FUTURE-PACK | Packaging Design Innovation Lab

    An open platform for research, design, and knowledge transfer supporting responsible innovation in packaging and its supply chains

    The Lab

    FUTURE-PACK Packaging Design Innovation Lab is developed by the Advanced Design Unit (ADU) of the Department of Architecture at Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna. It is dedicated to responsible innovation in packaging and its supply chains. 

    The Lab arises from the evolution of two complementary paths: the experience of the Packaging Innovation Observatory, active between 2019 and 2023, and the FuturE-Pack project, developed as part of the MICS (Made in Italy Circular and Sustainable) Extended Partnership. The first has established a foundation for observing, mapping and connecting the Packaging System; the second has consolidated a theoretical, methodological and experimental framework for packaging as a “broadcaster”, i.e. as an augmented artefact capable of circulating data, information and values along the Made in Italy supply chains. 

    FUTURE-PACK today gathers these trajectories into an open innovation infrastructure, capable of connecting academic research, design culture, the production system, institutions, associations, consortia, designers, and other subjects within the system. The Lab operates as a shared knowledge environment and as a mediation device, integrating critical observation, monitoring sector changes, producing design resources, and carrying out transfer activities. 

    Packaging is interpreted as a complex artefact and relational infrastructure between products, territories, production systems, digital platforms, usage behaviours, and end-of-life scenarios. From this perspective, the Lab contributes to the development of interpretative frameworks, operational tools, and design trajectories aimed at responsibility.
    An open model of innovation 

    The Packaging Design Innovation Lab is based on an open model of production, organisation, and knowledge sharing. The platform’s resources are conceived as an accessible heritage for the scientific, design, and industrial communities, supporting activities of research, teaching, technology transfer, and scientific dissemination. 

    This approach strengthens the university’s public role as an actor capable of activating innovation processes within production systems. The openness of the platform promotes the circulation of content, the exchange between different actors, and the development of relationships, collaborations, and advanced projects. 

    The Lab acts as a hub of expertise and a space for project activation. It gathers and organises scientific content, develops interpretative and operational tools, promotes opportunities for discussion, and contributes to transforming research into project, cultural, and industrial value. The digital platform constitutes a component of the Lab’s overall infrastructure, alongside applied research activities, scientific consultancy, workshops, meta-design tools, collaborations with businesses, competitive projects, events, and training initiatives.

    Governance and Project-Oriented Community

    The governance of FUTURE-PACK is based on a logic of collective intelligence and project-oriented community building. The Lab operates as a relational system in which diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives contribute to understanding sector changes and defining trajectories of responsible innovation. 

    The Advanced Design Unit (ADU) of the University of Bologna ensures the scientific direction, methodological consistency, and cultural continuity of the project. Within this framework, ADU coordinates the platform, guides research activities, and ensures alignment with the approach of Advanced Design, understood as an anticipatory, systemic, and responsible stance towards processes of industrial and social transformation. 

    Surrounding this core is a network of academic, institutional, and industrial partners. Universities and research centres contribute to expanding scientific and methodological expertise; companies and industrial partners bring needs, cases, application contexts, and opportunities for experimentation; associations, consortia, and institutions participate in validating content, interpreting the regulatory framework, and disseminating results. 

    The quality of innovation in packaging depends on the ability to capitalise on the exchange of value among the involved parties. The Lab organises and re-elaborates knowledge, constraints, experiences, data, cases, and visions, transforming them into tools, interpretations, networks, and shared design opportunities. 

    FUTURE-PACK thus positions itself as a relational infrastructure: an environment where research, design, and industry can recognise common problems, compare solutions, build shared languages, and steer innovation towards more responsible outcomes. 


    Activities 

    The activities of the Packaging Design Innovation Lab are organised into interdependent work streams, aimed at transforming the observation of change into design knowledge and that knowledge into shared value for research, industry, and society. 

    •  Observation and monitoring of innovation in packaging. Through the collection, analysis, and comparison of case studies, emerging solutions, technologies, materials, service models, and design practices, this activity makes it possible to identify drivers of transformation, weak signals, and evolutionary trajectories in the sector. 
    • Systematisation of knowledge involves creating conceptual grids, interpretative frameworks, repertoires, glossaries, and scientific content that make the complexity of the Packaging System legible. These tools facilitate interpretation and support researchers, designers, companies, institutions, and other stakeholders in the supply chain. 
    • Development of design and meta-design resources. Toolkits, guidelines, checklists, maps, and operational devices support innovation processes by translating knowledge, constraints, and opportunities into practical tools for analysis, ideation, evaluation, and transfer. 
    • Transfer to productive and institutional systems. Within collaborations with companies, associations, consortia, organisations, and research centres, activities encompass applied research, scientific consultancy, workshops, competitive projects, experiments, validations, and pathways for innovation support. 
    • Training and dissemination. The Lab promotes a culture of responsible packaging design, innovation quality, and awareness of ongoing changes through educational activities, seminars, events, publications, editorial content, and initiatives targeting academic, professional, and industrial communities. 
    Together, these activities establish FUTURE-PACK as a permanent laboratory of research and innovation, capable of connecting observation, design, transfer, and community.

    Project Team

    Project by 
    Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna 
    Department of Architecture, Advanced Design Unit (ADU) 
     

    Scientific Direction 
    Flaviano Celaschi 
    Erik Ciravegna 

    Project Coordination 
    Erik Ciravegna 

    Research and Project Development Team 
    Sara Battistini 
    Roberto Polloni 
    Camilla Sartor 

    Collaborators
    Raffaele Montemurro
    Veronica Pasini
    Ludovica Rosato

    UX/UI Design 
    Camilla Sartor 

    Digital Infrastructure 
    Michele Zannoni

    Technical-Scientific Committee

    The Technical-Scientific Committee contributes to the cultural and methodological orientation of the Lab, supporting the critical interpretation of sector transformations, the validation of research trajectories, and the consolidation of the scientific, institutional, and industrial network.

    Academic Partners

    FUTURE-PACK builds on the scientific guidance of the Advanced Design Unit (ADU) at Università di Bologna and on the network established through the Packaging Innovation Observatory and the FuturE-Pack project, developed within the MICS (Made in Italy Circular and Sustainable) Extended Partnership. 

    From this perspective, the Packaging Design Innovation Lab aims to consolidate and expand collaborations with Italian and international universities, research centres, and scientific groups active in packaging design and, more broadly, in the packaging industry. 


    Institutional and industrial partners 

    FUTURE-PACK Packaging Design Innovation Lab fosters partnerships with companies, consortia, associations, institutions, research centres, and other stakeholders in the packaging industry. These collaborations support gathering and validating case studies, advancing applied research, testing design tools, and promoting a packaging culture that emphasizes design excellence, sustainable transformations, and accountability throughout supply chains. 

    The Lab has built connections with major sector representatives and organizations involved in the packaging transition, such as CONAI (National Packaging Consortium), the Italian Packaging Institute, the Ethical Packaging Foundation, GIFLEX (Flexible Packaging Group), and UCIMA (Union of Italian Manufacturers of Automatic Packaging and Filling Machines). 

    As part of the FuturE-Pack project, developed within the Extended MICS Partnership (Made in Italy Circular and Sustainable), the experimental phase also involved industrial partners such as ZEROBARRACENTO, AstraKode, and Movopack.  

    The Advanced Design Unit’s (ADU) ongoing collaborations with key players in Emilia-Romagna’s Packaging Valley, such as G.D Coesia and IMA, have contributed to the development of research, teaching and outreach activities, thereby consolidating the Lab’s resources.


    Disclaimer 
    The contents of the FUTURE-PACK platform are disseminated for research, educational, and scientific purposes. They have no commercial purpose and are intended solely for information, critical analysis, and the advancement of knowledge in packaging design. Trademarks, trade names, products, images, and materials mentioned or represented belong to their respective rights holders. Their use within the platform is for illustrative, analytical, and study purposes, in accordance with the project’s scientific aims. The contents reflect only the views of the authors and research groups involved and do not imply any responsibility on the part of funders, partners, or reference institutions.