Engagement with the Community and Partnerships for Sustainable Food Production and Consumption in Portuguese Higher Education Institutions

The Sustainable Food Production and Consumption Working Group of the Sustainable Campus Network (RCS) participated, in 2020/21, in a survey of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Portugal. One of the sections of this survey aimed to better understand what is happening in HEIs in terms of the food service sustainability. Food Production and Consumption is a critical theme for sustainability and has a very high importance within the scope of actions and interventions of HEIs in the society. Training, research, internal practices, and partnerships are easily identified as ways for HEIs to impact society. The work presented here focuses on the results obtained from the survey in terms of existing partnerships and connections within the community. The survey was answered by 30 HEIs, comprehending Public and Private Universities, Polytechnic Institutes and Non-Integrated Schools. In the set of responses, 24 HEIs (80%) responded positively to the question: “Does the HEI have initiatives for the promotion of sustainable food consumption?”. One of the survey goals’ was to analyse the HEIs “connection to the Community”. The results show us that there are few references to the relationship regarding the supply chain, namely, on producers and HEI’s. However, references to the traditional HEIs’ partnerships are frequent namely functional research and teaching partners amongst other scientific areas, active networks, internships, and conferences. A good practice is the brand-new network regarding partnerships focused on the reduction of food waste and evolving academic community. The results suggest that mainly all the HEIs lack a systemic strategy of building bridges with the community, as a two-way avenue to achieve sustainability.