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Why this project? 

The way food is produced, consumed and wasted contributes to environmental degradation (FAO and WHO, 2019). At the same time, poor diets are a major contributor to the rising prevalence of malnutrition representing the leading factor for the global disease burden (GBD 2017 Risk Factors Collaborators; UNICEF/WHO/The World Bank Group 2021).  Despite global calls from various organizations worldwide towards more sustainable and healthy eating, the dietary habits of youth seem not to be changing so easily. In response, many schools are also trying to integrate a healthier and more sustainable school canteen.

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The RE-TASTY project aims to help secondary schools keep their sustainability transition effective in the long term. As a guideline, we use a holistic approach according to the Whole School Approach (WSA) model which has been adapted to focus on healthy and sustainable food in schools - the Whole School Food Approach (WSFA).

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​How do we now apply the WSFA to achieve a healthy and sustainable school food system? We do this by appointing young people (students) as citizen scientists. The young people will research and monitor their own school food and food culture at school, to ultimately formulate an action plan of what the school can do to make the food healthier and more sustainable.

Using citizen science in education brings also an added value for students, teachers and school leaders:

Brings students closer to science

Citizen science brings students closer to current scientific problems, raises awareness and motivates the students to become active agents of change for the society they live in by generating new data, new solutions, new ideas towards sustainability.

Valuable pedagogical instrument

A citizen science project can be a valuable didactic pedagogical instrument. Citizen science projects involve cross-curricular work because they can be applied across various subjects. For example, through RE-TASTY, school food systems can be investigated though biology, science or geography, or even history. Furthermore, citizen science projects can be integrated through project-based learning or as individual research school projects for the students, within or outside the curriculum.

Helps developing 21st century skills

​Through citizen science projects, students can develop into young citizen scientists. For example, through RE-TASTY, the students will need to formulate their own research questions and collect and analyse data. This process with help them, not only develop their scientific skills, but also other skills and life competencies such as: their critical thinking and creative thinking, their decision-making skills, their problem-solving skills on current social issues, their collaboration skills in carrying out a research project with other stakeholders and scientists within the school and beyond.

Gives students the opportunity to have impact

Citizen science projects involve a lot of student participation in different stages of the scientific process. For example, in RE-TASTY, students are expected to have direct contact with local actors involved in the school food system, as well as with scientists. This contributes to increasing student ownership of their activities and it helps them realise that with their contribution they can have an impact on their own school food system.

Gives students meaningful context

Citizen science projects give students the context in which they can apply science and develop scientific skills by producing new scientific knowledge at the same time. This process brings more meaning to the learning process and also helps in fostering deeper understanding and trust in science by the students.

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