Workshop at Sysmä: Moment of Growth and Inspiration

Workshops are more than just meetings. They are moments where people come together to share ideas, create solutions, and spark inspiration.

As a consortium, we stay connected through monthly meetings. Our UTU team also meets weekly, whether online or face-to-face. Yet spending two full days together as a multidisciplinary team is something rare and it is incredibly valuable. To be together for longer periods of time gives us the space to dive deeper, to collaborate more openly, and to imagine what comes next.

This first two-day workshop was a milestone (May 22 – 24, 2024). Since laying the foundations of our project, we’ve already achieved a lot: studies of dining areas that help us understand more about diners (WP2 with NuFo), first fieldwork in the kitchens to see processes and waste challenges up close (WP3 with MEMA), and explorations and manipulation into data and technology that reveal new opportunities for smarter solutions (WP4 with DoC). With these insights, it is time to design the next steps forward — together.

And there was no better place for this than Sysmä. Surrounded by nature, our team found fresh energy and inspiration. The setting didn’t just give us a beautiful Finnish backdrop — it fueled our creativity and reminded us why sustainability matters. Reducing food and energy waste in restaurants isn’t just about numbers; it’s about reimagining practices so that communities and the planet can thrive.