What motivates people to choose new protein options and what holds them back? Across 11 European countries, consumers explored how changes in choice, environment, communication and culture can shift diets toward alternative proteins. The results reveal what it takes for sustainable alternative proteins to become a realistic everyday choice.
The transition toward healthier and more sustainable diets is high on Europe’s agenda, yet, progress depends on whether citizens are willing and enabled to choose differently. To better understand these real-world dynamics, the EU-funded project, LIKE-A-PRO launched a series of Living Labs in 11 countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Greece, Germany, Spain, Turkey, and Italy).
These Labs engaged citizens directly in familiar consumption contexts such as supermarkets, canteens, homes, and neighbourhoods, turning everyday food decisions into learning moments.
Participants explored how alternative proteins fit into their lifestyles through guided discovery, sensory testing, and co-creation, revealing what truly influences choices. A full detailed overview of the LIKE-A-PRO Living Labs process has been outlined in the Living Labs Governance Framework and Living Labs Implementation Manual reports.
Drawing on the Consumer Choice Framework, each Living Lab iteration uncovered critical behavioural insights. Some of these are summarised below:
Choice editing – editing the portfolio of available products
Participants supported reducing the prominence of high footprint foods, particularly when the intention and benefits were clear. Limiting less sustainable options, for example in buffet layouts or store aisles, helped reduce “auto-pilot” decisions shaped by habit and brand loyalty. Importantly, fairness and freedom of choice remained non-negotiable values.
Choice expansion – making better options visible and viable
Consumers’ willingness to buy increased significantly when alternative proteins were easy to find, well-marketed, and priced competitively. Curiosity grew when products looked, tasted, and could be cooked like familiar favourites, enabling a shift without requiring a lifestyle overhaul. Participants stressed that novelty is exciting when rooted in familiarity.
Choice environment – guiding consumers with confidence and curiosity
Taste-first experiences, such as sampling or cooking demos, helped overcome initial hesitation. Social proof (“others are choosing this”) boosted confidence, especially among more cautious consumers. Clear, credible information on labels and at point-of-sale was shown to build trust, while excessive detail led to confusion and disengagement.
Beyond choice – embracing identity, culture and emotion
Food traditions strongly shape what feels “right.” Participants welcomed sustainable options that complemented local cuisines rather than replacing them. Positive and empowering narratives such flavour, enjoyment, pride were preferred over loss-based approaches.
Ultimately, the findings of our LIKE-A-PRO iterations suggest that long-term shifts to sustainable diets will succeed not by asking consumers to abandon their lifestyles altogether, but rather by enabling them to eat sustainable diets that are still authentic, culturally relevant, and joyful.
“It has to taste great first — sustainability comes next”, noted a Living Lab participant from Spain.
The full set of insights, including country differences and detailed preference trends, is now available in the Living Lab Insight Report, a useful resource for businesses designing new products, policymakers shaping food strategies, and communities aiming to improve everyday wellbeing.
These findings are already shaping the next phase: behavioural pilots that will test promising real-life interventions in homes, canteens, and retail environments, alongside new governance mechanisms to support local adoption and long-term uptake.
Europeans are ready to put sustainable food on their plates. The question now is: (how) will the food system keep up?
For more information and collaboration opportunities, please contact Arlind Xhelili.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash.
Embedding sustainability into day-to-day business operations remains a major challenge for many organisations. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities to support strategy development, implementation, and communication, practical guidance on how to use AI meaningfully in sustainability management is often missing. This is where our new prompting guide comes in.
What is it?
In our Digital Centre WertNetzWerke, we developed the Prompting Guide for Sustainability Management, an online demonstrator that helps organisations explore how AI tools can be applied in a practical and structured way. The easy-to-use tool translates sustainability challenges into concrete use cases where AI can support everyday work across various organisational fields.
How it works?
The prompting guide is structured along three core areas of sustainability management: strategy, implementation, and capacity building. For each area, it provides concise explanations and ready-to-use AI prompts that can be copied and pasted, adapted and tested directly. These prompts support tasks such as developing sustainability strategies, structuring action plans, preparing internal communication or supporting learning processes within organisations.
Who is it for?
A key objective of the demonstrator is accessibility. The prompting guide is designed for users and companies with little or no prior experience in working with AI. It aims to lower entry barriers and encourage experimentation, while fostering a critical and reflective approach to the use of AI in sustainability contexts.
The demonstrator enables companies to test, reflect on, and evaluate various sustainability strategies before implementing them. In doing so, the demonstrator supports the realistic use of AI as a sparring partner for sustainability and circular economy issues within their own company.
By combining sustainability expertise with digital innovation, the Prompting Guide supports organisations in navigating the growing complexity of sustainability requirements and digital transformation. It offers a practical starting point for those looking to integrate AI into their sustainability work in a purposeful, responsible and value-oriented way.
Start exploring our Prompting Guide for Sustainability Management now!
For further questions, please contact Janna Prager.
Applications are now open for the 2026 Biodiversity Award for Businesses. Companies of all sizes and from all sectors in Germany are invited to showcase their contributions to biodiversity, whether on-site or across their supply chains.
Biodiversity is no longer just an ecological concern; it is also the foundation of sustainable and resilient business practices. The Biodiversity Award for Business 2026 recognises companies that are actively committed to protecting and promoting biodiversity, either on their premises or within their supply and value chains.
As part of the UBi project (Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt – Business and Biodiversity), the award gives businesses the chance to raise awareness of their efforts and inspire others with practical solutions. It is open to companies of all sizes and sectors that have a registered office or are conducting business activities in Germany.
The 2026 award focuses on two categories:
In each category, one large company and one small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) will be recognised. Additionally, the Public Choice Award will be granted based on an open vote.
Winners will receive public recognition, professional media visibility, communication support, and a complimentary one-year membership of the Biodiversity in Good Company Initiative.
Apply for the prize by sending in your application by 28 February 2026. Further details and the application form are available here.
The award is part of the UBi project (Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt – Business and Biodiversity), which is funded by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) under the German Federal Programme on Biological Diversity, using resources from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).
UBi is implemented by a consortium of five organisations: the Biodiversity in Good Company Initiative, the Bodensee Foundation, the DIHK Service GmbH, the Global Nature Fund and the CSCP.
The Biodiversity Award for Business supports the German National Biodiversity Strategy 2030. It encourages the sharing of ideas, showcases successful strategies and drives the integration of biodiversity into standard business practices.
Follow this website to find out more about the previous competition from 2023.
For further questions, please contact Katrin Hüttepohl.
Photo: Walter Weinbrenner, NABU Naturgucker
With the European Union’s updated Bioeconomy Strategy now in place, a crucial question comes to the forefront: how can national bioeconomy ambitions be translated into inclusive, actionable plans on the ground? At the final conference of the CEE2ACT project in Budapest, Hungary the CSCP project team explored this challenge by sharing insights from the journeys of ten Central and Eastern European countries. The discussion highlighted what it truly takes to build stakeholder-driven bioeconomy initiatives, rooted in national contexts, shaped by collaboration, and capable of delivering tangible impact.
At the conference “The Future of the Bioeconomy in Central and Eastern Europe”, policymakers, industry representatives, researchers, and civil society organisations came together to discuss how European priorities can be turned into concrete action across the region.
Ten national bioeconomy roadmaps developed through the CEE2ACT project within the framework of EU priorities were presented, with a focus on a practical question: what actually works when building inclusive, stakeholder-driven bioeconomy initiatives at national level?
To answer this, the CSCP developed ten National Bioeconomy Hub Sheets and a Cross-Country Analysis Sheet, capturing concrete lessons from across Central and Eastern Europe. Based on experiences from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. These concise insights highlight effective approaches to engaging stakeholders, coordinating diverse actors, and turning strategy into action.
The sheets were presented alongside national hub posters during a guided poster walk, where hub coordinators shared their roadmaps and engaged directly with participants. Together, the posters and sheets linked concrete national actions to broader lessons on stakeholder engagement, governance, and collaboration—helping participants move from individual examples to transferable insights.
The sheets also capture key challenges—such as maintaining long-term engagement and aligning diverse stakeholder interests. These insights are synthesised in the Cross-Country Analysis, which identifies shared patterns across all ten countries, including success factors, recurring bottlenecks, and transferable lessons to support bioeconomy implementation in line with the EU’s renewed focus on circularity, inclusiveness, and regional ownership.
These messages were reinforced through discussions with national ministries, the European Commission, the BIOEAST Initiative, and related EU-funded projects BIOECO-UP, BOOST4BIOEAST, and BIO-INSPIRE.
With the publication of the ten National Bioeconomy Hub Sheets and the Cross-Country Analysis, the CSCP invites policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to explore practical lessons from Central and Eastern Europe and draw inspiration for advancing the EU’s circular bioeconomy transition through participatory approaches.
Download the 10 national Bioeconomy Sheets—Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia—and check out the cross-country analysis for a comparative perspective.
For a comprehensive read on the impact evaluation of the CEE2ACT project, please read the impact report.
The CEE2ACT project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research programme and will run for three years (2022-2025), led by a consortium of 17 European partners.
For further questions, please contact Kartika Anggraeni.
Circular economy practices are being adopted across many value chains. Three recent reports by the European Environment Agency Topic Centre on Circuar Economy (ETC-CE) examine the textiles and plastics sectors (two of the most polluting industries) and explore how the transition to a circular economy can be achieved in a socially fair way.
Achieving global circular production and consumption will require profound changes across value chains in all industries. These three reports explore what this transformation entails, focusing on sectors where circularity is urgently needed and examining how fairness can guide the shift.
The report “Textiles and the environment – the role of digital technologies in Europe’s circular economy” updates key datasets and insights, including the latest developments in European textile production, consumption patterns, trade flows, exports of used textiles, and related environmental impact estimates. Looking into the future, the authors map current and emerging digital solutions and examine how they could transform the design, production, and servicing of clothing and other textile products.
The report “Reusable takeaway packaging for food and drinks – scalability of systems towards circularity in Europe” analyses a sector where circular practices are already being tested. Focusing on plastics, the report explores how far reusable food and beverage container systems have come, and identifies the main obstacles and possibilities for expanding them. To do so, the ETC-CE researchers located and interviewed businesses and projects in eight European countries whose core activities center on different parts of the reusable packaging value chain.
In the report “A Just Transition to Circular Economy”, the authors bring forward a justice-oriented circular economy framework, emphasizing the need to consider participation, fairness, and the distribution of benefits and burdens in a circular economy. The report also examines the justice aspects of transitioning to a circular economy across the battery, textile, and plastics value chains.
Got to our library to download all three reports!
For further questions, please contact Livia El-Khawad.
Transformation needs images that we can not only understand, but also feel deeply. This was exactly the starting point of the transform.NRW symposium held in November 2025 in Bonn, Germany.
‘Where are we now? Where do we want to go? What are we prepared to dare?’ – these questions opened the symposium at the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, kicking off two days of exchange, inspiration and bold visions for the future.
Practitioners from design, research, politics, business and civil society came together to rethink social-ecological transformation through art, culture and design.
For the co-do lab, this was a special space: filled with people who translate complexity into images, stories and emotions, and who can therefore offer exactly what transformation needs most.
Head, heart and hands
Eva Rudolf, Senior Designer and Stephan Schaller, Senior Expert joined the panel “Networks, Accomplices and Other Allies” to introduce the co-do lab and talk about why transformation only succeeds when head, heart and hands work together.
The co-do lab work is rooted in nature-based experiences, because connection and shared experiences create the foundation that enables people to move from intention to action. That’s why the events was a great opportunity to meet likeminded people, who turn data and facts into meaningful narratives and use creativity to offer orientation and courage.
Transformation needs images that move us
Prof. Manfred Fischedick from the Wuppertal Institute emphasised in his remarks that we are facing an action gap—one that requires collective strength and the courage to take a significant leap forward. It was a reminder of what this moment calls for: transforming complexity into momentum, uncertainty into curiosity, and intentions into shared action.
How art can translate issues such as, for example, the overproduction of the textile industry into emotional experiences became clear at the end of the event, through the powerful dance performance “Tree Tree” by Japanese dancer and choreographer Kenji Shinohe, who got entangled in a large amount of textiles he was moving through and interacting with.
What the co-do lab can contribute
The co-do lab aims to create experiences that touch people and spark inspiration and momentum for the next steps of their transformation journey. At Gut Einern in Wuppertal, the co-do lab experts enable teams to shape their future actively – through deep, shared experiences with others and nature.
Whether in the co-creation kitchen, around the campfire, in the co-do mobile or in the permaculture garden: at Gut Einern, teams find spaces to think differently, decide more clearly, and move from intention to action. Conversations turn into ideas. Ideas turn into impact – curious, bold, effective.
Ready for co-creation?
Do you want to experience transformation instead of merely discussing it? Are you looking for formats that connect people and spark real innovation? Do you want to prototype, explore and prepare your organisation for a future that lasts?
Then let’s explore what you’re ready to dare and how we can work together.
The co-do lab team is excited to co-create formats tailored to your team, your organisation or your city. From team days to strategy and storytelling workshops to multi-stakeholder sessions with partners or clients.
For further questions, please contact Eva Rudolf.
Read more at the co-do lab website or reach out to the team.
How can Central and Eastern Europe lead the way toward a circular bioeconomy and a more sustainable future? At the opening day of the Circular Week 2025 in Warsaw, Poland, our CEE2ACT project team showcased how collaboration, local empowerment, and innovation can turn the circular bioeconomy from vision to action.
The Circular Week 2025, which is hosted by the Institute of Innovation and Responsible Development— INNOWO, brought together high-level representatives from the European Commission, national governments, and international organisations including EIT Food, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Circle Economy.
This first day, themed “Circular Bioeconomy as Key for Biodiversity and Resilience”, set the agenda for the week. Our CEE2ACT project, which supports ten Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in building national bioeconomy strategies through stakeholder engagement and evidence-based processes, was presented as an example of cross-country and multi-level actor collaboration.
In the session “The CEE2ACT Project and its Bottom-Up Approach to Promote the Bioeconomy Development in the CEE Countries,” CSCP Project Manager Kartika Anggraeni and the coordinator of the CEE2ACT Polish National Bioeconomy Hub, Piotr Jurga (IUNG-PIB) showcased how the project mobilises ministries, research institutions, businesses and communities to co-create bioeconomy roadmaps at national and regional levels.
The Polish National Bioeconomy Hub, represented by Piotr Jurga, shared insights into the ongoing work on a Circular Bioeconomy Roadmap, which will underpin Poland’s future National Bioeconomy Strategy.
A key milestone achieved by the Polish Hub during the day was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among several organisations — marking a formal step in strengthening cross-sector cooperation and driving toward a circular, bio-based economy.
As the panels of the day explored topics such as bioremediation, national strategy formation, materials transition and biodiversity reporting, CEE2ACT stood out as an operational example of bottom-up implementation. By strengthening national capacities and promoting peer-learning across CEE countries, the project shows how regional collaboration can accelerate meaningful change.
You can read more about the work of CEE2ACT in supporting 10 Central and Easter European countries to shape their national bioeconomy strategies here.
Within the framework of the Circular Week 2025, the student competition “The Circular Shift: Business Reinvented” held its grand final at Kozminski University, Warsaw, on November 4, where six student teams from across Poland presented circular business solutions to sustainability challenges. CSCP’s Kartika Anggraeni was part of the jury alongside over ten European organisations, supporting initiatives that engage the next generation in shaping a circular bioeconomy.
In 2026, the CSCP will join Circular Week as a co-organiser, bringing the initiative to Germany and highlighting the role of cities in driving the circular transition with a combination of online and in-person events. Would you like to engage with us and be actively involved in Circular Week 2026? Reach out to Mike Tabel!
How can sustainability policies truly serve everyone and ensure that no one—especially people experiencing poverty—is left behind? This guiding question lies at the heart of our project on Poverty Reduction and Sustainability, in which we are applying a system mapping approach to analyse North Rhine-Westphalia’s (NRW) sustainability strategy.
“Can you say what will happen with the final results of your research once the ministry has received them? What will they change?” – this was one of key questions raised by a citizen affected by poverty, who took part in our first participatory workshop held within the Climate & Poverty research project.
This simple question was a clear indicator to us that participatory processes are meaningful only when the created knowledge is fed into and guides the implementation processes.
Combining scientific expertise with lived experiences
The transdisciplinary approach at the heart of the project combines scientific expertise with insights drawn from the lived experiences of people affected by poverty. As part of this research project, participatory workshops were held to co-create the initial systems map of poverty and validate research results.
System mapping allows to visualise not only direct but also indirect connections and interdependencies (e.g. intensifying feedback loops) between, for example, political strategies, societal and individual settings and a certain phenomenon, such as poverty in this case.
For example, child care availability influences labour division in households, as a result of which women’s availability on the labour market and the continuity of their employment is affected. Discriminiation based on gender is an intensifying feedback loop here. The type and continuity of employment influences women’s financial status as well as their future pensions, which in case of low and interrupted employment may eventually lead to poverty among elderly women.
Participatory workshop series
Two workshops took place at the Citizen Centre in the Nippes quarter in Cologne, Germany in collaboration with Zug um Zug e.V., with a strong focus on the perspectives of people directly affected by poverty. An additional two workshops were held at the CSCP offices in Wuppertal, Germany in collaboration with the Neighbourhood Centre, bringing together a mixed group of participants from academia, policy, and poverty-affected groups.
Participants identified key factors that influence poverty and began connecting these elements to visualise their interrelations. These insights have informed the next project phase, which focused on analysing risks and risk reduction potentials within NRW’s sustainability strategy and climate adaptation strategy. The workshop series served as an important platform for formulating policy recommendations that are both socially just and grounded in real-life conditions, ensuring that sustainability strategies leave no one behind.
Key analytical results of both strategies, the sustainability strategy, which is currently under revision, and the climate adaptation strategy, show an ambiguous picture. Despite including activities that potentially reduce poverty (such as education, employment opportunities, health prevention), the strategies have blind spots in terms of poverty reduction that could lead to an intensification of poverty. Major gaps are the increasing costs of housing and energy, youth unemployment, training programmes for unemployed, and unequal access to digital infrastructure.
Citizens both in Cologne as well as in Wuppertal valued the opportunity to contribute their experiences and perspectives, noting that they often lack representation in sustainability policy discussions and decision-making processes. At the same time, representatives from ministries emphasised the benefit of direct dialogues with poverty affected citizens and considered to have such dialogue forums with vulnerable groups more frequently, especially in the drafting phase of new political strategies.
Expected outcomes
Until the end of 2025, the project aims to analyse NRW’s sustainability strategy and climate adaptation strategy from a social perspective in order to identify potential risks that sustainability measures pose to people affected by poverty. Furthermore, it aims to determine risk reduction potentials already embedded within existing policy measures, and develop further policy recommendations to enhance the social equity of the strategy and ensure a just transition.
The project is funded by the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and runs from August to December 2025 with the CSCP as project lead.
The research results will be published at the end of 2025 on our CSCP website library.
To learn more about this project or engage with us on the interrelation between sustainability policies and poverty, please reach out to Alexandra Kessler.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment and the European Economic and Social Committee have selected the CSCP, among 23 other organisations, for the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP) Coordination Group for the 2025-2028 mandate.
The ECESP, a flagship initiative of the European Commission, plays a key role in connecting stakeholders from industry, civil society, academia, and policy, all united in driving forward the transition to a circular economy.
As a Coordination Group member, the CSCP will work alongside key actors in shaping the future direction of the Platform, facilitating dialogue, and enhancing collaboration between diverse stakeholders.
“Being reappointed as a Coordination Group member represents another opportunity for the CSCP to continue bridging the topics of circularity and bioeconomy with society, cities, and citizens’ behaviour. It is also a chance to build strong synergies for a just circular (and sustainable) transition, grounded in a deep understanding of real needs and inclusive of all those affected by the solutions.”, notes Michael Kuhndt, CSCP Executive Director.
This is the third term of the CSCP as a Coordination Group member. In the past, the CSCP has co-led the Leadership Group on Citizen Engagement & Citizen Behaviour as part of the ECESP.
For more information on the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform and its activities, visit the official ECESP website.
For further questions on CSCP’s engagement as part of the ECESP, please reach out to Dr. Flandra Syla-Beqiri.
On our 20th anniversary year at the CSCP, we reflect on a journey shaped by collaboration, learning, transformation, and impact.
In a quick look back, we asked Executive Director, Michael Kuhndt to share his insights on how sustainability has evolved, the breakthroughs that transformed our work, and the wisdom gained from two decades of driving positive change.
An “aha” moment that redefined the sustainability narrative?
20 years ago, sustainability was mainly thought of in terms of the image of the polar bear on melting ice. This was a problem, but it failed to communicate the profound impact climate change would have on our lives. Step by step, we began translating sustainability into tangible actions and relatable messages. We believed then, as we do now, that sustainability should speak to what truly matters: a good life for all!
A breakthrough approach that changed things for real?
Two decades ago the focus was either on production or on consumption. CSCP’s breakthrough was to frame production and consumption as part of a cycle—think of circular economy before the term came into widespread use.
CSCP’s superpower?
Acknowledging it doesn’t have one! Positive change never happens alone—whether with governments, corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, labour unions, civil society, or citizens, our role is often to sit at the table and build trust, bridge perspectives, and facilitate action.
Local roots and a global scope, how is that a match?
We are deeply rooted in Wuppertal, Germany, where we are based, but have led and participated in projects and initiatives across continents and in over 30 countries. This global-local dynamic allows us to stay both grounded and visionary, while cross-pollinating ideas and approaches that strengthen one another.
Milestones that moved the needle?
Every time we managed to build trust and align diverse actors around shared goals stands out—from influencing major global policy frameworks and action plans to co-developing tools and innovations that have been adopted by local governments, businesses, civil society, industry associations, or communities worldwide.
Hard-earned wisdom?
The road hasn’t always been smooth: some partnerships didn’t work right from the start and some innovations didn’t land or scale as intended. Change takes time, persistence, trust-building, and adaptability.
Curious to dive deeper into these reflections or explore ways to collaborate? Reach out directly to Michael Kuhndt to start a conversation!