The SPOON Project Kicks-Off: Harnessing Citizen Science to Transform Food Systems

Current food systems are at the root of pressing environmental and social challenges. The SPOON project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, offers a transformative approach to tackling the interlinked challenges of European food systems by taking a citizen science approach.

Traditional top-down solutions have proven insufficient for addressing the complexities of modern food systems. SPOON reverses the approach by empowering citizens, alongside other food stakeholders, to act as co-creators of knowledge and solutions. At its core, SPOON employs a digital toolset that includes a multimedia questionnaire generator and a personal data wallet. These tools enable individuals to collect, analyse, and interpret data about their personal food consumption behaviours and local food environments. Citizens retain full control over their data while contributing to collective insights that guide the transition toward healthier and more sustainable food choices.

To achieve its vision, the project will:

• Develop an analytical framework to better understand the factors influencing healthy and sustainable food consumption
• Establish Citizen Science Labs (CSLs) and Behaviour Change Interventions (BCIs) to collect, visualise, and interpret data on food consumption behaviours and local food environments
• Deploy the SPOON digital toolset to enable citizen-driven data collection and analysis
• Create a GDPR-compliant data governance framework emphasising privacy, sharing, and interoperability
• Develop guidelines and capacity-building programs to replicate and scale project insights
• Draft policy recommendations to support data-driven decision-making and cross-sector collaboration

As project coordinator, the CSCP will oversee all activities and outcomes of the SPOON project, while specifically contributing in:

• Investigating Europeans’ attitudes toward data sharing and participation in citizen science within the food sector.
• Mapping stakeholders and operational settings across target regions (Germany, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Slovenia).
• Establishing Citizen Science Labs (CSLs) and Behaviour Change Interventions (BCIs) to examine food behaviours and promote sustainable diets.
• Providing training and capacity-building through the Citizen Science Academy.
• Supporting socio-economic and environmental assessments and evaluating the project’s impact, particularly within the CSLs.

The SPOON project will run from 2024 to 2028 and brings together 16 European partners.

For further information, please reach out to Arlind Xhelili.

Image by CSCP and AI