Professor of Economics and Rural Appraisal at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Agro-Environmental Sciences
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Born in Montale (Pistoia) in 1976 and married with two children, Alessio Cavicchi graduated in Economics at the University of Florence and obtained the PhD in Environmental and Food resources at the Parthenope University of Naples and a Master of Science in Food Economics and Marketing at the University of Reading (UK).

In 2006 he became Researcher at the University of Macerata where he subsequently became associate professor and full professor at the Department of Economic development and at the Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism. He started working at the University of Pisa in September 2021.

He was invited as speaker and external expert by the World Tourism Organization and the European Commission (specifically Joint Research Center, DG Regio, DG Education and Culture, DG Agri e DG RTD) on topics concerning innovation of agri-food and rural areas and the collaboration between universities and territorial stakeholders.

Since 2017 he is an external expert at the Directorate General of the Ministry of University and Research giving his contribute to the PON Research and Innovation, to the National Research Program and to the PRIMA (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area).

In 2018 he joined the Expert team of DG Education and Culture for the project Heinnovate on Entrepreneurial e Civic Universities.

In 2022 he has become member of the Advisory Board of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission for the initiative “Higher Education and Smart Specialisation”.

Institutional assignments

At the University of Macerata he founded and co-directed two double-degree programs in Tourism with the University of Oviedo and the University of Kiev. He was delegate for the Erasmus and internationalization program of his department and Rector’s Delegate for the Cluster Agrifood of Marche region. He founded the first university spin-off on territorial promotion and development and was member of several committees on education, research and third mission activities.

At the University of Pisa since 2021 he has been in the team PAGE (Pisa Agricultural Economics) at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Agro-Environmental Sciences. He was an external evaluator for the Spin off Committee of the University of Pisa on economics topics and organized two Hackathons on sustainability for the Contamination Lab. For the University of Pisa he coordinates the project Start for Future funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) on entrepreneurial education and business models innovation.

Scientific and teaching activities

His research activity focuses on the analysis of consumers’ choice on local and quality products, of sustainable tourism and of innovation processes in the agri-food sector and in rural areas.

He published more than 200 papers and chapters on national and international journals and books. He is co-editor of the Book Series “Consumer Science and Strategic Marketing” published by Elsevier, Managing editor of the journal “International Food and Agribusiness Management Review”, Associate Editor of “Economia Agroalimentare – Food Economy”.  

He was coordinator and partner of several European projects Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances and Strategic Partnerships on the collaboration between universities, business and territory.

He teaches Innovation and management of agri-food companies in the degree programme in Agricultural Sciences of the University of Pisa and in the inter-university degree programme in Sustainable Innovation in Viticulture and Enology (with the University of Florence) and in Agribusiness (with the University of Siena).

He coordinates the MOOC “Sustainable Food Systems: a Mediterranean Perspective” offered by SDG Academy – Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations.

He is facilitator for the Società Italiana di Economia Agraria (SIDEA) on the thematic group on “Business, Entrepreneurship, Innovation”.