2139. A Critical Systems Thinking Methodology to Explore Circularity of Food Waste in a University Campus

Description

This paper reports on the learning process and main insights of applying a critical system thinking (CST) methodology to food waste prevention, at a UK university campus project. Across the globe, many universities are considering or adopting circular economy (CE) principles to meet the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). Yet, there is still lack of understanding about the systemic issues and consequences of preventing food waste, towards improved management of campus food resources. Our case study approach combined Soft Operational Research (OR) and other methods to identify possibilities and challenges regarding adopting CE ideas and technologies. These processes featured high student participation and included student self-assessment of waste disposal, initial food waste scrap separation and sorting, and investigating on-site food composting or anaerobic digestion (AD) options. There were valuable project lessons from this tactile, practical approach. However, campus stakeholders following through with their own action agendas (while we maintained a critical, supporting role) came across as paramount. Among other insights from using Soft OR, our study presents this finding about the importance of flexibility, in seeking to progress the 12th UN sustainable development goal (UNSDG) to reduce food waste.

Period	24 Jun 2025
Event title	European Conference of Operational Research: EURO34
Event type	Conference
Location	Leeds, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International