Precious Launches in Bilbao to Combat Food Loss and Waste Across Europe
Focused on food loss and waste (FLW) reduction, Precious launched with a two-day kick-off event held at the University of Deusto’s Engineering Faculty in Bilbao, Spain, from October 29th to 30th.
A Holistic Approach to FLW and Biodiversity Conservation
Backed by €4 million in funding and led by the University of Deusto, Precious will span four years, focusing on systemic change in the food sector. Its mission centers on closing data gaps in FLW and building a comprehensive, open-access evaluation framework, which will guide strategies for reducing environmental impacts across the European Union. With a robust consortium including EIT Food, the project seeks to make an enduring impact on biodiversity and sustainability.
Gathering the Minds: Kick-Off Event Highlights
The launch event, hosted by DeustoTech's European Project Manager, Deitze Otaduy, and Deusto Technological Institute’s Director, Ainhoa Alonso, brought key stakeholders and European Commission representatives together. Radu Daniela, Project Officer, and Giulia Bizzo, Policy Officer, provided essential insights on the project's objectives, emphasizing its potential to shape future policies on FLW. The event also featured a storytelling workshop, a preliminary step toward crafting a unified narrative for Precious.
Two Innovative Use Cases and Three Replication Nodes
In its initial stages, Precious will test its approach through two Use Cases, conducted in Spain and Greece, to analyze and develop scalable solutions for minimizing FLW. Additionally, the project will establish three Co-creation and Replication Nodes in Poland, Lithuania, and Hungary to tackle FLW challenges across diverse EU regions. This multi-national setup aims to address FLW on a broader scale, considering geographical, cultural, and economic variations.
EIT Food’s Role: Awareness and Engagement
As a key partner, EIT Food will lead engagement and outreach efforts to amplify Precious's impact. By mobilizing stakeholders from industry, policy, academia, and civil society, EIT Food will raise awareness of FLW issues through events, educational materials, infographics, videos, and training programs in schools. Drawing on insights from its successful Los Salvacomidas programme, EIT Food aims to foster a generation of informed consumers and policymakers ready to support sustainable food practices.
Meet the Partners
Precious unites a diverse consortium of organisations dedicated to advancing FLW solutions:
- University of Deusto (Coordinator) - Spain
- IIASA - Austria
- CLUBE - Greece
- YAGHMA B.V. - Netherlands
- E3-MODELLING AE - Greece
- Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) - Germany
- Greenovate! Europe (G!E) - Belgium
- Universitat Jaume I (UJI) - Spain
- Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG) - Spain
- 2.-0 LCA Consultants - Denmark
- Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) - Germany
- Rina Consulting Spa - Italy
- ASINCAR - Spain
- Vegalsa - Spain
- EIT Food CLC South (EIT FOOD SOUTH) - Spain
- Fundacja Unimos (UNIMOS) - Poland
- Agrifood Lithuania DIH - Lithuania
- Innomine Digital Innovation Hub - Hungary
With the Precious Project now underway, this collaborative effort holds the promise of advancing Europe’s food sustainability initiatives, protecting biodiversity, and building a circular economy for a resilient future.
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