The Uovo di Colombo Lab: Designing against food waste

Food waste is an increasingly central issue in our daily lives. It is estimated that, every year, a third of food produced for human consumption is wasted. Considering this, the paper illustrates the experience of the “Uovo di Colombo Lab”, a project offering training activities that address the issue of food waste along the entire food chain, with a particular focus on the phases of recovery, redistribution, processing, and consumption. A workshop organised into mobile kits and providing an assortment of low-tech professional equipment allows young students and members of the public to experience the food transformation processes. This is achieved by applying the circular economy principles in design, creative processes, and co-design methodologies.