The Circular Rainbow project returns to Aquafarm 2026

Everything is ready for the international Aquafarm 2026 trade fair, dedicated to aquaculture, shellfish farming, algae cultivation and the fisheries industry, which will take place in Pordenone on 18–19 February.

For the second consecutive year, our project will take part with a dedicated stand, within the exhibition area reserved for the Department of Agri-food, Environmental and Animal Sciences of the University of Udine and for Interreg projects funded by the European Union and coordinated around shared objectives: improving aquaculture and safeguarding the environment. Alongside Circular Rainbow, the two Interreg Italy–Croatia projects Marinet and Brigantine will also be present. This confirms the successful collaboration launched in the previous edition, which has already delivered positive results.
The stand will host researchers from the University of Udine and the partner organization Bluefarm, who will present to visitors, in real time, a simulation of trout monitoring within the new digitalized recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), currently operating at the Pagnacco site of the University Agricultural Enterprise “Antonio Servadei”.
The stand will also feature posters, outreach materials and a 3D model of the RAS system, designed to illustrate the project’s results and its promotion of a circular, sustainable, cross-border trout farming model.
The project’s objective is to strengthen the sector’s resilience to climate change by optimizing production and reducing environmental impact through the recovery and reuse of effluents from RAS facilities. One seminar and two workshops are scheduled within the MASAF Arena of the fair on Wednesday, 18 February:

• Morning (around 10.00 a.m.)
Prof. Alessandro Chiumenti will present the workshop entitled “Biogas and biomethane production from livestock by-products and effluents – The Circular Rainbow project”,within the opening session“Aquaculture for and on the planet: High-Seas Treaty, decarbonisation, social and economic role, environmental challenges”.
• Afternoon (4.00–5.30 p.m.)
In the session “New aquaculture systems: integrated multitrophic, regenerative, closed-cycle systems”, Prof. Gloriana Cardinaletti, project coordinator, will lead the seminar “Trout farming in RAS systems”,while Prof. Francesca Tulli will present the workshop “RAS effluents as drivers of new bioeconomies: the synergy between RAS systems and insects – The Circular Rainbow project”.

The programme will also include training sessions and direct consultancy activities with Italian and Slovenian aquaculture enterprises involved in the project and in the Circular Rainbow Lab, as part of the partners’ joint activities in training, dissemination and collaborative engagement.