The UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change ESCI-UPF is ready to participate in the European Researchers' Night (28-29 September) through science education activities designed to inform and encourage young students in themes related to sustainability. This pan-European event is a Marie Sklodowska Curie (MSCA) action, under the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020; taking place yearly to bring researchers closer to the general public.

In Catalonia, under the theme for this edition “Research, the heritage of all,” outreach activities will take place across the territory for the first time, including “El Matí de recerca a escoles i instituts” (“the Morning of the research).” This initiative is organised to bring scientists closer to schools and institutes on September 28th and will involve the participation of the Chair’s researchers. See the online programme.

The European Researchers' Night aims to “increase awareness of research and innovation activities, with a view to supporting the public recognition of researchers, creating an understanding of the impact of researchers' work on citizen's daily life, and encouraging young people to embark on scientific careers,” as stressed by the organisers. Thus, this initiative targets the general public, addressing and attracting people regardless of the level of their scientific background, with a special focus on pupils and students.

Science Education

Today, high-school students at the Escola L'Horitzó in Barcelona, will welcome Laura Batlle-Bayer PhD Candidate responsible for the Agrifood Research Line and the CERES-ProCon Project at the Chair, to discover more about the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of food consumption. While Gonzalo Blanca-Alcubilla, PhD Candidate of the Waste Management Research Line associated with the LIFE Zero Cabin Waste Project, will explain the carbon footprint related with the generation and management of cabin waste to the high-school students from the IES La Bastida at Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona.

The ‘Ceres-ProCon* Project: Food production and consumption strategies for climate change mitigation’ is aimed at “designing strategies to improve the sustainability of food production and consumption,” explains Batlle-Bayer. “Food choices can potentially contribute to mitigate climate change. For example, changing current eating patterns to a more plant-based diets can significantly reduce GHG emissions,” she adds.

The ‘LIFE Zero Cabin Waste** Project - Tackling international airline catering waste by demonstrating integral and safe recollection, separation & treatment,’ co-funded by the European Union through the LIFE Programme, “seeks to create an integrated model to reduce, reuse and recycle waste collected on Iberia airplanes and lay the foundations to enable other airlines to replicate this model,” according to Blanca-Alcubilla.

Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions

The European Researchers' Night in Catalonia is organised by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), the Universitat de Girona (UdG), the Universitat de Lleida (UdL), the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), in collaboration with the CSIC delegation in Catalonia and the Catalan Association of Scientific Communication (ACCC, in its catalan acronym), among other entities. The events are supported by the European Commission as part of the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions in Horizon 2020, a programme to support the career development and training of researchers in all scientific disciplines through international and intersectoral mobility.

*The CERES-ProCon Project: "Food production and consumption strategies for climate change mitigation" (CTM2016-76176-C2-1-R) (AEI/FEDER, UE) has received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, through the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).

**The ZERO CABIN WASTE (LIFE / ENV / ES209) Project is co-financed by the European Union through the LIFE Program. The project partners are Iberia, Gate Gourmet, Ecoembes, Biogas Fuel Cell, Ferrovial and ESCI-UPF.