ReFOOD 4 GOOD: A Scalable Educational Model for Behavioral Change in Student Nutrition and Food Waste Reduction

The ReFOOD 4 GOOD project, developed within the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, aimed to combat food waste while promoting healthier food behaviors and sustainability awareness among students. Operating at the intersection of education, social innovation, and sustainable food entrepreneurship, the project mobilized surplus food from the university cafeteria and redirected it into an educational intervention. Through practical workshops, community campaigns, and student-led initiatives, it addressed both the environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. The project’s approach aligns with findings that show how informative, hands-on programs can significantly improve students’ awareness of food waste and change consumption patterns in higher education settings. Moreover, its success in shaping food-related behaviors echoes recent models that incorporate food literacy and participatory engagement as levers for behavior change. The project’s educational components also reflect an extended Theory of Planned Behavior model, which demonstrates that knowledge about food waste can effectively predict intention and behavior change in university students.ReFOOD 4 GOOD facilitated entrepreneurial thinking by engaging students in designing scalable models that could be transferred to other campuses. This reflects the broader conceptual framework of sustainable food entrepreneurship, which promotes dynamic and reflexive processes in food system transformation. The project concludes with a proposal for scaling: creating a network of university-based food literacy and sustainability labs, integrating environmental education, entrepreneurial skill-building, and social inclusion strategies to replicate the impact achieved locally.