The Food Odyssey: Learning, Playing, and Shaping Sustainable Food Futures
by Juliana Carvalho
What if your next lesson on climate change started not with a heavy textbook, but with an intriguing story?
What if you could learn about sustainable food systems playfully by escaping a virtual room, unlocking puzzles, and navigating a digital adventure?
Welcome to The Food Odyssey – not just a project, but a fresh sustainability journey.
Co-funded by Erasmus+ program of the European Union and powered by an international team from Slovenia, Italy, Serbia, and Spain, including Global Footprint Network, The Food Odyssey is reimagining how we teach and learn about the future of food. At its heart, it’s an educational initiative that blends innovation, storytelling, and play to tackle one of the most urgent challenges of our time: transforming our food systems in the face of climate change.
Why “Odyssey”?
Because this isn’t a straight path.
Like Homer’s ancient tale, our journey is filled with questions, obstacles, and unexpected turns. The transition toward sustainable food systems demands more than just a few new practices. It requires curiosity, courage, and collaboration. In a world where agriculture contributes significantly to global emissions, and food insecurity remains a pressing global issue, there’s no GPS for where we’re going. But that doesn’t mean we can’t chart a course together.
And just as Odysseus’s journey hinged on hospitality, survival, and food, so does ours. Whether it’s ecological footprints, agroecology, or the power of vocational education, food weaves through every part of the story. Because food is not just fuel. It’s culture, economy, environment, and future.
Our Tools for the Journey
We believe education shouldn’t feel like an old-style lecture. It should feel like an invitation to explore. That’s why The Food Odyssey uses storytelling and game-based learning to empower today’s educators and their students. They will be tomorrow’s food professionals. Here are two of our proudest results so far:
The Training Course for VET Teachers
Hosted on our YouTube channel, this video-based course features:
- Introduction Modules:
- All those 17 learning videos come with subtitles in English, Italian, Serbian, Slovenian, and Spanish
- Designed for Vocational Education and Training (VET) teachers who want to bring new tools and a fresh mindset into their classrooms.
Whether you’re a teacher, policymaker, or lifelong learner, this course gives you the why and the how behind food system transformation.
And Here the Best: The Digital Escape Room
Can a game change the way we think about climate change?
We think so.
Co-created through hands-on workshops and online collaboration, our digital escape room makes complex systems engaging and fun. Players tackle real-world challenges, from carbon footprints to circular agriculture, through interactive storytelling and puzzles. It’s learning that sticks, because it’s learning that moves.
The game will be available in five languages (English, Italian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish) and will launch at our final conference. Want to be the first to play?
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Join Us: The Final Conference
July 1st, 2025
Ljubljana, Slovenia + Online
We’re bringing together educators, gamers, researchers, and food system thinkers for a unique hybrid event. Expect:
- Thought-provoking panels on climate education, food sustainability, and the role of games in social change
- A chance to play the escape room before anyone else
- Conversations that could shape your next project and inspire new engaging approaches for your teaching practice.
You can register for this free conference here.
Ready to Join the Odyssey?
This is more than a project. It’s an invitation to imagine and help build a food system that sustains both people and planet. Whether you’re a teacher, student, game designer, or policy wonk, we want you on this journey.
Follow our travels and stay up to date on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn and our project website.
