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BIM concepts integration in academic education: a cross-sectional analysis
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Published: 25 May 2026
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Building information modelling (BIM) has progressively transformed professional practice in building design, landscape analysis, and spatial planning. As architectural and engineering firms have widely embraced BIM over the past two decades, higher education institutions have been pushed to rethink curricula to train future specialists accordingly. Agricultural Sciences, however, represent a discipline where this transition remains largely unexplored, despite its direct relevance to rural building design and agroforestry territory management. This paper presents a cross-sectional analysis of the attitudes and readiness toward BIM integration among Italian university departments of Agricultural Sciences. Data were collected through questionnaires completed by professors affiliated with the scientific sector AGRI-04/C (Rural Buildings and Agroforestry Territory), covering individual familiarity with BIM, perceived curricular relevance, and institutional support for educational innovation. The findings reveal a situation broadly comparable to that of emerging countries in the early stages of BIM adoption: widespread enthusiasm among individual academics is rarely matched by institutional commitment, specialized awareness, or concrete implementation strategies.
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CRediT authorship contribution
Andrea De Montis, conceptualization, coordination, data curation, data analysis, writing – original drafting; Antonio Ledda, data curation, writing – original drafting, writing – review & editing; Giovanna Calia, data curation, writing – review & editing; Vittorio Serra, data curation, writing – review & editing.
Supporting Agencies
This study was supported by the project “Conoscenza e gestione sostenibile dei sistemi agricoli e forestali con il miglioramento sostenibile delle produzioni primarie: il caso dell’allevamento bovino in Sardegna” (University of Sassari, progetti di ricerca interdisciplinare - DM 737/2021, risorse 2021-2022; Finanziato dall’Unione Europea, Next-GenerationEU).Data Availability Statement
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
How to Cite
“BIM concepts integration in academic education: a cross-sectional analysis” (2026) Journal of Agricultural Engineering [Preprint]. doi:10.4081/jae.2026.2054.
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