Where research meets reality: Lund University leads circular food pilots in CARE

Working with households to turn circular economy ideas into everyday solutions

The circular economy aims to maximise the value of resources and support sustainable development by reducing the environmental impacts of production and consumption. Achieving this transition also requires the active involvement of consumer-citizens and their communities, as they play a key role in reducing consumption, reusing products, and recycling resources in everyday life.

To support this shift in consumption practices, Lund University is playing a leading role in the CARE project by working to create and sustain consumer engagement. This is achieved through co-creation with citizens and local stakeholders and the development of targeted interventions that encourage more circular consumption practices. 

Lund University’s role in CARE

Lund University is represented in the CARE project by the research group Consumption, Marketing and Retail at the Department of Service Studies. Christian Fuentes, Emma Samsioe, and Réka Tölg are the researchers involved. The team has extensive experience in exploring contemporary changes in consumption, particularly in the areas of sustainability, digitalisation, and shifting societal values. Their core expertise lies in understanding circular consumption and the reshaping everyday consumption practices by designing interventions to support sustainable transitions.

In CARE, the team is leading the task of developing and implementing interventions concerning circular food consumption, aiming to reduce household food waste. In addition to their research activities, they coordinate and support the efforts of project partners involved in this work package. They help align qualitative data collection methods and provide research-informed advice and guidance to local partners designing tailored advisory services for households to facilitate more sustainable food practices.

The team is also contributing to fieldwork related to circular clothing consumption. These interventions aim to reduce the impact of households’ clothing use. Here, the team from Lund brings prior experience from similar projects focusing on circular fashion field trials and interventions targeted at changes in consumption practices.

Understanding and supporting sustainable consumption requires more than just promoting individual behaviour change – it demands a deep engagement with everyday practices and the systems that shape them. In CARE, we are applying our research on circular consumption to co-develop interventions that are grounded in people’s lived realities. Our goal is to generate actionable knowledge that enables households and local actors to work together towards more sustainable food and clothing practices. – Professor Christian Fuentes

From research to action: Developing innovative food waste interventions

Over the past few months, the team at Lund University has been deeply involved in the development and design of food waste interventions for CARE. Their work has included a thorough review of existing research, co-design workshops to structure and specify the interventions, as well as the preparation of detailed intervention descriptions. The team has also produced a comprehensive handbook and a fieldwork timeline to support project partners.

The interventions aim to promote a more circular and sustainable lifestyle by helping households adopt smarter ways to shop, cook, and store food – ultimately reducing everyday food waste. However, the success of these efforts depends heavily on the active engagement and willingness of participating households, as the interventions will be carried out over an 18-month period.

Based on insights from previous projects, we know that designing this kind of fieldwork and maintaining participant engagement over an extended period is a significant challenge. However, we’re confident in the strength of our study design, and we’re now entering the next critical phase –  implementing the interventions and actively involving the participating households. – Emma Samsioe

What’s next: Supporting fieldwork and household engagement

The fieldwork phase of the CARE project is about to begin, and the Lund University team is preparing to take an active role. They will conduct interviews and observations with participating households in Sweden, while also supporting project partners as they carry out similar fieldwork activities in their respective countries.

One immediate priority is taking part in kick-off meetings with households and introducing them to the project’s online community – a space for questions, exchange, and ongoing support as they engage with the intervention activities in their daily lives.

The team looks forward to a smooth start to the fieldwork phase – and to collaborating with many enthusiastic and engaged households.

My doctoral dissertation and our previous projects point to the importance of going close to the everyday realities of households when trying to understand circular practices. So, I’m very excited to continue working closely with households on the circularity transition and see how the interventions, advisory services, and the community engagement help develop more circular practices when it comes to food waste and clothing lifetimes. – Réka Tölg

Discover all CARE partners

Our project partners work hand in hand to explore what circular living means in practice – and how it can be scaled through collaboration, knowledge and action. Discover how each organisation contributes to a more circular future here.

Together with CARE, we transform our world for the better.

Header image: Copyright Emma Samsioe