We set out to raise awareness about food waste and its environmental impact among primary school children, the consumers of the future. Our main objectives were to: Investigate current awareness and practices around food waste in households with young children across five European countries. Develop a Serious Game that sparks open, non-judgmental conversations about food handling while teaching practical skills like proper storage and meal planning. Create interdisciplinary lesson plans that integrate food waste education into existing subjects such as math, geography and art/history, making sustainability a recurring theme without adding to teacher workload. Train teachers across partner countries to use the toolkit confidently and independently. Engage children, teachers and families together, creating a reinforcing cycle where sustainable habits learned at school extend into homes and communities. Ensure all materials were inclusive and accessible to children with special educational needs and relevant to families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
We applied for this project to address household food waste, a significant contributor to environmental problems including greenhouse gas emissions. Families often lack practical knowledge. Through our research with teachers, parents and children across five European countries, we found that while food waste topics appear in school curricula within natural sciences and civics education, teachers lacked specific ready-to-use materials on the subject. Teachers expressed openness to incorporating new tools, particularly game-based approaches, but needed resources that fit into existing lessons without adding workload. Parents we surveyed identified poor meal planning and cooking excessive quantities as main causes of household waste. Many managed leftovers satisfactorily but were not always mindful of the broader environmental impact. The primary need was to provide educators with engaging, practical tools that teach children sustainable habits through play. We focused on children aged 8-12 because early intervention can shape lifelong behaviors. By targeting this age group alongside their teachers and families, we aimed to create a reinforcing cycle where habits learned at school are practiced at home.