Circular FoodShift in the Baltic countries
Circular FoodShift

Making the School Community Food-Wise!

01 October 2024
Technical details

The pilot program for the development program is intended for schools that wish to elevate their food education efforts. Addressing food waste requires collaboration with the entire school community, including: school management, teachers, students, kitchen staff, school authorities or municipal specialists, and parents. This collaboration is necessary to implement the program within the school’s environment, where the target group can gather.

The school-based pilot program lasts for a total of 5 months, during which the school is actively engaged. The development program consists of twelve stages. The most active period for the school is from November to March, during which a school-specific action plan, developed with experts, is implemented with the support of mentoring. The estimated number of meetings (workshops, mentoring, meetings, feedback) within the pilot program is approximately 24 hours over the five-month period. Participation in the program requires that the school continues to systematically develop food education and food service management even after the program’s further action plan is completed. At the end of the pilot program, a school-specific report is compiled for each school, along with a general report for the Association of Municipalities of Tartu County.

The school-specific report includes activities carried out during the pilot program, from self-assessment and action plan creation and implementation, to analysis of successes and failures. Additionally, the report reflects the school’s assessment of the applicability of the pilot program’s methodology and suggestions for improving it. The report also outlines the school’s future action plan, which the school will continue after the program ends. At the beginning of the pilot, the amount of food wasted from plates is measured, and the same measurement is taken at the end of the pilot. The expectation is that the amount of food wasted will decrease. Another expectation is that the school community will integrate activities to promote food education into the curriculum, initiate meaningful communication between different stakeholders, and improve the overall attitude towards school meals.

Activity data
Timeline: October 1, 2024 – April 30, 2025.
Organisers: The Association of Municipalities of Tartu County in cooperation with Tartu Biotehnology Park that are project partner in the Interreg BSR KISMET project.
For whom: The development program is intended for the entire school community. The school community includes: the school leadership, teachers, parents, students, kitchen staff, local government or school management education specialists, and procurement specialists who handle food procurement.