Gustolab and the Borromini Institute offer students, faculty and independent scholars a base in the heart of Rome to pursue field studies in the disciplines that are changing the world, from food systems and sustainability to interdisciplinary studies of place, people, cities and technology.
Emerging from the traumatic experience of the pandemic — and facing the greater challenge of climate crisis — we have been drawn to widen the focus of the organization from food studies to the broader context of human cohabitation within the planetary ecosystem.
In this time of paradigm shift we are unpacking the components of the Gustolab mission, expanding the study of food and sustainability into its essential elements, represented by three other academic clusters: Human Rights Lab, Open Cities Lab and the Tech Lab.
The Gustolab investigates food systems and sustainability, fields that simultaneously involve the physical place (which produces food), the people and cities (which consume the food), and the technology (used in its production, processing, and distribution).
The Open City Lab deals with the built environment, urban placemaking, sustainable architecture, landscape and mobility.
The Human Rights Lab with courses in Equity and Social Justice. Some of the areas of research in this will be Diversity in Mediterranean history, Global Migration, Indigenous and Changing Regional Cultures, Community Service and Civic Engagement, Memory, Oral History and Monuments, Gender and Women’s Studies.
The Technology, Media and Design Lab deals with emerging technologies such as augmented reality as applied to cultural heritage, video making, app design, social media and digital communications, globalization of information, big data, geographic information systems, IoT, AI, etc.
