Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Students from the Universities of Bologna and Parma took part in the M.U.S.A. Challenge to redesign university canteens with healthier, more sustainable, and inclusive solutions.
Authors: Valeria Musso, Camilla Sgroi, Caterina Rettore, Damiano Callegaro, Edoardo del Conte, Beatrice Biasini, Lucia Tecuta, Maria Teresa Trentinaglia, Elena Tomba, Francesca Scazzina, Matteo Vittuari
The interdisciplinary project is promoted by the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, the Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari" of the University of Bologna, and the Department of Food and Drug of the University of Parma. It also benefits from the collaboration of ER.GO (Regional Agency for the Right to Higher Education of the Emilia-Romagna Region), which supported and sponsored the launch and implementation of the challenge. The event was opened by Federico Condello, the University's Delegate for Students and Institutional Communication.
The M.U.S.A. Challenge is a competition aimed at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students enrolled at the Universities of Bologna and Parma. Its objective is to engage students in creating innovative solutions to enhance the sustainability, inclusivity, and overall quality of university catering services, particularly in redefining the contents of the tender specifications for the renewal of the canteen contract at the Department of Engineering of the University of Bologna, located at Viale Risorgimento 2, Bologna.
The four working groups, composed of members from various disciplinary areas, developed proposals on environmental sustainability, economic accessibility, food quality, and social inclusion in university canteens. The proposals were inspired by principles of participatory co-design and an interdisciplinary approach, integrating technological, environmental, social, and economic elements.
In this context, participants were offered a training program consisting of six seminars, specifically designed by the involved research groups to inspire and educate them. The sessions addressed various aspects of university catering: from its characteristics, challenges, and opportunities, to the role of tender specifications and controls over the management of catering services and compliance with tender requirements. Nutritional aspects of catering and psychological factors influencing behavior and food choices were also explored, as well as methodologies for measuring and communicating sustainability.
The final event took place within the context of Università Fuori Orario (U.F.O.), an innovative project of the University of Bologna that transforms the university district into a space for evening meetings and activities, open to all. The U.F.O. project makes classrooms and spaces between the buildings on Via Zamboni up to Piazza Scaravilli available to experiment with new forms of teaching, discover new topics, explore ideas, and meet people.
At Via Zamboni 38, within the walls of the Tibiletti Room and in the heart of Bologna's university life, the four teams, including participants from both universities, presented their final projects. These included proposals to improve university catering services in Bologna and Parma, in spaces managed by ER.GO.
Among the proposals developed by the groups were requests for more plant-based and less impactful menus, greater nutritional quality and variety, increased inclusivity, procurement that supports local supply chains and sustainable production techniques, and the use of technologies such as apps to book meals and help reduce and discourage food waste, while keeping prices affordable.
The final proposals were evaluated by the research groups and ER.GO representatives based on criteria such as the innovative elements proposed, the inclusion of environmental, economic, and social sustainability aspects, feasibility, and multidisciplinarity.
The proposals received enthusiastic feedback by researchers and ER.GO, which awarded all teams with prepaid cards for catering services on the campuses of the Universities of Bologna and Parma. Patrizia Mondin and Giuseppe Grasso of ER.GO stated:
"This wonderful initiative, for which we thank all the research groups, has allowed for valuable collaboration between the universities and ER.GO, offers concrete contributions to the design of new services and the development of sustainable and accessible university catering in all its dimensions. We hope that this collaboration, involving young researchers and students, can continue to offer feasible and innovative solutions."
Participatory design of solutions towards healthy and sustainable university canteens
Principal investigators
Referred to
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