CREA

Denomination
CREA – Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria

Website
http://www.crea.gov.it

Representative Person
Dr. Milena Verrascina
Via Barberini 36 – 00187 Roma
milena.verrascina@crea.gov.it; Skype: milena.verrascina

Contact Person
Dr. Daniela Storti
daniela.storti@crea.gov.it

Description
The Council of Research in Agriculture and Analysis of Agricultural Economics (CREA) is the main Italian research organization dedicated to agriculture and rural development, with scientific expertise in the agricultural, fishing, forestry, nutritional and socio-economic sectors and in the analysis of socio-economic evolution of rural areas. Among its missions, CREA develops and encourages the adoption of technological innovation in the production sectors and provides technical and scientific support for the implementation of public policies in the agricultural and rural fields to national and EU institutions. It consists of 12 Centers specialized in specific areas that are articulated in a variety of locations on the national territory.
In particular, CREA’s Policy and Bioeconomy Research Center (CREA-PB) develops cognitive and interpretative analyses of the economic and social dynamics related to the agri-food, forestry and fishing sectors and rural areas. Analyses on the performance of the agri-food system, in-depth sectoral studies and analyses of the functioning of supply chains and local agricultural systems are the main institutional activities. The activity of analysis and support to the definition of national policies and the accompaniment of the implementation of the European policy of rural development (carried out as implementing entity of the National Rural Network Programme through system actions aimed at improving the capacity building of the administrations involved and the capacity building of local actors in rural areas, animation activities, information, communication, networking) represent a further important mission of the Research Center that provides technical and scientific support to public and private institutions.
The Center is engaged in several thematic strands of study, which are articulated in numerous research projects, many of which conducted through collaborations with other institutions, universities, national and international research institutes, third sector associations and also with private entities. These activities have increasingly a territorial focus with specific reference to the start of innovation processes in marginal production contexts and, in particular, on the inner and mountain areas, on the testing of innovative practices of intervention in support of rural areas, on the interaction with local actors through participatory research.