Report

How to most effectively establish cooperation between the university and the food sector and create ideal conditions for studying, so that our universities are able to prepare top experts for the food industry of the 21st Century? We focused on these questions on November 12, 2025 at our 4EU+ 1CORE Workshop: Academia and Sustainable Food Sector.

The event was organized by the Department of Sustainable Development of Charles University in the Imperial Hall. The meeting brought together representatives of the food industry, non-profit sector, academia, administration and students. The workshop program focused on revealing gaps and shortcomings in the current setting of the sustainable food sector, teaching and research in this area and on jointly searching for new forms and tools of cooperation across disciplines.

The participants gathered in the morning for short introductory lectures. The first speaker was Marie Šantrochová from ProVeg, who explained in her presentation why it is important to address sustainable food issues. Using practical examples from practice, she showed the impact that food and its production can have on the environment and pointed out existing alternative approaches.

The second short lecture was given by Iva Zvěřinová from the CU Environment Centre. She looked at the issue from the perspective of the academic sphere and described existing forms of support and cooperation between universities, the non-profit sector and the food industry. She also drew attention to problems associated with research, grants and teaching models. At the end of her presentation, she offered three questions for reflection that could serve as a springboard for subsequent debates. This was followed by two blocks of round tables, in which the participants were divided into three groups.

Each group had its own room within the round tables so that it could independently "brainstorm" ideas from its perspective without being directly influenced by the other groups. The round tables were moderated by our facilitators and a facilitator from Charles University. Facilitator Anna Robková led the discussion of academic and administrative staff, Darina Strnadová moderated the debate with students, and Kryštof Prchlík moderated the discussion among external stakeholders.

More information about the event and the workshop method available in Czech HERE.

4EU+ Alliance

Project 4EU+ 1CORE is financed from Erasmus+ programme Task 4.5: Disseminating the values of a green, digital and resilient 4EU+ Alliance.