Schools as Living Labs for the food system transformation

Schools as Living Labs for the food system (fs) transformation (https://foodshift2030.eu/labs/open-school-lab/) in the context of FoodSHIFT2030 (https://foodshift2030.eu/), Foodshift Pathways (https://foodshift-pathways.eu/) & Cleverfood(https://food2030.eu/) projects. Among actions implemented: application of the open schooling model (collaboration of school with food system stakeholders from the quadruple helix of innovation for the co-design of living labs projects related with the fs/Green Deal, teacher trainings (workshops, webinars, 2 5days summer schools with the participation of educators all around Europe (https://foodshift2030.ea.gr/), 2 national contests for projects on fs transformation the winners of which have been awarded participation in the summer schools, Integration of the topic of fs in the curriculum, implementation of citizen science actions on healthy nutrition and promotion of physical activity (bands circulated to students, meals monitoring through smart app/daily diaries, data collection and analysis, students awards for enhancing motivation), community awareness through collaboration with municipality stakeholders and other fs actors, workshops with farmers, school garden, field visits to urban gardens, after school entrepreneurship club on the topic of the fs, composting in school, food waste mitigation in the school restaurant/canteens, creation of digital educational materials, online Community of Practice with digital resources.

The living labs/whole-school/open schooling approach is used in the educational activities implemented towards food system transformation. Projects are implemented engaging multiple actors from the quadriple helix model of innovation; let's see how...Teachers have the chance to participate in  teacher training activities and implement projects with students in collaboration with external food system stakeholders. Headmasters need to bein line in this effort. Parents attend at the end of school year presentations of the multi-disciplinary projects running all year long; and if by chance are experts or involved in the food sector might have been engaged during implementation of projects. Local policy makers (the municipality is a project partner, being the host of the living lab activities, Athens FoodSHIFT2030  Accelerator Lab). Other stakeholders, such as SMEs active in the environment sector, farmers of the area where the school is located are involved in co-creation sessions with the school ecosystem. 

If you would be interested to find out more, please do not hesitate to contact us kriviou[@]ea.gr