Milano Ristorazione - New spaces for school canteens

Through design and educational storytelling, it is possible to raise children's awareness of nutrition and reduce food waste.

OpenDot participated in the Milan Living Lab pilot as part of the European Horizon 2020 Food Trails project, promoted by the Municipality of Milan - Food Policy Area and Milano Ristorazione. Coordinated by the latter, OpenDot developed an innovative concept for the redevelopment of spaces.

The initiative, aimed at improving eating habits, raising awareness of nutrition issues and promoting waste reduction, transformed the refectories of four Milanese schools. Through interior design interventions and educational storytelling, these spaces were rethought to stimulate virtuous behaviour.

The project was based on a behavioural nudging approach, a ‘gentle nudge’ that, by acting on the context, naturally directs individual choices towards healthier and more sustainable habits.

The heart of the project is the storytelling that OpenDot proposed, in collaboration with Montessori trainer Ruggero Poi and inspired by the narrative mechanism of ‘Ci vuole un fiore’, the famous nursery rhyme by Gianni Rodari. 

On the basis of the indications provided by Milano Ristorazione, whose aim was to enthuse children about what they like least at the table, five dishes and their ingredients were identified, and around them, a narrative ‘from the field to the fork’ was developed, proposed to the little ones through illustrations and texts displayed on panels on the walls. By approaching these contents when they like and at their own pace, the children have access to anecdotes and curiosities that explain and quantify the value of the work, energy and water it takes to produce food, and how absurd it is to waste it.

Using the tools of design and visual storytelling, an environment was thus created that educates in a natural and spontaneous way, without being forced or infantilising. 

The success of this first phase of the project, evidenced by a 6.1% reduction in food waste in the upgraded refectories, lays the foundation for future developments.