Sustainability is a fundamental principle of the SKILLS – High LEVEL and market-respondent Competences for a Blue and Digitalized "Smart and skilled South Adriatic" project. While the educational programme focuses on sustainable blue economy development, environmental responsibility is equally reflected in the organisation of the Summer School itself.
One often overlooked source of environmental impact at conferences, workshops and training events is food waste. Preparing meals without accurate information on participant attendance frequently results in surplus food, unnecessary expenditure, increased waste management costs, and avoidable greenhouse gas emissions associated with food production, transportation and disposal.
Recognising this challenge, the organising team of the Cross-Border Higher Education Learning Module (HELM) Summer School has introduced a structured food management system designed to minimise waste while maintaining high standards of hospitality and participant satisfaction.
Daily Meal Registration
Each participant is asked to complete a short online meal registration form every day.
Instead of assuming that all registered participants will attend lunch, participants confirm whether they will:
attend lunch;
require a vegetarian meal; or
not attend lunch that day.
The form is completed before a predefined deadline, allowing organisers to communicate accurate numbers to the catering provider each morning.
Evidence-Based Catering Planning
The collected information enables the catering team to prepare meals according to actual daily demand rather than estimated attendance.
This simple digital procedure significantly improves resource management by:
reducing food overproduction;
preventing unnecessary food purchases;
improving kitchen planning;
reducing organic waste generation;
lowering associated greenhouse gas emissions; and
ensuring efficient use of project resources.
Because participant attendance may occasionally change at short notice due to field visits, transport delays or unforeseen circumstances, a limited number of additional meals may still be prepared as a precaution.
Ensuring That No Food Goes to Waste
Whenever surplus meals remain despite careful planning, they will not be discarded.
Instead, the organising team will invite members of the Institute of Marine Biology of the University of Montenegro who are working on-site to join the lunch on a complimentary basis. This simple measure ensures that prepared food is fully utilised while also fostering interaction between Summer School participants, researchers, technical staff and administrative personnel.
The approach follows the waste hierarchy by prioritising the consumption of edible food before considering disposal. It represents a practical example of responsible resource management and demonstrates that preventing food waste often depends more on effective organisation than on complex technological solutions.
Sustainability Beyond the Classroom
Food production accounts for a substantial share of global environmental impacts through land use, freshwater consumption, energy demand and carbon emissions. Every meal that is unnecessarily prepared and discarded represents a loss of natural resources invested throughout the food supply chain.
By combining digital registration, demand-based catering and the redistribution of any unavoidable surplus meals, the HELM Summer School reduces its environmental footprint while maintaining a high-quality experience for participants.
Learning by Example
The SKILLS project promotes sustainability not only through lectures, workshops and field activities but also through the way educational events are organised.
The food management approach implemented during the HELM Summer School demonstrates how simple organisational innovations can support the principles of the circular economy, responsible consumption and sustainable resource management. It provides a practical model that can easily be replicated by universities, research institutes, public authorities and project organisers across Europe.
In the blue economy, sustainability is not only a subject of study—it is a responsibility reflected in everyday decisions. Through initiatives such as responsible food management, the HELM Summer School demonstrates that environmental stewardship begins with small, measurable actions that collectively make a meaningful difference.
More information about the Summer School
For reading more about the Summer School, follow the LINK.