10 Theses for Sustainability is the initiative promoted by the Symbola Foundation, Luiss and Unioncamere, with the support of Deloitte Climate & Sustainability, and realised in collaboration with the Almalaurea Inter-University Consortium, the RUS – Network of Universities for Sustainable Development and the INSTM – National Inter-University Consortium for Materials Science and Technology, under the patronage of the CRUI – Conference of Italian University Rectors and the Ministry of Universities and Research.
Many fields of knowledge are focusing on sustainability, making it the leitmotif of this century: from engineering to literature, from economics to political science. The initiative was a great success, with 2,062 applications from over 86 universities across Italy (62% female, 38% male). The 10 winners (6 women and 4 men) come from Campus Bio-medico in Rome, Luiss, Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, Università Ca’ Foscari in Venice, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Università degli Studi di Catania, Università degli Studi di Palermo and Università Politecnica delle Marche. There are also 90 special mentions.
As stated in the announcement, the evaluation of the theses was carried out in two stages: a technical committee composed of the 22 universities participating in the call, including the Politecnico di Milano, which selected the 100 most deserving theses, and a scientific committee chaired by Professors Severino and Zamagni, which selected the 10 winners.
Among the 10 winners is a graduate of the Politecnico di Milano: Andrea Fumagalli, who obtained a Master’s degree in Management Engineering with his thesis ‘Assessing the environmental impact of photovoltaic technologies: a Life Cycle Assessment-based evaluation framework and its application to multiregional scenarios’. The thesis focuses on photovoltaics (PV), a key technology for the decarbonisation of the energy sector, but which requires up-to-date assessments of its environmental sustainability. The study develops a new assessment framework to compare the impact of the six main PV technologies on energy and greenhouse gas emission indicators. The results show that no single technology excels in all aspects, and that the production phase and the carbon intensity of the producing country significantly influence the environmental impact. The study highlights the critical role of PV in addressing climate change and the importance of material recycling and decarbonisation of the electricity supply chain.
