The ongoing international research project CEFoodCycle is dedicated to fostering sustainable food practices. The recent third partner meeting (29.-30.01.2024) held in the picturesque city of Nice, France, showed first steps towards our mission of establishing closed food cycles and deploying an AI-powered tool to optimize connections within regional food hubs.
In the first year of our project, we have laid the groundwork for five regional circular Food Hubs, started the crucial stakeholder network and identified best practices. The meeting in Nice helped to align all international partners in the goals and allowed for in-person communication among the team members.
Looking forward, our immediate focus is on developing a powerful AI tool named IDLCASS (Intelligent Digital LCA Service System), which will play a crucial role in optimizing connections between companies within regional food hubs. The IDLCASS Tool integrates three essential areas of life cycle analysis and circular economy: connecting companies with surplus food, identifying sustainable utilization options, and calculating environmental impacts across the entire lifecycle of a product. The integration of a user-friendly chatbot significantly simplifies handling the tool—from product selection and solution finding to environmental impact analysis. This enables intuitive navigation and a deeper understanding of environmental data, making the tool especially accessible.
We are confident that our collaborative efforts will lead to innovative solutions in the realm of food sustainability.
