Digital innovation and circularity in the wood-furniture sector – Sustainable strategies for Made in Italy

Authors

  • Lucia Pietroni University of Camerino (Italy)
  • Daniele Galloppo University of Camerino (Italy)
  • Vittorio Giannetti ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ University of Campania (Italy)
  • Caterina Di Flamminio ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ University of Campania (Italy)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69143/2464-9309/19212026

Keywords:

ecological and digital transition, circular economy, supply chain digitalisation, wood-furniture sector, made in Italy

Abstract

The Made in Italy wood-furniture sector, historically rooted in local industrial districts and artisanal manufacturing, is currently undergoing a dual digital and ecological transition. This transformation is reshaping its cultural and productive identity, aiming to shift the current economic model from a linear to a circular one. Through the analysis of case studies involving companies and products, the paper highlights how the intersection of these two innovation drivers – digital and ecological – can play a significant role in accelerating the transition of production systems toward circularity and sustainability, while enhancing their capacity to generate value and competitiveness.

 

Article info

Received: 12/03/2026; Revised: 15/04/2026; Accepted: 17/04/2026

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Metrics Graph

Author Biographies

Lucia Pietroni, University of Camerino (Italy)

Full Professor of Industrial Design at the SAAD, and Director of the Master’s programme in Eco-design & Eco-innovation, she has been the President of EcodesignLab Srl, a spin-off of UniCam, since 2013. Her research focuses on sustainable and bio-inspired design, design for safety, and design-driven innovation processes.
E-mail: lucia.pietroni@unicam.it

Daniele Galloppo, University of Camerino (Italy)

Researcher at the SAAD, he conducts research primarily in the field of design for environmental sustainability, with particular attention to the contribution of innovative materials and production processes to the evolution of industrial products, as well as Design for Safety. Since 2013, he has been a founding partner of EcodesignLab Srl.
E-mail: daniele.galloppo@unicam.it

Vittorio Giannetti, ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ University of Campania (Italy)

Designer and PhD Candidate in Design for Made in Italy, he explores themes of environmental sustainability and the circular economy, with particular attention to product life-cycle assessment, digital innovation, and Design for Safety.
E-mail: vittorio.giannetti@unicampania.it

Caterina Di Flamminio, ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ University of Campania (Italy)

Designer and PhD Candidate in Design for Made in Italy, she focuses her research on environmental sustainability and circular economy driven by digital innovation.
E-mail: caterina.diflamminio@unicampania.it

References

Antikainen, M., Uusitalo, T. and Kivikytö-Reponen, P. (2018), “Digitalisation as an Enabler of Circular Economy”, in Sakao, T., Lindahl, M., Liu, Y. and Dalhammar, C. (eds), 10th CIRP Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems (IPS2 2018), Linköping, Sweden, May 29-31, 2018, Procedia CIRP, vol. 73, Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, pp. 45-49. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2018.04.027 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Arper (2025), Environmental Product Declaration – Catifa Carta. [Online] Available at: stylecraft-web-assets.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/app/uploads/2022/08/09155639/Arper_EPD_ CatifaCarta_ENG.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Bajardelli, L. and Bolognini Cobianchi, A. (2024), Economia circolare per le PMI – Dalla progettazione ai finanziamenti, dall’eco-design alla comunicazione, FrancoAngeli, Milano.

Barbero, S. and Ferrulli, E. (2023), “Transizione ecologica e digitale – Il Design Sistemico nei processi di innovazione aperta delle PMI | Ecological and digital transition – Systemic Design in SMEs open innovation processes”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 13, pp. 269-280. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/13232023 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Bassi, A. (2017), Design contemporaneo – Istruzioni per l’uso, Il Mulino, Bologna.

Becattini, G. (1998), Distretti industriale e Made in Italy – Le basi socioculturali del nostro sviluppo economico, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino.

Ben Youssef, A. (2025), “Twin Transition – Digital Transformation Pathways for Sustainable Innovation”, in Sustainability, vol. 17, issue 21, article 9491, pp. 1-28. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.3390/su17219491 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Bettiol, M. (2015), Raccontare il Made in Italy – Un nuovo legame tra cultura e manifattura, Marsilio Editori, Venezia.

Bettiol, M. and Micelli, S. (2005), Design e creatività nel made in Italy – Proposte per i distretti industriali, Mondadori Bruno, Milano.

Buono, M., Capece, S. and Laudante, E. (2018), “Design e Artigianato 4.0 – Identità culturale territoriale e innovazione”, in MD Journal, vol. 5, pp. 28-39. [Online] Available at: materialdesign.it/media/formato2/allegati_6413.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Charter, M. (ed.) (2018), Designing for the Circular Economy, Routledge, London. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.4324/9781315113067 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Cianfanelli, E., Goretti, G., Stasi, R. and Tufarelli, M. (2018), “Saper fare del Made in Italy, tra tradizione e innovazione – Un confronto tra il comparto della pelletteria e quello dell’arredo in Toscana”, in MD Journal, vol. 5, pp. 40-49. [Online] Availa-ble at: materialdesign.it/media/formato2/allegati_6519.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Circular Economy Network (2025), 7° Rapporto sull’economia circolare in Italia – 2025. [Online] Available at: circula-reconomynetwork.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Rapporto-sulleconomia-circolare-in-Italia-2025.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Claudi de Saint Mihiel, A. (2024), “Design Made in Italy – Innovazione, ricerca e formazione | Made in Italy Design – Innova-tion, research and training”, in Techne | Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment, vol. 27, pp. 305-309. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.36253/techne-16065 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

D’Itria, E., Pei, X. and Bertola, P. (2024), “Designing Sustainability Today – An Analytical Framework for a Design for Sus-tainability Model in European Fashion and Furniture Industries”, in Sustainability, vol. 16, issue 8, article 3240, pp. 1-32. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.3390/su16083240 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Dellapiana, E. (2022), Il design e l’invenzione del Made in Italy, Einaudi, Torino.

EMF – Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2013), Towards the circular economy – An economic and business rationale for an accelerated transition. [Online] Available at: ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/towards-the-circular-economy-vol-1-an-economic-and-business-rationale-for-an [Accessed 25 March 2026].

European Commission (2021), Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 of 15 December 2021 on the use of the Environmental Footprint methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations, document 32021H2279. [Online] Available at: eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2021/2279/oj [Accessed 12 April 2026]

European Union (2024), Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 estab-lishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products, amending Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC (Text with EEA relevance), document 32024R1781. [Online] Available at: eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj [Accessed 25 March 2026].

EZ Lab (2025), Tonin Casa. [Online] Available at: ezlab.it/en/portfolio/design-blockchain-en/tonin-casa-en/ [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Faraca, G., Ranea Palma, A., Spiliotopoulos, C., Rodríguez-Manotas, J., Sanye Mengual, E., Amadei, A. M., Maury, T., Pasqualino, R., Wierzgala, P., Pérez-Camacho, M. N., Alfieri, F., Bernad Beltran, D., Lag Brotons, A., Delre, A., Perez Arribas, Z., Arcipowska, A., La Placa, M. G., Ardente, F., Mathieux, F. and Wolf, O. (2024), Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regula-tion – Study on new product priorities, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.2760/7400680 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Furmston, K. and Braithwaite, N. (2025), “How ‘Fast’ is Fast Furniture?”, in Laursen, L. N. and Hansen, A. K. (eds), Proceed-ings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025), Aalborg, Denmark, July 2-4, 2025, Aal-borg University Open Publishing, Aalborg, pp. 1-8. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10320 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Guangju, W., Batool, F., Hussain, S., Jabeen, M., Ali, M. and Afzal, A. (2025), “Impact of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 Technologies on Circular Economy and Sustainable Performance Using Hybrid PLS-SEM and ANN Approach”, in Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, vol. 2025, issue 1, article 9920983, pp. 1-15. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1155/hbe2/9920983 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Hein, N., Münter, M. T. and Zimmermann, V. (2026), “Green, digital, or twin strategic orientation – What drives environmental sustainability and digitalization in German innovative SMEs?”, in Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, vol. 12, article 100896, pp. 1-16. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2025.100896 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Intesa Sanpaolo (2025), Economia e finanza dei distretti industriali – Rapporto annuale, n. 17. [Online] Available at: group.intesasanpaolo.com/content/dam/portalgroup/repository-documenti/research/it/economia-e-finanza-dei-distretti/2025/Economia_e_finanza_distretti_industriali_nr_17.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Islam, M. I., Haq, H. M., Hossain, M. F., Biswas, H. and Uddin, M. B. (2025), “Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Fashion – QR Code-Driven Pre-Consumer Waste Sorting in Garment Manufacturing”, in Materials Circular Economy, vol. 7, article 49, pp. 1-14. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1007/s42824-025-00196-3 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Kraus, S., Jones, P., Kailer, N., Weinmann, A., Chaparro-Banegas, N. and Roig-Tierno, N. (2021), “Digital Transformation – An Overview of the Current State of the Art of Research”, in SAGE Open, vol. 11, issue 3, pp. 1-15. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1177/21582440211047576 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Maffei, S., Bolzan, P., Bianchini, M., Zeccara, F., Barbero, S., Campagnaro, C., Di Prima, N., Filippini, A., Puglielli, M., Rosato, L., Lotti, G. and Pontillo, G. (2024), “Svelare la complessità della transizione circolare per il settore del mobile imbottito | Unveiling the complexity of circular transition for the upholstered furniture sector”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 16, pp. 304-313. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/16252024 [Ac-cessed 25 March 2026].

Mesa, J. A. (2023), “Design for circularity and durability – An integrated approach from DFX guidelines”, in Research in En-gineering Design, vol. 34, pp. 443-460. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1007/s00163-023-00419-1 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

MIMI – Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy (2026), Made in Italy 2030 – Per una nuova strategia industriale. [Online] Available at: mimit.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/Made_in_Italy_2030_-_Per_una_nuova_strategia_industriale.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Natuzzi S.p.A. (2025), Annual Report on Form 20-F – 2024. [Online] Available at: natuzzigroup.com/pdf/ir/annual-reports/annual-report-2024.pdf [Accessed 8 March 2026].

Natuzzi S.p.A. (2023), Natuzzi Company Profile. [Online] Available at: natuzzigroup.com/pdf/ir/NTZ_Company_Profile_May_2023.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Natuzzi S.p.A. (2022), Annual Report on Form 20-F – 2021. [Online] Available at: natuzzigroup.com/pdf/ir/annual-reports/annual-report-2021.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Pagoropoulos, A., Pigosso, D. C. A. and McAloone, T. C. (2017), “The emergent role of digital technologies in the Circular Economy – A review”, in McAloone, T. C., Pigosso, D. C. A., Mortensen, N. H. and Shimomura, Y. (eds), 9th CIRP IPSS Conference – Circular Perspectives on Product/Service-Systems, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, June 19-21, 2017, Procedia CIRP, vol. 64, Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, pp. 19-24. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2017.02.047 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Pehlken, A., Davila, M. F., Dawel, L. and Meyer, O. (2024), “Digital Twins – Enhancing Circular Economy through Digital Tools”, in Settineri, L. and Priarone, P. C. (eds), 31st CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering (LCE 2024), Turin, Italy, June 19-21, 2024, Procedia CIRP, vol. 122, Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, pp. 563-568. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2024.01.082 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Pietroni, L., Di Stefano, A. and Galloppo, D. (2023), “Il design modulare verso l’economia circolare – Dal ‘fare per disfare’ al ‘fare per rifare’ | Modular design towards the circular economy – From ‘making to unmake’ to ‘making to remake’”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 14, pp. 274-283. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/14232023 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Ricciardi, A. (2013), “I distretti industriali italiani – Recenti tendenze evolutive”, in Sinergie, rivista di studi e ricerche, vol. 31, issue May-Aug, pp. 21-58. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.7433/s91.2013.03 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Rigillo, M., Galluccio, G. and Paragliola, F. (2023), “Digitale e circolarità in edilizia – Le KETs per la gestione degli scarti in UE | Digital and circularity in building – KETs for waste management in the European Union”, in Agathón | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, vol. 13, pp. 247-258. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/13212023 [Accessed 25 March 2023].

Robertsone, G. and Lapiņa, I. (2023), “Digital transformation as a catalyst for sustainability and open innovation”, in Journal of Open Innovation | Technology, Market, and Complexity, vol. 9, issue 1, article 100017, pp. 1-14. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2023.100017 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

SAP News Center Italy (2024), “Natuzzi sceglie RISE with SAP per supportare il suo progetto di trasformazione digitale e di migrazione sul cloud”, in news.sap.com, 08/04/2024. [Online] Available at: news.sap.com/italy/2024/04/natuzzi-sceglie-rise-with-sap-per-supportare-il-suo-progetto-di-trasformazione-digitale-e-di-migrazione-sul-cloud/ [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Sardjono, W., Hidayah, A. R., Indriarto, A. E., Sarim, Radito, I. and Perdana, W. G. (2025), “The Furniture Industry’s Use of Digital Supply Chain – A Sustainable Strategy for Growth and Efficiency”, in ICIMCIS 2025 – Proceedings of the 2025 In-ternational Conference on Informatics, Multimedia, Cyber and Information System, Jakarta, Indonesia, December 3-4, 2025, IEEE, New York, pp. 610-614. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1109/ICIMCIS68501.2025.11327315 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Tan, E. S. H., Lee, A. W. L., Shekar, Y. C. and Tan, Y. S. (2024), “Design for Circularity – A Framework for Sustainable Product Redesign”, in Settineri, L. and Priarone, P. C. (eds), 31st CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering (LCE 2024), Turin, Italy, June 19-21, 2024, Procedia CIRP, vol. 122, Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, pp. 479-484. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2024.01.070 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Temperini, V., Gregori, G. L. and Palanga, P. (2016), “The Brand Made in Italy – A Critical Analysis”, in Management Studies, vol. 4, issue 3, pp. 93-103. [Online] Available at: re-searchgate.net/publication/287127237_The_Brand_Made_in_Italy_A_ Critical_Analysis [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Tonin Casa (2025), Tonin Casa – Company Profile. [Online] Available at: tonincasa.it/public/20252307-company-profile-ita-ok.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Tosi, F. (2015), “Made in Italy – L’eccellenza del saper fare”, in Tosi, F., Lotti, G., Follesa, S. and Rinaldi, A. (eds), Artigianato Design Innovazione – Le nuove prospettive del saper fare, DIDApress, Firenze, pp. 18-25. [Online] Available at: issuu.com/dida-unifi/docs/artigianato_design_innovazione [Accessed 25 March 2026].

UN – United Nations (2015), Transforming our World – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, document A/RES/70/1. [Online] Available at: sdgs.un.org/2030agenda [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Unioncamere and Centro Studi delle Camere di Commercio Guglielmo Tagliacarne (2024), Ruolo e potenziale economico della filiera del legno. [Online] Available at: union-camere.gov.it/sites/default/files/Ambiente/LEGNAME/IGT_Presentazione% 20progetto%20legname.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Vezzoli, C. (2017), Design per la sostenibilità ambientale – Progettare il ciclo di vita dei prodotti, Zanichelli, Bologna.

Wu, D. and Pi, Y. (2023), “Digital technologies and product-service systems – A synergistic approach for manufacturing firms under a circular economy”, in Journal of Digital Economy, vol. 2, pp. 37-49. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.jdec.2023.04.001 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

Yang, D. and Vezzoli, C. (2024), “Designing environmentally sustainable furniture products – Furniture-Specific Life Cycle design guidelines and a toolkit to promote environmental performance”, in Sustainability, vol 16, issue 7, article 2628, pp. 1-26. [Online] Available at: doi.org/10.3390/su16072628 [Accessed 25 March 2026].

The Catifa Carta series by Arper (credits: Arper, 2025). AGATHÓN 19 | 2026

Downloads

Published

30-06-2026

How to Cite

Pietroni, L., Galloppo, D., Giannetti, V. and Di Flamminio, C. (2026) “Digital innovation and circularity in the wood-furniture sector – Sustainable strategies for Made in Italy”, AGATHÓN | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, 19, pp. 368–381. doi: 10.69143/2464-9309/19212026.

Unveiling the complexity of circular transition for the upholstered furniture sector

Stefano Maffei, Patrizia Bolzan, Massimo Bianchini, Francesca Zeccara, Silvia Barbero, Cristian...