SANDRO DERNINI, PhD
Doctorate in Biology, School of Science, University of Cagliari, Italy (1974)
PhD. in Art Education, School of Education, New York University (1997)
30 years’ experience in the organization and the scientific coordination of international conferences and art & science events.
In 2014, he received the Award of Excellence in Food Sustainability by IACON-SENC at the Third World Conference of Public Health Nutrition in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In 2021, he received the Ancel and Margaret Keys Award at the 2nd International Agrobiodiversity Congress.
Since early 90’s, Dr. Dernini is fostering an enduring transdisciplinary dialogue among international experts, from different disciplines and cultures, linking the notion of the well-being to the Mediterranean diet, food security and sustainability in the Mediterranean. He co-founded and coordinated several international initiatives, such as: the SFS-MED Platform, the International Foundation of Mediterranean Diet (IFMeD), the Forum on Mediterranean Food Cultures, the International Interuniversity Centre for Mediterranean Food Cultures Studies (CIISCAM) at the Sapienza University of Rome, the Consortium on the Well-Being in the XXI Century, the Interdepartmental Well Being Centre of the University of Cagliari, and Plexus International, an informal network of artists and scientists.
He published as author or co-editor 6 books and more than 60 scientific articles on the Mediterranean diet and sustainable diets.
CURRENT POSITION
- Coordinator, SFS-MED Platform Coordination Desk, a multistakeholder initiative on Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean, initiated by FAO, CIHEAM, Union for the Mediterranean and PRIMA Foundation
- President, Forum on Mediterranean Food Cultures
- Senior Advisor, CIHEAM-Bari
- President, Plexus International Forum Onlus
Since early 80s, Sandro Dernini is coordinating Plexus International, an informal network of artists and scientists that is still playing a seminal role in the conception and realization of numerous collaborative, cross-cultural, art&science events, linking the notion of "art" and “food” to the concept of "well-being" - as a multicultural paradigm enhancing the quality of life in the community.