The registration process has now begun for this initiative, organised and subsidised by Mercabarna and designed for professionals and university students.

From 1 to 3 July, the Food Unit will become a centre for knowledge and reflection in partnership with the Mercabarna Summer University. The event, in its second year, will explore the challenges involved in reducing food waste throughout the agri-food chain and examine potential solutions. This is a serious global problem, as it means that a third of the food produced ends up being thrown away.

In this regard, there will be presentations of the initiatives currently being conducted to minimise food waste in the wholesale and retail sectors, the restaurant trade and among end consumers. For example, technological solutions for recovering food suitable for consumption will be displayed and good practices applicable to municipal markets to prevent waste will be publicised.  In addition, the Summer University programme will include talks by institutional representatives from the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations), the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Catalan Government and the Catalan Waste Agency and projects promoted by the European Union (ECOWASTE4FOOD and REFRESH).

100% free university

This subsidised training course is designed for fourth-year university students studying technical engineering subjects (industry, biosystems, agri-food and telecommunications), environmental and biological sciences, chemistry, economics and others completing master's degrees. At the same time, it is open to professionals and technicians from agri-food companies, as a result of which it can prove particularly interesting for the firms in the market. It is now possible to register on the Mercabarna website (places are free and limited). In addition, in the case of students from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the University of Barcelona, ​​attendance at the Summer University will entitle them to 3 institutional credits.

The university and companies, hand in hand

Mercabarna University came into being in 2018 as a meeting point for academia and companies. The purpose of this initiative is to promote the transfer of academic knowledge to the companies in the Food Unit within an environment of cooperation and networking. Around seventy people, including students and professionals, took part in the first University, analysing practices that lead to greater agri-food sustainability.