We are pleased to announce that UNISG has been awarded the international “CEFoodCycle Award – Circular Pioneer” for our contributions to the H2020 FUSILLI research project. This prestigious award recognizes projects that address the theme of the circular economy applied to the food system, in connection with the Interreg Alpine Space research project called CEFoodCycle.
A total of five winners were chosen, one each from Italy, France, Slovenia, Austria, and Germany.
The project, titled: ‘Circular Restaurant & Circular Kiosk,’ developed two innovative concepts named Circular Pizza and Participatory Circular Aperitivo and has been selected as the Italian winner.
The circular experiments started in the Circular Restaurant and the Circular Bar have led to the development of innovative and sustainable circular food products and formats. These include the Circular Pizza, which has also been presented internationally, and the Participatory Circular Aperitif, which involved the study of several symbiotic courses and the active participation of various stakeholders and citizens. In this sense, the Circular Business Models designed can be inspiring case studies not only for the catering sector in other national and international regions, but also for all those geographical realities that wish to activate Innovative Living Labs.
The project was created to promote the prevention of food waste and the valorization of the less noble parts of food through activities and good practices that can be learnt in any kitchen in the world, and where in some cases the circular economy is already present in the kitchen but not sufficiently valorized. The potential for change is therefore international, as are the spin-offs in environmental terms (e.g. reducing waste), social terms (e.g. involving the community in sharing good practices) and economic terms (e.g. the savings associated with avoided waste and the creation of new food products and hence gastronomic innovation).
The award ceremony took place in Bressanone on May 21, 2024.
Author : Franco Fassio and Alessandra Savina
Photos: Moling Photography
Photos: Snapshots from the award ceremony