D4.3 Social norms-focused science education package
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The CHORIZO Project aims to explore the role of social norms in influencing behaviours related to food waste generation, and to develop educational tools that promote behavioural change among school pupils. The project seeks to create a Science Educational Package (SEP) designed to create learning about food waste, its environmental and social impacts, and to foster responsible habits through gamified learning methods among young people in school settings.The development of the SEP involved a multi-phase approach, beginning with a review of case studies to identify behaviours and social influences on food waste among pupils. Two Living Labs in Danish schools served as cases and innovation hubs for co-creation workshops involving researchers, pupils, and mentors/industry partners. The co-creation resulted in a range of ideas that was further investigated in relation to the opportunities for classroom activities and activities related to the existing food service. Based on an assessment of the ideas and their ability to fit into the diversity of European school food and learning cultures two SEP ideas were chosen for further development: “An educational board game against food waste” and the "Hack Your School Food”. After thorough development and refinement in cooperation with the Living Labs and with the Chorizo partners the effectiveness of the final versions of the packages was evaluated through surveys and qualitative feedback from students and teachers in Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Spain.The feedback regarding the board game indicated users found it engaging and relevant, and contributing effectively to raising awareness of food waste. Areas for improvement included simplifying language and enhancing the visual appeal. The "Hack Your School Food" initiative was considered valuable but required contextual adaptation to the different educational environments that exist across Europe. Overall, according to the feedback both packages demonstrated potential for promoting behavioural change regarding food waste, although they necessitated iterative refinements based on user feedback.The activity demonstrates clearly that it is possible to develop material on food waste literacy to be integrated in the teaching at European schools and that it's possible to make it relevant also to the existing school food service cultures that exist in European countries. The project highlights the importance of integrating behavioural science into the didactics of such teaching. The SEP activity shows that it is possible to develop educational materials targeted “out of subject” project-based learning environments and that it can target more subjects in the school curricula. The activity also shows that is possible to develop learning materials that reaches out to food waste behaviours in families thereby making it relevant to the daily life experiences of pupils. Furthermore, the activity demonstrates that it is important to develop teaching materials that fit into the increasingly digitalized learning environments of modern schools. By developing gamified, user-centred educational resources, the CHORIZO Project contributes to offering innovative strategies for fostering sustainable behaviours related to food consumption in school settings, ultimately working towards the broader goal of reducing food waste.
Authors: Mikkelsen, Bent Egberg, Rana, Subash, Chapagain, Mukti R.
Institution: University of Copenhagen
Language: English
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: European Commission
OpenAlex ID: W7105757308
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