Embedding SDG 12 Through Competition-Based Learning in Vocational Culinary Education for Pastry Students

This paper presents a qualitative case study of how a Diploma in Pastry Arts program operationalises United Nations Sustainable Development Goal SDG 12 through a structured, plant-based competition cooking initiative called the Plant-to-Plate Challenge. Embedded within the “Essential Cookery Skills” course at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Cawangan Pulau Pinang, the initiative unfolds across three progressive stages: plant-based component development, full plant-based meal design, and a judged team competition, followed by digital e-portfolio documentation. Drawing on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) competency frameworks and the literature on competition-based learning and reflective e-portfolios, this paper analyses the pedagogical design and implementation. Respondents were semester one students (n=32) of the March 2026 cohort. As a single-semester, non-comparative case, the findings indicate that the competition format generated short-term but meaningful gains in student engagement, technical problem-solving and understanding of ingredient substitution, while the e-portfolio provided visually mediated documentation of sustainability practice. The paper argues that pastry arts education, historically anchored in animal-derived and refined ingredients and under-represented in sustainability scholarship, can meaningfully advance SDG 12 competencies when experiential, competitive, and reflective pedagogies are deliberately combined. This paper discusses implications for curriculum design in vocational culinary and pastry education and directions for future research.