CHORIZO

Changing practices and Habits through Open, Responsible, and social Innovation towards ZerO food waste

Across Europe, people are becoming increasingly aware of the impacts of food loss and waste (FWL). But what role do social norms and values play in supporting or hindering us from reducing food waste and loss? The CHORIZO project, which stands for “Changing Practices and Habits Through Open, Responsible, andSocial Innovation Towards Zero Food Waste”, will explore this topic and work with relevant actors to find answers to this question. The project aims to improve the understanding of how social norms influence behaviour and food waste and loss generation as well as use this knowledge to improve the effectiveness of decision-making and engagement of food chain actors toward zero food waste.

Through the lens of six relevant case studies, including schools, food banks, and hotels, the consortium of 14 organisations from across Europe will work together to research previous actions to reduce food loss and waste; generate new evidence on the interaction between social norms, behaviour, and food waste; feed this information into scenario-based models and a new database; and create communication and science education packages to support a range of actors to take action and innovate to reduce food loss and waste.

Building upon the research, modelling and data generated in the CHORIZO project and based on behavioural models, the CSCP will create actor-specific guidance in order to help different stakeholders change social norms. The CHORIZO project will explore how social norms – broadly shared or accepted behaviours – impact our processes practices around food production and use.

In order to support action across Europe, the CSCP will further develop and run a tailored capacity building programme, adapted from our Academy of Change, using online and in-person workshops to help participants use CHORIZO outputs in their own contexts. This will be combined with a ‘help-desk’ for personalised coaching to support the implementation of food waste and loss interventions based on social norms.

Through this combination of research, modelling, adaptation of findings to specific groups, and tailored capacity building, the Chorizo project aims to shine new light on the role of social norms in the FLW field, leading to impactful reductions in a range of real-life contexts in Europe.

The CHORIZO consortium represents a multidisciplinary group composed of 14 participants from 9 different countries within the EU. This project is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.