ZeeWaste4EU – Interview for Information Providers (Teachers) #2

March 7, 2024

eduNut

This interview refers to the ZeeWaste4EU project which can be found in our Good Practices section.

GOOD PRACTICE OVERVIEW, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

What were the original goals and objectives of this practice/activity?

The goal of the “Food Waste Challenge” practice was to investigate the students behavior in relation to food waste generation. The students made pictures of their plate before and after the meal, assessing amounts of food waste they generate during one week.

What was found to be particularly useful in achieving this practice objectives (methods, approaches)?

Such practice gives students better understanding how much of food waste they generate in their daily life. After completion of the practice each student can think how to change their behavior and start to reduce food waste in their daily life.

What did students like the most about this practice?

Students liked to be a part of the bigger effort in reduction of the food waste.
Students liked to participate in this challenge, because it was something new and interesting for them

What were the key problems areas of this practice?

Main problem is technical, for example when students forget to make a picture of their meal.
Another problem occurred how to attract students to participate in the challenge.

How can these elements be improved in the future?

Technical problem can be solved through establishment of the better communication with the students and sending them reminders for example.
For attraction of the students we used advertising in the canteens, seminars, posts in social media.

Is this practice replicable by other teachers in different countries? What factors should be considered while replicating this practice?

I think this practice is replicable in other countries. As far as this practice was conducted in the frame of ZeeWaste4EU project and in parallel running in 5 project countries, we were able to get diversified information across different countries regarding preferred meals and food wasting habits.

What was the most inspiring aspect for you while implementing this practice?

Probably positive feedback from the students, who participated in this practice.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Actual reduction of food waste, as students become more aware about FW problem at the end of this practice.
Use of newly developed software to assess the amount of food waste on students’ plates.
Implementation of a learning-by-doing approach to enhance critical and analytical thinking among students.

Weaknesses

It was challenging to encourage student participation in the challenge due to its relatively lengthy duration (1 week) and the substantial effort required (capturing at least 6 pictures each day).
The voluntary nature of participation possibly introduced bias, as students already environmentally conscious were more likely to participate in the challenge compared to those less concerned about their environmental impact.
The research results might lack neutrality due to some participants intentionally altering their food waste production habits as a result of their participation in the research.
The human factor posed a significant issue as participants frequently forgot to take pictures, despite consistent reminders.
The analysis did not extensively address the potential impact of different types of food waste (e.g., vegetables or meat) on the outcomes.

Opportunities

This activity has increased awareness and promoted behavioral changes to reduce food waste, encouraging students to make more sustainable decisions in their daily lives.
This activity can be easily replicated in other regions/countries and adapted for different stakeholders.
The activity might be further developed, for example, a “sustainable diet challenge” could educate young individuals about environmentally friendly food choices, contributing to their knowledge of sustainable consumption.

Threats

When replicating this practice, analyzing the collected data might require the use of licensed software, which could pose difficulties due to limited accessibility.
The activity requires some (at least minimal) funding.

Case Study Info

Good Practice Title:

ZeeWaste4EU

Meeting Date and Place:

TalTech, February 2023

Name of the Interviewee:

Viktoria Voronova

Gender and Age of The Interviewee:

Female

Position or Role of the Interviewee:

Organizer