Despite the abundance of food in Europe, food insecurity threatens millions of Europeans, necessitating a comprehensive approach encompassing knowledge, technologies, behaviors, and policies that promote healthier, more inclusive, and circular food.
Seeing Citizen Science (CS) as a powerful tool to achieve this, SPOON adopts an innovative CS approach on 4 objectives: to deepen scientific and social knowledge about food systems; to inform and guide policy makers through data generation and integration; to promote cross-sectoral collaboration; and to increase citizens’ capacity and ability to adopt healthy and sustainable food behaviors by stimulating their confidence and awareness about local food systems.
The 6 European CS Labs will use digital tools and multi-actor approaches to ultimately co-design and execute small behavior change interventions in their local areas.
Collaborating Centre On Sustainable Consumption and Production GGMBH (DE), Coordinator PNO Innovation SL (ES), Eigen Vermogen Van Het Instituut Voor Landbouw En Visserijonderzoek (BE), AIT Austrian Institute Of Technology GMBH (AT), Science For Change, SL (ES), Incommon – Innovative Communities Onwards (EL), ITC – Inovacijsko Tehnološki Grozd Murska Sobota (SI), Hot or Cool Institute (DE), Hochschule Für Bildende Künste Braunschweig (DE), Fundación de la Comunitat Valenciana para la Promoción Estratégica, el Desarrollo y la Innovación Urbana (ES), Jibe Company (NL), Fondazione ICONS (IT), Comune di Torino (IT), Rete delle Case del Quartiere ETS (IT), Brug(es) Food Lab (BE), Municipality – Dimos Thessalonikis (EL).
The challenges of climate change and the fight against food poverty are an integral part of the City of Turin’s commitment to an increasingly sustainable, inclusive, circular and innovative local food system.
SPOON’s Citizen Science Lab (CSL) will act in line with the Right to Food enshrined in the City Charter, the guidelines of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (to which Turin is a signatory), and the Guide for a Food Policy of the City of Turin, in synergy with social inclusion policies.
SPOON offers an important opportunity to work with the methodology of “Citizen Science” on issues of food education and the fight against food waste.
Together with the Torino Solidale Network, the local group of citizen scientists (volunteers, migrants, practitioners, citizens, people in vulnerable situations, and other interest groups) will develop participatory data collection and processing, testing of integrated digital solutions, and development and implementation of small behavioral change interventions.
Despite the abundance and variety of healthy and fresh foods available in the Turin area, vulnerable groups struggle to eat a complete and balanced diet, not only because of economic, social and/or health fragilities, but also because of the stigma attached to accessing solidarity services, the negative connotation given to reclaimed and/or expiring products, the strict regulations in the area of fresh food recovery, and the speed of listening and responding to solidarity services. In addition, limited knowledge of the basic principles of balanced nutrition.
Sermig will be the key node of CSL where the investigation and development of strategies to act on the above challenges will be developed, improving the response of the Torino Solidale network through participatory data production and analysis. These will feed into an integrated digital tool for a more responsive, collaborative and informed Solidarity service. Finally, small behavioral change interventions on the ground will be led by the CSL.
This project was funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No.
EU contribution to the city of Torino
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Project duration in months
