Second meeting, in Barcelona

One year after the launch of the project in 2015, more than 60 representatives of 26 project partners, including a delegation from China, gathered to share the knowledge generated to date, to explore potential synergies among the work packages and to align strategies to face the next three years.

Two intensive days of work

The first day comprised multiple side meetings in which participants of each work package had the opportunity to discuss their progress and collaboratively think about the most appropriate ways to face the tasks ahead. 

The second day contained an extensive program of presentations about the latest developments attained in each work package. All members had the opportunity to present their preliminary results and explore possible synergies among different work packages. Discussions covered all areas of the project, including consumer behavior insights, food waste measurement, business engagement, socio-economic modeling, Life Cycle Analysis and Life Cycle Costing, policy and governance, and valorization and innovation.

Anti-food-waste catering and experience

As a way to implement the culture of sustainability, and consistent with the objective and values of REFRESH, the social enterprise Espigoladors prepared all catering services. They used gleaned food or food from local companies with social impact, organic or fair trade food, reusable or compostable materials, biodegradable soap, and waste recycling and organic waste composting; a delicious way of demonstrating that it is possible to be sustainable. In addition, once the meeting was ended, those that were interested enjoyed a fantastic Friday morning gleaning tomatoes in a nearby field in collaboration with Espigoladors.  

Next steps

In the course of the coming years it is expected that all work packages will progress adequately. Thus, generating new data, enhancing comprehension, setting processes of mutual learning between different EU countries and project partners, and finally developing new ways to tackle food waste in Europe.