PA 9: Food Waste Prevention in Viennese Schools (AUT)
Even though in Austria it is common practice that waste consultants visit schools to teach pupils about waste separation, issues of waste prevention are usually not addressed in class. Children are taught to throw an apple core into the bio-waste bin. But, why an apple having a brown spot on its skin does not have to be thrown away is not communicated to the pupils. Further, knowledge on the meaning of “best before” and “use by” dates for food, the conditions under which food is still edible (and when it is not) or what can be done with leftover food is often not passed on by the parents to the children any more as also a major part of the parents is lacking such knowledge. Therefore, school has to take over this part of education.
The pilot action on food waste prevention in Viennese schools therefore aims at fostering pupils’ ability to think critically and to adopt a proactive attitude by:
In order to meet the above mentioned objectives, the main focus of this pilot action lies on the development as well as the subsequent testing, evaluation and optimization of teaching and teacher training materials on food waste prevention. The collection of teaching materials to be developed will comprise of both basic element and optional special focus elements (modular design) and will be targeted at pupils aged 10 to 14. Through testing and optimizing the developed materials their practicability as well as suitability for the targeted age group shall be ensured.
The pilot action on food waste prevention in Viennese schools therefore aims at fostering pupils’ ability to think critically and to adopt a proactive attitude by:
- raising pupils’ awareness of the problem of food waste,
- increasing their knowledge about reasons for and impacts of food wastage as well as food waste prevention measures,
- pointing them towards specific options for actions that are within their sphere of influence by teaching them new skills related to evaluation of food quality and understanding of food durability labels, proper food storage, food preservation options, or purchase planning.
In order to meet the above mentioned objectives, the main focus of this pilot action lies on the development as well as the subsequent testing, evaluation and optimization of teaching and teacher training materials on food waste prevention. The collection of teaching materials to be developed will comprise of both basic element and optional special focus elements (modular design) and will be targeted at pupils aged 10 to 14. Through testing and optimizing the developed materials their practicability as well as suitability for the targeted age group shall be ensured.
Developing of teaching materials
In 2017, teaching materials for 10 to 14 year-olds (both design and content; in German language) were developed and meetings with several teachers were organised to receive feedback on the suitability of those materials. Based on the teachers’ feedback, the teaching materials were revised and prepared to be tested in selected pilot classes. During individual lessons, the materials were tested in practice to evaluate their suitability in practice and identify optimisation potential. In total, three tests were performed in 2017, another two are planned for spring 2018.
The tested teaching materials address several aspects of food waste (prevention), amongst others:
In addition, a workshop concept targeted at this age group was developed. Having an interactive design similar to a detective’s work, this workshop is covering the same topics as the teaching materials. In July 2017, this workshop called “Crime Scene Bio-waste Bin: Tracking food waste!” was tested the first time as part of the children’s’ university “Kinderuni BOKU 2017”. In summer 2018 this workshop will be offered once more. The pictures show that the kids had a lot of fun.
The tested teaching materials address several aspects of food waste (prevention), amongst others:
- Type and quantity of food waste generated in private households
- Impacts of food waste (focussing mainly environmental issues such as wasting resources and impacts on climate)
- Reasons for food waste
- Options for avoiding food waste (e.g. correct food storage, conservation of food, using leftovers)
- Meaning of “best before” and “use by” dates
In addition, a workshop concept targeted at this age group was developed. Having an interactive design similar to a detective’s work, this workshop is covering the same topics as the teaching materials. In July 2017, this workshop called “Crime Scene Bio-waste Bin: Tracking food waste!” was tested the first time as part of the children’s’ university “Kinderuni BOKU 2017”. In summer 2018 this workshop will be offered once more. The pictures show that the kids had a lot of fun.
After testing the teaching materials in classes, they were optimized based on the experiences and feedbacks from the tests in classes. The final materials are available for interested teachers free of charge.
In order to support these activities in Viennese schools several teacher trainings with the title “Crime Scene Bio-waste Bin! How food waste can be avoided and why this matters” were performed in Vienna and Lower Austria.
In order to support these activities in Viennese schools several teacher trainings with the title “Crime Scene Bio-waste Bin! How food waste can be avoided and why this matters” were performed in Vienna and Lower Austria.
Results
- Deficit analysis regarding status of food waste prevention in the Austrian education system
- Development of modular collection of teaching materials
- Implementation: testing of materials in class
- Tested in Austrian Schools
- Establishment of cooperation with Viennes Education Authority (Stadtschulrat für Wien)
- it is not possible to include the topic food waste prevention in Austrian curricula within STREFOWA because this requires a
legislative process
