Social Challenges and Design. Exploiting Digital Technologies to Trigger a Behavioural Transition Towards a Sustainable Food Life Cycle

Today digital technologies offer an unprecedented opportunity to facilitate dynamic and engaging interactions among people, promote conversations around crucial issues - such as climate change - guide joint action, and trigger innovation. In this paper, we aim to discuss how design can act as a lever towards adopting a more sustainable behaviour in food consumption, exploiting the potential of digital technologies. The paper first outlines the scope of interest: climate change is a global concern, and sustainability is a key topic on the European agenda. To ensure systematic changes towards a circular economy and achieve a low emission pathway, active public participation and trust in transition are essential. We reflect on this challenge by drawing on a research initiative called FOODIE, “FOOD Impact for Earth,” envisioned by an international, multidisciplinary, and heterogeneous consortium. Under such an initiative, through an active confrontation among all the involved expertise, a digital system was designed aimed to activate a virtuous model to change young citizens’ food consumption behaviour actively. Besides such a system, the methods applied to test its validity with citizens are described. The paper emphasizes the value of design as a transformative tool to respond to contemporary social challenges. In addition to natural sciences and engineering, design should indeed be considered a fundamental lever to address the environmental crisis of our time.