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Imagine a world where school meals aren’t just plates of food; they’re exciting adventures served with a side of sustainability. With schools adopting longer schedules and students desiring for healthy, sustainable meal options, the conversation on school lunches has never been more crucial.  Denmark, known for its liberal approach to school lunches, faces a pivotal moment. The country has the unique opportunity to redefine its approach to school meals, integrating nutrition, learning, and sustainability. On 29 September At the School Food Forum at the Frederiksberg City Hall a group of experts, educators, policymakers, and our dedicated team at Crossing Borders gathered to discuss and co-create the future of school meals in Denmark.  The day started with the energy of young minds in the Young People’s Foodlab, showcasing innovative proposals for green food solutions. This demonstrated how project-based learning and youthful creativity can integrate into sustainability education. The event was also graced by Jacob Jensen, Minister for Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries, who set the stage with insights into the past, present, and future of school meals in Denmark.   As for the Crossing Border’s presence at the event, We were proudly presenting “Growing Green Communities” program. This initiative is more than just a project, it’s a vision for a healthier, sustainable future. “Growing Green Communities” Project aims to understand the pathways of change in urban food production and consumption, we encourage young people to support communities in initiating urban gardening projects. It’s about empowering young gardeners, promoting plant-powered diets, and supporting local food heroes. Through this initiative, every meal becomes an opportunity for learning, fostering a deeper connection between food, sustainability, and community.  The event culminated in a powerful discussion about the significance of healthy school lunches and different perspectives of school food policies, involving CB team members from various countries. It showcased Crossing Borders’ commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and the belief that every child deserves access to nutritious meals for a brighter future.  Our presence at this event symbolizes our dedication to shaping a world where education, nutrition, and sustainability intersect harmoniously. The importance of providing healthy meals lies at the heart of Crossing Borders’ mission, because at Crossing Borders, every meal is a story, and every story is a step towards a better, greener world. Written By: Luka Tsibadze

On Friday, the 2nd of June 2023, two members of the Crossing Borders staff took part at the Madens Folkemøde Festival under the Growing Green Communities project. As the festival’s focus is to provide the space and opportunity for people to discuss the Danish food chain and food systems, the Growing Green Communities attendance was an easy decision. The festival took place over two days at Engestofte Estate in Lolland, Denmark. Both Friday and Saturday were filled with conversations and talks between politicians, researchers, companies, and organisations that shared essential points about how to make our food systems more efficient and sustainable. Through a wide range of debates, workshops, show kitchens, tastings and conversations, the participants of the festival were able to dive into the wonderful world of food and learn more about this fundamental part of our lives. The topics such as what food is, what it should be, where it comes from and how we should eat in the future were mentioned. During the festival, our partner, the University of Copenhagen, organised an event called “Climate, school and green food transition” under SESAM, an EU funded project. The aim of the event was to bring pupils and event participants together and give them the opportunity to develop ideas and tools to tackle the issues caused by the current unsustainable food system. The method used was based on the Design Thinking method, where pupils in groups had to generate ideas about a food-related subject, brainstorm, create prototypes, and share their idea with others. The outcomes of the event were positive with pupils generating interesting ideas and sharing them with the rest of the participants through posters. Several groups thought about creating apps giving tips on how to use food leftovers or giving recipes ideas depending on the products that you buy. Others talked about allowing schools’ canteens to use stores’ unsold products to cook. Taking part in this event was a great experience for everyone, the pupils who learnt about food systems and shared their ideas on how to make them more sustainable in the future; our partner SESAM who managed to engage youth in a current important subject that is the green transition of our food production & consumption; and the members of the Growing Green Communities project who got the chance to be inspired by this workshop for their future events and share the project with the broader public. Blog author: Anna Bonenfant; Karolína Vítečková

From 13th to 16th March 2023, the Erasmus+ Project Growing Green Communities (GGC) training took place in Bordeaux, France. Project partners from Finland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and France met with 8 young students to learn from each other best practices in developing green communities, including urban gardens. Project participants of different ages, nationalities, cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds had 4 intensive days of activities inside and outside the classroom. Our project partner and city host, Salu Terre, took the training participants to visit different projects based on community development, including the first community garden in France. Participants visited interesting green places such ENSAP. School of the Gardens, Jardins de Beaudesert at Mérignac ,the Pedagogical Farm of Les Aubiers, the Alotment Gardens of Les Aubiers and the Ecological Park of Domaine de la Burthe Ardins de Beaudesert Mérignac. The GGC project coordinator Giselle Mesiara mentioned in her GGC training reflection that visiting different sustainability-related projects gives training participants the opportunity to better understand not only what a community garden is and its benefits, but also the challenges and difficulties behind it. “When we see a beautiful community garden, we don’t know all the challenges it had to face to finally flourish in every way”. The training in Bordeaux introduced the realities of a community development activity, including unsuccessful community gardens, the difficulties of obtaining land and committed volunteers, and the hard work of a door-to-door community approach. GGC participants had a realistic experience of a community development process, which laid the foundation for the development of the Growing Green Community framework. In addition to external activities, the collaborative methodology of “learning from, with and about” was implemented. Where each project partner had the opportunity to present their professional expertise and innovative ways of collaborating to achieve the goals of the GGC. The active participation of young people in the process of mapping the needs of the GGC will be analyzed in the next phase of the project. The knowledge generated during the GGC training activities in Bordeaux was in connection with the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 11.7 (Provide Access to Safe and Inclusive Green and Public Spaces), 12.3 (Halve Global Capita Food Waste), 13 (Climate Action) and 17.16 (Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development). The NGO Crossing Borders, which is a major implementer of project activities that meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations in Denmark and globally, is leading the Erasmus+ project Growing Green Communities. Blog author: Mesiara, Giselle Previous Next Growing Green Communities Project Participants Previous Next

Tackling household food waste is one of the goals of the Growing Green Communities (GGC) project to achieve the “green transition”. On December 14, 2022, a training on strategies to reduce food waste and loss was moderated by Professor Bent E. Mikkelsen of the University of Copenhagen, and GGC partner. This training took place on the 3rd day of the event headed by the SESAM Project, where activities were centered on the exchange of knowledge of good practices in combating food waste. Participants from different countries inside and outside Europe had the opportunity to present their methods of mitigating food waste and learn from others. In the Sydhavan district of Copenhagen, training participants started the day with the “Walk & Talk” activity on green transition strategies and engagement on mitigating food waste, led by Professor Bent. Later, a panel discussion on the topic “The Local Approach to Tackling Food Waste” was held at the University of Aalborg. During the panel, participants had the opportunity to hear “WHAT” and “HOW” civil society and government CAN DO to combat food waste. Following the panel session, attendees visited Sydhavn’s school canteen to watch a demonstration of how food service coordinator Sabrina H. Brasch measures food waste and how this measurement leads to climate-friendly action. In addition, participants had the opportunity to sample Sydhavn’s school meals. Back at Aalborg University, participants attended another seminar to learn about food waste challenges and solutions based on experiences from the municipality of Copenhagen. This groundbreaking event enabled the exchange of knowledge and collaboration among participants to achieve the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goal number 12.3 Food Waste and Loss Reduction. Growing Green Communities partners benefited from learning different approaches to reducing food waste and work on co-creating innovative practices to be implemented among young students. Blog authors:Akay, Furkan; Mesiara, Giselle Previous Next

When it comes to school food security, what can Denmark learn from neighbouring countries? This was the main topic of the Skolemad (School Meals) 2030 meeting agenda, that took place on September 24th, 2022. In recent years, Danish school teachers, university professors, researchers and some policy makers have been working hard to present the benefits of providing healthy, adequate, and sustainable school meals on a national level in Denmark. Despite Denmark having a higher standard of social welfare, until 2023 public Danish Schools do not offer school meal. At the same time, science has shown the “Social Ecological” benefits of providing natural and sustainable meals at the school level. Students who have access to quality school meals will be well nourished and with enough energy to focus on their studies and improve their academic performance and further professional contributions to society. Subsequently, encouraging healthy and sustainable eating practices early in life improve students’ health & well-being. Also, this practice can help prevent chronic disease later in life and boost young people’s immune systems to fight possible contamination by communicable diseases. The benefits of investing in school meals will be positively reflected in the short and long term in the social, economic and environmental aspects of the country’s sustainable development. The “Skolemad” event in Denmark invited experts in food systems, local government and school feeding experts from other Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Norway to share their best school feeding practices with the Danish public, including Mr. Rasmus Prehn, Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries in Denmark. Growing Green Communities (GGC) project partners Crossing Borders represented by its director Garba Diallo and the University of Copenhagen represented by the Food System’s Professor Bent E. Mikkelsen were present during this innovative “Skolemad” panel to collaborate and empower schools to achieve the green transition through natural, healthy, and sustainable school meals. The GGC project involves students participating in hands-on “Green Activities” inside and outside the classroom. The mapping of the food landscape around the schools and the “Youth School Veggies Gardens” are examples of the activities of the GGC project to reconnect students with natural food and raise awareness about the importance of adequate food at school and beyond. GGC partners are committed to working on the development of educational and recreational activities to involve young students in this green food transition, as they are the main target audience and beneficiaries, although the whole society benefits from this initiative. Blog author: Mesiara, Giselle GGC Project Coordinator References: Andersen, R. et al. (2014) “Dietary effects of introducing school meals based on the new nordic diet – a randomized controlled trial in Danish children. The Opus School Meal Study,” British Journal of Nutrition, 111(11), pp. 1967–1976. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114514000634. Merson, M.H. et al. (2020) Global Health: Diseases, Programs, Systems, and Policies. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Previous Next

“Climate Justice, Social Justice and Racial Justice” are the 2022 Roskilde Festival’s messages to its engaged climate activist volunteers, participants, and the world. The Erasmus + Growing Green Communities Project had the opportunity to be present during the festival, offering lectures and workshops to enhance the “Green Transition”. Food systems expert Professor Bent E. Mikkelsen of the University of Copenhagen gave a talk on food security and climate change, followed by a workshop on food waste created by Global Health Consultant and Growing Green Communities project coordinator Giselle M Mesiara. Both performances took place at the Green Market within Roskilde Festival Denmark which is one of the biggest and oldest festivals in Europe. On the 50th anniversary of the Roskilde Festival, the theme was “Music, Art, Activism and Freedom”, which is in line with the values of the NGO Crossing Borders, leader of the Growing Green Communities project. The food waste workshop was conceived with the aim of showing Roskilde participants how #CLIMATE CHANGE affects #FOOD SECURITY and # OUR POCKETS, taking the commodity “Coffee” as an example. Since the Scandinavian countries are the biggest consumers of coffee in the world and the coffee plantation in South America has been extremely affected by climate changes in recent years that have increased cofffee prices. During the hands-on workshop, participants experienced how we can use coffee grounds sustainably, including to grow edible mushrooms or exfoliate dead cells from our hands. Roskilde participants said the workshop was informative and fun. These activities were part of International Growing Green Communities’ efforts to empower young people and adults to do what they can to fight climate change and help Achieve Global Health.Roskilde Festival started with 2 students in August 1971 and had over 130,000 visitors in 2022. Blog author: Mesiara, Giselle   References: Bermúdez, S. et al. (no date) Global market report: Coffee prices and Sustainability, International Institute for Sustainable Development. Available at: https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/2022-global-market-report-coffee   Vi Er Tilbage! Første Musiknavne Klar til Roskilde Festival 2023 (no date) Roskilde Festival. Available at: https://www.roskilde-festival.dk/da/years/2023/news/vi-er-tilbage-foerste-musiknavne-klar-til-roskilde-festival-2023/ Previous Next