The complex relationship between wellbeing and resources: the Italian Studies contribution

The work aims to focus on the Italian contribution to the scientific knowledge of the relationship between the well-being of societies (and of humankind as a whole) and the resources of our Planet. A relationship that’s complex, because it involves and interconnects different systems: not only the resources themselves (e.g., food reserves), but also human behaviors, cultural and historical elements, and so on: e.g., how food styles can influence the life of our Planet? The Italian contribution will be analyzed both highlighting the historical role of some Italian personalities who promoted this specific research area (in a Futures Studies approach), and also highlighting what is now happening in Italy. Indeed, there are important Italian Institutions, like the Italian National Institute of Statistics, as well as Scientific Associations, like AIQUAV, the Italian Association for Quality-of-Life Studies, who play a significant role in the exploration of the topic, and in the dissemination of knowledge about this. Some recent data produced by the National Institute of Statistics will be used to highlight how the official statistics are useful to understand the current state of eating habits in Italy, both through analysis in time series of changes that have occurred, and in a gender and generation approach.