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  • Introduction

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    A training program adaptable to your needs!

    We know that the food we eat and the way we produce it have an impact on the environment. In addition, the restaurant industry is known to have significant environmental impacts, from food waste to energy consumption, from single-use plastics to water use. Restaurants therefore have a key role to play in reshaping consumer behavior and mitigating their impact on the environment; moreover, if restaurants communicate their green initiatives, consumers are more likely to learn from them and adopt similar behaviors in their daily lives. Over time, sustainable practices could have a ripple effect and become a spontaneous choice for everyone.

    This is not an easy challenge, but as global awareness of sustainability grows, an increasing number of initiatives continue to be developed in all regions of the world. Each of us, in fact, can help reshape the way we eat!

    In response to these challenges, the SSPICE IT! project has developed a training program aimed at Vocational Training Centers in the food sector. The training program is divided around three main themes: sustainability in the food sector, entrepreneurial skills, and digital and soft skills. It aims to help students acquire the green, digital, and soft skills that are needed to meet the challenges of tomorrow!

    The SSPICE IT! training program has been designed to be used in two different ways, depending on your educational needs. The first approach is to teach the full training program, which is divided into seven modules covering the entire subject matter and concluding with a final exercise for students. The second approach allows you to select a specific sub-chapter you wish to teach, in the form of individual lessons lasting between 3 and 5 hours.

    The full training program consists of the following components:

    • The "Student’s Manual", a handbook for students divided into seven modules. It is designed to be used autonomously by students.
    • The "Teacher’s Manual", a handbook for teachers offering suggestions on how to adapt the content of the "Student’s Manual" for in-person lessons.
    • The SSPICE IT! application, which allows students to assess their acquired skills in an engaging and interactive way.
    • The Final Exercise, which provides a series of activities to evaluate students’ skills and serves as a guiding thread for the training program.

    The sub-chapters (referred to as "sub-modules" in this training) are individual lessons derived from the "Student’s Manual". There are 24 sub-modules in total. These ready-to-use lessons, lasting 3 to 5 hours, are designed for teachers who wish to teach only specific content from the SSPICE IT! training. Since they are taken from the "Student’s Manual", teachers can also rely on the "Teacher’s Manual" to facilitate their implementation in the classroom.


  • Students Manual

    In this training, the different chapters are referred to as "modules." In total, there are seven modules in this program, distributed across the three sub-areas of reference mentioned above. Let's quickly review the different modules:

    • Module 1: Relationships between food, people, and the environment. In this module, your students will receive an introduction to the major issues related to climate change and its impact on the food system.
    • Module 2: How to implement circular practices in one’s business. In this module, your students will learn about circular economy and different ways to implement sustainable practices in their daily work.
    • Module 3: How to create a sustainable supply chain. This module focuses on a specific aspect of the circular economy, namely sustainable supply chains. Your students will learn how to choose their suppliers wisely to select socially just and environmentally friendly products.
    • Module 4: Researching Innovative and Sustainable Practices. Sustainable practices are often at the forefront of technology, and it's essential to be able to conduct your own researches to discover the best sustainable practices. Additionally, collaboration is a crucial aspect of any successful business. Fortunately, that's exactly what this module will teach to your students!
    • Module 5: A Sustainable Business Model. Through this chapter, your students will learn how to define a sustainable business model idea that considers the needs of the population and is suitable for the economic market conditions.
    • Module 6: How to set up a sustainable business model. After learning how to define their business model idea, in this chapter, your students will learn how to implement sustainable good practices in their business, as well as management techniques adapted to their ethical goals.
    • Module 7: Economic Resilience and Adaptation in the Food Sector. In this final chapter, we will present the main recipes for creating a robust and resilient business capable of adapting to changing economic conditions.

  • Teachers Manual

  • Final Exercise

    To best prepare your students for sustainable entrepreneurship, we have designed a guiding thread throughout the entire training: learning how to develop the business model of a sustainable and ethical company in the food and catering sector. This will be the subject of the proposed final exercise of the SSPICE IT! training.

    In order to train your students for this final exercise, at the end of each module of this manual you will find a “final task”, to be completed individually or in groups by your students, teaching them one aspect of business management (studying competition, budgeting, imagining innovative products or services, etc.). It is strongly recommended to have your students complete as many final tasks as possible, as it will facilitate their preparation for the final exam.

    The final exam for the SSPICE IT! training will require them to prepare and present, in groups, the business model of a fictional sustainable company. This presentation, which must be accompanied by a "Powerpoint"-like support, should follow a template provided to them in advance. Indeed, for each of the different modules in this training, we ask them to produce one to two “slides” presenting their fictional business model from a particular perspective. For example, for Module 1 ("Relationships between food, people, and the environment"), the two requested slides will be "Create a 'sustainable map' of the sustainable actors in your region" and "Conduct a SWOT analysis of your fictional business." You'll notice that this is the same exercise as the final task proposed at the end of Module 1!


  • The 24 submodules

    After testing the first version of the training at five VET centers over an entire semester, one of the main pieces of feedback from the VET teachers was that the training would benefit from being more modular. Indeed, since the teaching programs at some VET centers lack flexibility—making it difficult to implement large sections of a new training program into the existing curriculum—many teachers requested that we create smaller modules that would be easier to incorporate into their day-to-day lessons. Following their advice, we divided the original training into 24 submodules. These submodules cover the same content as the main training but can also function as standalone units. In some cases, we combined content from various modules to create more coherent teaching units. 

    The content of these sub-modules has been taken from the Student’s Manual. Each sub-module originates from one or more main modules of this manual. The following table will help you identify which modules of the Student’s Manual or Teacher’s Manual to refer to if you need more information.

    Table of Submodules

    SUBMODULE NUMBER

    NAME

    STUDENT’S AND TEACHER’S MANUAL CORRESPONDING MODULES

    #1

    Humans and the Environment

    Module 1

    #2

    The Complexity of the Food System

    Module 1

    #3

    Food Rights

    Module 1

    #4

    Investigating the Intersections of Food and the Environment

    Module 1

    #5

    The Sustainable Diet

    Module 1

    #6

    Less Energy-Intensive Cooking Processes

    Module 2

    #7

    Managing Food Waste and Using a Technical Recipe Sheet

    Module 2

    #8

    Packaging Reduction

    Module 2

    #9

    Life Cycle Assessment

    Module 2

    #10

    Sustainable Technologies in the Kitchen

    Module 2

    #11

    The Selection of Sustainable Production Systems

    Module 3

    #12

    How to Measure the Climate Impact of Your Food

    Module 3

    #13

    Building a Network with Local Producers

    Module 3

    #14

    Introduction to Sustainable Business Models

    Modules 5 & 6

    #15

    How to Plan a Long-Term Sustainable Business Model

    Module 5

    #16

    The Mindset of the Sustainable Food Entrepreneur

    Module 5

    #17

    Researching Innovative and Sustainable Practices

    Module 4

    #18

    Collaboration in the Food and Catering Sector

    Module 4

    #19

    Prioritizing and Organizing

    Modules 4 & 6

    #20

    Using Digital Technologies

    Modules 4 & 6

    #21

    Economic Resilience Fundamentals

    Module 7

    #22

    Risk and Adaptation

    Module 7

    #23

    Strategies for Sustainable Resilience

    Module 7

    #24

    Using a Financial Sheet

    Module 7