“Circular solutions for keeping food waste out of Central Europe’s schools”
From June 2024, the Department of International Business, Faculty of International Relations, Prague University of Economics and Business began to tackle the multidisciplinary international project “Circular solutions for keeping food waste out of Central Europe’s schools“, abbreviated as foodCIRCUS. This project is from 80% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the framework of the Interreg Central Europe program and is planned until November 2026. The research team consists of Ing. Alena Filipová, PhD, Ing. Veronika Mokrejšová, PhD, Ing. Mgr. Tomáš Sadílek, PhD (team leader) and Ing. Jiří Zeman, PhD.
During the first period of the foodCIRCUS project solution, kindergartens and primary schools in the Czech Republic were selected, in which the amount of waste and discarded food will be measured in the next period. After that, educational activities will take place in schools to inform and motivate pupils, students and canteen staff to reduce waste. The goal is to change the behavior and attitude of everyone involved. Finally, how effective the measures taken have been will be evaluated and recommendations will be made based on the results. In cooperation with another participant from the Czech Republic, the organization Zachraň jídlo, z.s. a redistribution of surplus issued portions will be proposed to benefit the local community, which is currently hindered by various legislative obstacles. These recommendations will be addressed to all those involved in the operation of canteens, including their founders.
10 partners from 5 countries are involved in the project. The participating universities are the Vienna Universität für Bodenkultur, the Czech University of Economics in Prague and VŠB – Technical University Ostrava, the Italian Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, the Budapest Állatorvostudományi Egyetem, the Polish Politechnika Wrocławska and the Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu; the Czech organization Zachraň jídlo, z.s., the Polish city of Wrocław and the Austrian organization Reploid Value Solutions GmbH are also involved.
