Laboratory

The Laboratory on Quantitative Sustainability (TLQS) is a distributed laboratory among various scientific and humanistic institutions of Friuli Venezia Giulia, which aims to be characterized by the development of scientific methodologies capable of quantitatively representing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through the collection of existing data, managed using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms and analyzed globally, comprehensive sustainability indicators can be derived with the perspective of understanding the constituent elements of the Science of Sustainability, a Science that allows us to make short and medium-term predictions about the health of the Planet and the people who inhabit it, and about how different policies and technologies impact societies and the groups and organizations that compose them.
The Laboratory’s idea is to bridge the gap between research and science, governance and the productive sector, promoting a circular rather than linear development model, in order to generate wealth for our societies, contributing to social inclusion and, above all, protecting the environment.

• Interdisciplinary research: strongly interdisciplinary, if not transdisciplinary research, such as that underlying the Science of sustainability, needs its own language, new compared to that traditionally used in different scientific disciplines; the representation and quantitative analysis of sustainability cannot therefore disregard research that transcends disciplinary barriers; TLQS aims to identify tools to promote, enhance and concretely implement such interdisciplinarity.
• Internationality: scientific research cannot disregard its internationality in general, both regarding collaborations and the dissemination of achieved knowledge; this applies even more to the scientific study of sustainability which must be conducted at a global level.
• Scientific and social networks: TLQS promotes active dialogue, not only among scholars from different disciplines -scientific and humanistic- but also among those belonging to different social components, such as researchers, entrepreneurs, public administrators and civil society in its various components, in order to promote the transfer and valorization of knowledge to respond to the economic and social needs of the Planet; the Laboratory’s primary objective is to create an interdisciplinary network on sustainability themes that, starting from Friuli Venezia Giulia, can expand to become self-consistent.
• Communication: great attention is given to communication with the primary purpose of fostering awareness and involvement on sustainability themes, both among experts who have not yet approached this important issue with due attention, and among all citizens.
• Young talents: the Laboratory aims to attract the greatest number of young talents; the Science of Sustainability is an evolving science, whose study requires new research methodologies yet to be identified and which must be approached with greater mental openness than that confined within academic disciplines; young talents present themselves as ideal candidates to break down these barriers.

For the organization and management of the project, OGS relies on the collaboration of the International Foundation Trieste for the Progress and Freedom of Sciences (FIT), which has made available the premises in its use.

FIT’s main mission is to coordinate the scientific institutions of the territory on specific basic and applied research projects, a role it has fulfilled since its establishment with results of great importance that have contributed to strengthening the territory’s scientific system. Of particular relevance was the success achieved with the recognition of Trieste as European City of Science in 2020 and the organization of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF). Since 2021, FIT has also been the seat of the Administrative Secretariat and General Affairs of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) which, from Singapore, moved to Trieste and of which Stefano Fantoni is Secretary General for administrative affairs. IUPAP is an organization founded in 1922, has global significance and represents physicists from 60 member states.

TLQS, through OGS and FIT, will collaborate in organizing the Big Science Business Forum (BSBF) event, which will take place in Trieste from October 1 to 4, 2024 and will focus on high technology and innovation, with the objective of being the main meeting point between research infrastructures and industry in Europe. Trieste will host the third edition of the event which has had great success in the previous editions in Copenhagen and Granada, where more than 1,000 delegates from more than 500 organizations and 30 countries gathered to discuss future prospects for the application of science.