)
– ASFS Pedagogy Award (2020)
– Most Innovative New Program Award for Climate Shapers Bootcamp – GoAbroad (2021)
– Finalist for Reimagine Education Award for Best Online Program (2021)
– World Food Design Day listed in the ADI Design Index (2023)
– FORK’s work shortlisted for the Donald Norman Design Award and Compasso d’Oro Internazionale
– EFOOD 2022 Proceedings Book, awarded the Gourmand Award as Best Food Design Book
Originally from Romagna, she has lived in Rome for many years. She has two wonderful children who often join her on her many work and leisure travels.
