Through FoodSHIFT Pathways, we wanted to empower schools to become innovation hubs for sustainable and healthy food system (SHFS) transformation, while promoting healthy diets as well. By implementing a student-driven, hands-on pedagogical approach involving researchers and local actors, we wanted to strengthen students’ and teachers’ sustainability competences (SC). Our goal was to provide accessible, interactive tools and training aligned with the GreenComp framework, enabling educators to integrate SHFS and dietary healthiness into their teaching. By engaging school communities across six EU countries, we aimed to inspire behavioural change and environmental awareness. The project also aimed to validate the impact of these methods on students’ and teachers’ attitudes and actions, and to produce a toolkit and guide of good practice for broader use of the material. Ultimately, we wanted to foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration in education to support the transition to a more sustainable and healthy food future.
FoodSHIFT Pathways was initiated to address urgent environmental, health, and social challenges linked to our current food system (FS), which contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and non-communicable diseases due to unsustainable food production and unhealthy diets. Despite growing awareness, dietary change remains limited, and many FS actors are hesitant to support a shift towards more sustainable, plant-based practices. To feed a growing global population sustainably, we must rethink how we produce and consume food by embracing circular, plant-based, and collaborative approaches. Education plays a key role in this transformation, yet FS topics are poorly integrated into curricula and educators lack the tools to inspire change. We applied for this project to empower schools with innovative, digital resources and practices that foster creative, solution-oriented thinking among students. By engaging educational communities, FoodSHIFT Pathways aims to spark local action and support a transition to a sustainable food future.