Designing an Informed and Aware Behavioural Transition towards a Sustainable Food Life Cycle

Climate change is a global concern, standing as a key topic of the European Agenda. To ensure systemic changes towards a circular economy and achieve a low-emissions pathway, active public participation and confidence in the transition are essential. The paper reflects on such a challenge, drawing on co-design activities led by the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano and aimed at identifying actual possible research challenges and emergent research agendas, aligning them with 2030 European goals. Through co-design sessions, an international and multidisciplinary team devised a digital system to engage young citizens, increasing the environmental awareness of their eating habits. The finalization of the digital system design and its testing activity will leverage both design for behavioural change and the citizen sciences approaches. The paper emphasizes the strategic role of design in adopting an interdisciplinary and multi-layered approach to find a solution to complex issues, as the transition towards zero waste is.