CIBUS exchange on food loss successfully started in Sofia
The first CIBUS interregional meeting was organized in a hybrid mode, allowing a wider audience to join the exciting event.
Assya Dobrudjalieva, chair of Lead Partner BAMEE, welcomed the partners and officially opened the first CIBUS Interregional meeting on 18th in the House of Europe in Sofia.
The presentations in the morning session started with George Kortas, from Cyprus Ministry for the Environment, who presented the EU Platform on Food Waste, a collaborative initiative to address the issue of food waste in the EU, share good practices and develop coordinated policies. He discussed some key recommendations for action and presented some success stories from Cyprus.
Svetlana Bojkova and Alexander Ivanov from the Ministry for Environment and Water in Bulgaria discussed key goals and challenges to be addressed in the context of the Bulgarian National Waste Management Plan 2021-2028, Sub-programme for the Prevention of Food Waste.
The second session in the morning focused on local experiences to prevent food waste including:
- FoodObox App for food loss/waste reduction – Jane Dimitrova, co-founder
- Sofia Municipality integrated system of waste treatment facilities – Valentin Baev, Dep. Director
- Food waste and out-of-home-dining – patterns and causes for generation of food waste – Assoc. Prof. Nina Tipova UNWE
The afternoon session centered around the factors contributing to food waste along the supply chain, the level of innovation of measures in place and at skills necessary at policy level (practical and financial). Presentations were delivered by all partners and the follow-up discussion highlighted that there are a lot of similarities among partners, but also differences due to territorial characteristics and different level of development.
At the end of the day, the first meeting of the Project Steering Group took place. A number of topics related to the project, such as INTERREG Programme obligations and CIBUS internal rules for project reporting and management, as well as on the detailed planning of project activities.
Two study visits have been organised in the second day of the meeting: at the Sofia Mechanical & Biological Treatment Plant and at Blagichka Zero Waste Restaurant in Sofia.
Details on the event
