Food packaging is at the centre of current and future challenges. For instance, collecting packaging is an issue associated with plastic and chemical pollution. The initial assessment revealed significant gaps in teaching practices, including outdated content and insufficiently targeted audiences. FitNESS 2.0 aimed to radically transform educational approaches by revising how packaging is designed, used, collected, recycled, and reused, while maintaining food safety and minimising waste. This transformation focuses on creating participative, scalable, and certifiable learning opportunities across the EU. Our aim was to reach a broader audience in the food packaging value chain, from the chemical industry to recyclers, and to offer certified courses validated by online tests. GOALS 1. Development of academic and professional certifications 2. Supporting the development of science-based content in an attractive and innovative format 3. Scaling-up and disseminating FitNESS 2.0 beyond partnering universities and conventional industries and encouraging external contribution
The European Green Deal and the new Circular Economy Action Plan have changed the data in food production and distribution. The food and beverage industry is the largest manufacturing industry in the EU (EU Food Drink Industry Data and Trends 2019) and therefore one of the main contributors to the European economy, but faces many challenges, linked to insufficient preparedness and the lack of harmonised regulations and standards. Education programmes need to be reshaped to accelerate the transition to sustainable production and stimulate innovation. The paradoxical situation of packaging materials, major sources of environmental pollution and food contamination, highlights the need for a holistic pedagogical approach. Polymer chemistry, food technologies and packaging education have remained compartmentalised, privileging particular points of view and moving away from general issues. The FitNESS 2.0 project was launched to address pressing challenges in sustainable food packaging and provide targeted solutions to pressing gaps in industry and education.