"The reduction of food waste is seen as an important lever for achieving global food security, freeing up finite resources for other uses, diminishing environmental risks and avoiding financial losses. In its roadmap for a resource efficient Europe the EC has set the target to halve the generation of food waste by 2020.Although the food waste issue has gained a high interest in Europe in recent years and some initiatives have been started, there is still a lot to do about citizens’ education.The project specific goal is to develop educational contents to raise awareness of the food waste problem and educate citizens to reduce their food waste footprint.General objective is to improve the offer of high quality learning related to food management and sustainability, tailored to individual adult learners and delivered through a completely innovative way of outreach. The target group will be the whole citizenship, in order to educate and shape up “sustainable families” and to make them ""responsible consumers"". The project aims at reaching all strands of citizens also those with some financial difficulties, by targeting the educational modules towards specific sub-groups;•Families: the hard core of citizens who can make real changes on consumes and household food consumption.•Beneficiaries of food aid and people facing food shortage: material assistance needs to go hand in hand with social inclusion measures, such as guidance, education and support to help people out of poverty•Social workers: the project offers them methods, contents and tools to actively work as educators about food waste reduction.The main outcome will be a multifunction and interactive platform hosting various training contents and tools developed with an innovative approach based on informal learning, education and entertainment, in short edu-tainment.In particular, the platform will host:- A learning path including educational materials and methods/scenarios for adult education activities - An internet TV, a simple base of short educational video-materials, which responds to actual nutritional, social and economic situations related to an efficient use of food resources- A board-game, available both online and off-line to help people learn about: food products and food processes from the farm to the supermarket; culinary traditions in different European countries; negative effects of food; the reality of food poverty in Europe and in the world; smart solutions to improve their consumer habits and re-use discarded foodstuff. - A networking area, to allow the creation of a community of practice, where organisations active for the reduction of food waste can exchange views, stay in contact, share best practice, and organise educational events using the EFFECT results.The project is promoted by a consortium of 6 partners from different EU countries, including the representatives of the end beneficiaries (Food Banks), experts in adult education, charities active in food redistribution, technical experts in digital education and an NGO experienced in campaigns related to food waste reduction.In order to involve people, stakeholders and decision-makers, the project will launch a European campaign, based on internet presence (websites, social networks), distribution of paper and digital information materials (brochures, newsletters, flyers), organisation of big events with high visibility, networking with civil society organisations, demonstration days.In total the people directly involved in the project will be about 5000.The campaign will start with a European survey, that will serve on one hand to investigate the target group level of knowledge as for food waste, their interest, their gaps and the best way to address them; on the other hand it will raise awareness of the project, stimulate curiosity in the general public and create an initial group of people interested in the project and its results. Then the results will be developed and later tested and evaluated by involing again the target group, in view of the fine-tuning and final release. The awareness raising campaign will be given a boost during the last months of the project, thanks especially to the organisation of big multiplier events for the presentation and demonstration of the results. The consortium also plans to develop a database of at least 500 organisations working in the filed of sustainability and reduction of food waste, that will be involved in the project, stimulating further exploitatation at international level.Thruogh the campaign and visibility activities, it is intended to reach at least 15000 people in Europe.It is expected that the project long term result will be a change of behaviour and habits that contribute to a real reduction of the amount of food waste at home by adults and their families and promote sustainable way of living with benefit to financial situation of citizens and positive impact to their local and global environment."

Food waste has received global attention as a major sustainability challenge, with significant implications for the economy, society and the environment. At the same time, it represents a global paradox: whilst a large amount of the food produced each year is wasted, there are huge numbers of people suffering from hunger. SavingFood offers a novel approach to tackle food waste by turning this environmental issue into an innovative solution to fight hunger. The project builds on the collaborative power of ICT networks and creates an online community of citizens, food waste stakeholders and policy makers that through knowledge creation and sharing they are empowered to take direct action and become part of the suggested food waste solution. Through the use of advanced open source tools connected to a social networking environment SavingFood facilitates the redistribution of surplus food to those in need, ensures that no food is wasted through lack of communication, supports the participation of people in organised as well as ad hoc events around food saving and encourages wide debate. Leveraging on the collaborative power of social networks and by activating the collective intelligence of citizens SavingFood seeks to create a social movement for tackling food waste and influence lifestyles towards a more sustainable future.

The overall aim of the REFRESH project is to contribute significantly towards the objective of reducing food waste across the EU by 30% by 2025 (which amounts to between 25 to 40 million tonnes of food not being wasted in 2025[1], worth tens of billions of Euros a year) and maximizing the value from unavoidable food waste and packaging materials. To achieve this ambitious goal, we will adopt a systemic approach and use cutting edge science to enable action by businesses, consumers and public authorities. A central ambition of the REFRESH project is to develop a ‘Framework for Action’ model that is based on strategic agreements across all stages of the supply chain (backed by Governments), delivered through collaborative working and supported by evidence-based tools to allow targeted, cost effective interventions. Success will support transformation towards a more sustainable and secure EU food system, benefitting Europe’s economy, environment and society.