Roberta Sonnino

Roberta Sonnino is a Professor of Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Surrey, affiliated with the School of Sustainability and the Centre for Environment and Sustainability. She leads the €12 million FOODCLIC project, focusing on urban food system transformation in European and African city-regions. Her research emphasizes governance, policy integration, and sustainable food systems, with over 100 publications translated into multiple languages. She advises global bodies like the UN FAO and the European Commission, contributing to frameworks such as the FOOD 2030 strategy and the EU Urban Food Agenda.

Key projects include directing the Research Centre for Sustainable Urban and Regional Food at Cardiff University (2003–2022), securing £28M in research funding. Her work spans policy integration (FOODTRAILS), food security (TRANSMANGO), and public procurement (Implementing Healthy and Sustainable Catering in Scotland’s Public Sector). She holds visiting professorships at the University of Cordoba, Slow Food’s University of Gastronomic Sciences (Italy), and BOKU University of Vienna (Austria).

Her research interests include urban food governance, systemic approaches to food policy, and sustainability co-benefits. Recent contributions analyze the EU’s ecological footprint driven by food consumption (Nature Food, 2023) and the role of science-policy interfaces in food system transformation (Trends in Food Science and Technology, 2023). She advocates for equitable, democratic food systems through translocal collaborations and evidence-based policies.