Designing the study
The study has been designed with the community involving co-researchers, community leaders and their groups.
Co-researchers from the community interested in and passionate about addressing climate change were recruited to design and develop a community approach to climate change.
The topic chosen by the co-researchers for an intervention was household food waste, as it was felt it could be something everyone could participate in.
Following this, community leaders from existing community groups were recruited to generate interest in the study. Eleven focus groups took place over thirteen months with the community leaders, who generated interest in the survey, supported their members in taking part, and captured informal feedback on the food waste survey.
The community leaders also co-designed the community activities, a ‘Top Tips’ leaflet and a community event to support their members in reducing food waste by talking to others and sharing ideas.
The feedback from the Community Leaders supported the development of the food waste survey, which has had four different versions and is currently on its fifth. The document is a simplified food waste diary that can be rolled out to the whole community as part of a toolkit.
