foodCIRCUS Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE

🏆 Young Food Waste Fighters Poster Challenge – Results are in! 🏆

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Young Food Waste Fighters Poster Challenge, organised as part of the Interreg foodCIRCUS project!

Thousands of young minds took on the challenge of spreading the food waste awareness message through art - and the results were truly inspiring. After a public online vote and a professional jury assessment (Katarzyna Gubała, Dominik Heizmann, Eszter Csenki, Elena Cadel, Ph.D., Rostislav Ráček, Marina Fridel) here are our top three:

🥇 1st place: Szkoła Podstawowa nr 46

🥈 2nd place: Mateřská škola Turnov, Jana Palacha 1931, příspěvková organizace

🥉 3rd place: Základní škola Františka Horenského, Boršice

A huge congratulations to all three schools and their students! Your creativity, dedication, and passion for sustainability are exactly what makes a difference.

A heartfelt thank you to every school that participated - you helped us bring this important message to the next generation and to all the jury members for providing their insight. Together, we are making an impact.

From Plate to Biomass - Circular Strategies for Food Waste

Check out the foodCIRCUS Transnational Workshop as a side event of IFW 2026 - Insects to Feed the World - Torino 9-12 June 2026 programme!

Join the amazing speakers online or in person in Torino, Italy!

Register here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpivwdQlWPk9yyvmwR3W8SwSSeR-4Fbv0f6ElDEAUptfewOQ/viewform

Hope to see you there with us!

From Plate to Biomass: Circular Strategies for Food Waste

There is still time to register! Join us for a half-day workshop on food waste valorisation - in person in Torino or online from wherever you are.
The session brings together experts from research, industry, and policy to explore how food waste can be repurposed through biogas, lactic acid, and insect bioconversion, with a special focus on restaurant and school systems.

When? Monday, 8 June 2026 10:00–13:00 (incl. lunch)
Where? NH Lingotto Congress Hotel, Torino and ONLINE

Speakers: Aaron Hobbs (NACIA) · Ruilong Zheng · Wolfgang Gebauer & Gudrun Obersteiner (BOKU) · Jana Vasickova (REPLOID) · Emilia Den Boer (Wrocław University of Technology)

Don't miss out! Register now here:

From Plate to Biomass – Circular Strategies for Food Waste Registration for the workshop on food waste valorisation and circular solutions, with a special focus on restaurant and school systems The workshop will be held in a hybrid format, allowing participants to join in person or online Monday 8th June 2026 | 10:00–13:00 (incl. light lunch) Location: NH...

We are proud to share that foodCIRCUS representatives recently met with a member of the Polish parliament (Sejm) Anna Sobolak to discuss one of the most pressing challenges in our food system - the scale of food waste happening every day in school canteens across Poland.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CLqzPtYUU/

The meeting would not be possible without Katarzyna Szymczak-Pomianowska, to which we extend our gratitude!

From Plate to Biomass - Circular Strategies for Food Waste
foodCIRCUS Transnational Workshop as a side event of IFW 2026 - Insects to Feed the World - Torino 9-12 June 2026

The workshop will be held in a hybrid format, allowing participants to join in person or online:
When? Monday 8th June 2026 | 10:00–13:00 (incl. light lunch) and online!
Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpivwdQlWPk9yyvmwR3W8SwSSeR-4Fbv0f6ElDEAUptfewOQ/viewform

Where? NH Lingotto Congress Hotel, Torino, Italy

Organized by REPLOID Group AG and BOKU University

Join us for a workshop on food waste valorisation and circular solutions, with a special focus on restaurant and school systems. The session brings together experts from research, industry and policy to explore how food waste can be repurposed and valorised through approaches such as biogas, lactic acid and insect bioconversion.

Highlights include:
☑️ Insights from the Central European INTERREG project foodCIRCUS project and real-world pilot cases
☑️Practical perspectives on different valorisation pathways
☑️Overview of the EU regulatory framework
☑️Presentation of international case studies on food waste bioconversion with insects (e.g. North America and China).
☑️Panel discussion on challenges, research gaps and policy needs

Speakers include: Aaron Hobbs (NACIA), Ruilong Zheng (Consultant), Wolfgang Gebauer & Gudrun Obersteiner (BOKU), Jana Vasickova (REPLOID), Emilia Den Boer (Wroclaw University of Technology).

The workshop aims to foster exchange and identify pathways towards safe and scalable circular use of food waste streams.

Join us in person, or online!

From Plate to Biomass – Circular Strategies for Food Waste Registration for the workshop on food waste valorisation and circular solutions, with a special focus on restaurant and school systems The workshop will be held in a hybrid format, allowing participants to join in person or online Monday 8th June 2026 | 10:00–13:00 (incl. light lunch) Location: NH...

The foodCIRCUS project was presented at the NEW Food Forum conference, organized by the ProVeg Polska Foundation on May 12!

During the event, Paulina Drzazga and Beata Flank ran a project booth where they presented the project’s objectives, activities carried out in educational institutions, and best practices for reducing food waste. The NEW Food Forum is one of the key industry events in Poland, bringing together representatives from the food sector, academia, business, civil society organizations, and public administration to discuss the future of the food system.

Participating in the conference was an important opportunity to exchange experiences, establish new contacts, and promote the idea of a more responsible approach to food among a broad group of experts. We would like to thank everyone who visited the project's booth and shared their perspectives.

On April 26, our representatives from the Wroclaw Municipality participated in the “Wrocław Doesn’t Waste” picnic in Old Town Park, where they had the opportunity to present the objectives of the foodCIRCUS project.

During the event, they spoke with Wrocław residents about reducing food waste, environmental education, and the activities carried out in collaboration with the educational institutions participating in the project. The picnic was a great opportunity to promote “less waste” attitudes and inspire more conscious daily food choices.

We would like to thank everyone who visited our booth and joined the conversation. Such meetings demonstrate how important local education and collaboration are in building a more sustainable food system.

Is it important to address food waste from an early age?
At VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies VŠB-TUO the scientists believe the answer is yes!

The foodCIRCUS project was introduced by Lucie Jezerska to first-grade pupils at Primary School & Kindergarten Palkovice and the results were amazing!
During the workshop, the kids: earned about food waste and how it can be reused, stepped into the shoes of real scientists, tested the nutritional properties of torrefied food waste and brainstormed their own ideas for reducing waste.

The energy in the room was incredible, every single pupil was engaged, curious, and full of ideas! Because the best time to build sustainable habits is now and these kids are already proving it.

Voting is still OPEN!

The foodCIRCUS Young Food Waste Fighters Poster Challenge is almost at the finish line and every vote makes a difference! Support the amazing young creatives helping raise awareness about food waste and sustainability through their inspiring poster designs.

Voting deadline: May 19th

Vote here: https://survey.boku.ac.at/575377

Don’t miss your chance to help choose the winning posters and celebrate the next generation of food waste fighters!

Online Voting Starts Today!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who submitted their amazing creations to the Young Food Waste Fighters Poster Challenge! We received an extraordinary number of inspiring posters, and over the past few days we have been working intensively on preparing the website and voting process.

We are happy to announce that all posters meeting the submission criteria are now officially part of the one-week online voting phase starting TODAY! The 10 posters with the highest number of votes will be presented to our expert jury at the end of May.

📅 Voting period:
Starts: 11 May, 12:00 (noon)
Ends: 19 May, 12:00 PM

🗳️ Vote here:
https://survey.boku.ac.at/575377?lang=en

Please note:
• Each browser can submit only ONE vote
• Posters are displayed in randomized order to ensure a fair and unbiased voting process
• After selecting a poster, don’t forget to click the green “Submit” button at the bottom of the page for your vote to count!

View all submitted projects:

https://sites.google.com/upwr.edu.pl/foodcircusposterchallenge/submitted-projects