On May 14, 2025, we convened the event “Bootcamp 2025: The Puglia System for Just Sustainable Innovation”. The event represented a one-day immersive experience that engaged high school and university students, emerging scholars, young entrepreneurs, professionals from organizations, companies, and public institutions in a collective journey of co-design. Organized by Luiss University, LabGov ETS, Acquedotto Pugliese, and supported by the AWARE project partners (https://www.aware-eu.eu/) —Autorità Idrica Pugliese, the University of Salento— and with the support of the Mayor of Castellana Grotte, Region Apulia, the Apulian Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA Puglia), and the Apulian Regional Agency for Technology, Technology Transfer and Innovation (ARTI Puglia), the Bootcamp addressed real-world challenges in the just and sustainable management of water and natural resources, integrating technical, legal, social, institutional, and economic dimensions. The initiative was inspired by recent policy and legislative developments, including the Italian draft decree of 2023 on wastewater reuse, EU Regulation 2020/741 on minimum requirements for water reuse, and the new EU Directive 2024/3019 on urban wastewater, all of which seek to harmonize national and European standards to foster more sustainable agriculture and public sector innovation, particularly through tools like Article 36 of Law Decree 76/2020.
Participants included over 50 students from Luiss University, CIHEAM Bari (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari), the Universities of Bari, Foggia, Salento, and the Polytechnic of Bari, along with high school students and their teachers from IISS Luigi dell’Erba and IISS Consoli Pinto. They worked closely with mentors from Acquedotto Pugliese, Autorità Idrica Pugliese, ARPA Puglia, ARTI Puglia, Confindustria Bari, Innova, the University of Salento, CIHEAM, Luiss and LabGov ETS. One week before the event, five interdisciplinary teams were formed and assigned their challenges—rooted in five different infrastructure sites across the region—to ensure participants could begin shaping their responses ahead of time.
The day began in Castellana Grotte with a site visit to the AWARE aquaponics pilot plant, where participants experienced firsthand how reclaimed water can support sustainable food production through the integration of fish and vegetable farming (see https://www.aware-eu.eu/the-project/). It was a moment where inspiration met investigation, as students collected data, listened to keynote interventions from experts and from local and project leaders, and launched into a challenge that mirrored real regulatory, environmental, social and economic constraints. In the afternoon, the group moved to Bari, where they visited the headquarters of Acquedotto Pugliese and met with representatives from regional institutions such as ARPA and ARTI Puglia. There, the co-design workshops continued, as participants—supported by their mentors—refined their solutions and pitched them to a panel of experts, receiving valuable feedback and recognition for the quality, feasibility, and relevance of their proposals.
The challenges addressed were diverse and grounded in specific sites and community contexts. Challenge 1 focused on the AWARE pilot plant in Castellana Grotte, asking how to ensure its economic sustainability after the project’s end, what business models could be applied, and how the model could be replicated across other plants in Puglia and the wider Mediterranean, even adapting fish species to local ecosystems. Challenge 2, based in Lecce, explored how treated wastewater from the Ciccio Prete treatment plant could be reused through phytoremediation to irrigate the University of Salento’s Botanical Garden, closing the loop between urban water and green public spaces. Challenge 3 addressed the Poggiorsini treatment plant and proposed a Renewable Energy Community to make the facility self-sufficient, while also tackling sustainable sludge management through phytoremediation. Challenge 4 examined how biodiversity can be enhanced around wastewater treatment plants, with examples from Noci, Casamassima, and Melendugno, focusing on pollinators, native species, and green infrastructure integration. Finally, Challenge 5 asked how the Taranto desalination plant could be transformed into a hydroponic system for brine management, including which species can thrive in environments with higher salinity.
Throughout the Bootcamp, the methodology remained clear: mentorship-driven, challenge-based learning grounded in real policy frameworks and technical limitations. Participants were asked not only to imagine but to prototype tangible solutions through co-design canvases and briefs. All work revolved around five interlinked dimensions—technology, law, society, economy, and environmental impact—ensuring systemic thinking across all levels of proposal development. While all teams delivered strong contributions, the team working on Challenge 3 stood out with its innovative yet community-centred and intergenerational approach to integrating renewable energy and sustainable water reuse at the Poggiorsini site with considerations on local culture and local traditions.
The experience of Bootcamp 2025 also set the stage for the upcoming XYZ Camp 2025, an intergenerational research and innovation bootcamp that brings together Generation X, Y, and Z to respond to the challenges of ecological and digital transitions. It is not only a continuation of the co-design process but a reinforcement of the idea that learning and innovation must happen across generations. Students from the Strategic Management, Innovation and Sustainability and Law, Digital Innovation and Sustainability programs will pitch their ideas to leading European managers and institutional leaders, leveraging the insights gained through real-life experimentation and the strategic integration of social sciences and innovation management.
Interested in the XYZ Camp 2025?
Register at https://luiss.formstack.com/forms/xyz_camp_2025
Bootcamp 2025 was more than a workshop. It was a real testbed for inclusive, forward-looking innovation—locally rooted, globally connected, and powered by cooperation across sectors, disciplines, and generations! Get a glimpse of the day through this short video: WP5-AWARE-Bootcamp video.mov
Interested in replicating this experience? Contact us at staff@labgov.it
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Interested in the AWARE project? Contact us at info@aware-eu.eu.
Authors: Anna Berti Suman Marijana Krstic Researchers at LabGov ETS and LUISS Law School