Dietetic Educator – Sustainability

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Fuel for the Future: Eating with Sustainability in Mind (2023)

The slides from the session on Fuel for the Future: Eating with Sustainability in Mind are available at the link. The session is from the first colloquium of the International Affiliate of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (IAAND) and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ) in March 2023.

The following topics are covered in the session, which is complete with links to role models, research, and other documents that Dietitians and Nutritionists can utilize:
– An Introduction to sustainable food systems;
– Why are current food systems unsustainable?;
– Colombian food system;
– Diets that are good for health and the planet;
– Strategies to support the sustainability of the food system;
– Eating more plant-based meals and snacks made from native plants;
– Supporting urban agriculture/community gardens; and
– Reducing food and food packaging waste.

Christine McCullum-Gómez, PhD, RDN

Food and Nutrition Consultant, Writer and Speaker

www.sustainablerdn.com , www.sustainable-rdn.com

updated 2026 February

Positioning SFS in Dietetics Commitments and Roles (2023 Jun)

**SFS-in-Dietetic-Scope-of-Practice-Australia (Barbour)**

This presentation on Australia’s story of positioning sustainable food systems (SFS) within dietetics commitments and roles was done by Liza Barbour, PhD an Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian & Senior Lecturer at Monash University, Australia.

Over the last six years, Dietitians Australia has embraced the urgent need to focus on environmental sustainability and planetary health. This has occurred due to several factors, including strong internal leadership and advocacy efforts from passionate members. Liza describes the process involved in developing Dietitians Australia’s food systems and environmental sustainability role statement and their inaugural Position Statement on healthy and sustainable diets.

She provides an overview of the content and shares examples of how these commitments have influenced advocacy efforts and policy-making processes since they were published, as well as examples of the application of the Position Statement’s key recommendations. One is to invest in capacity-building activities to equip the current and future workforce to promote sustainable food systems. Liza shared an update on a project currently funded by ICDA, that aims to increase SFS capacity amongst dietitians in all areas of practice via a fun, experiential challenge. Regarding the future workforce, she describes relevant Australian competency standards and the current tertiary landscape for nutrition and dietetics students to engage in food systems education, including a historic reflection on how and why this has improved over the past six years.

updated 2026 February

Diploma in Sustainable Food: For A Planet In Crisis (Chile, online in Spanish)

The Diploma in Sustainable Food: For a Planet in Crisis is an e-learning course offered in Spanish by the University of Chile, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nutrition.

Sustainable nutrition and food arise as a response to the planetary crisis as a result of climate change that threatens the nutritional food security of the population. Addressing this requires an intersectoral and transdisciplinary approach that encompasses food systems, human nutrition, and planetary health.

The global interest in sustainable nutrition and food is inserted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has defined sustainable diets as those that have a low environmental impact and contribute to food and nutritional security and a healthy life for present and future generations.

The Department of Nutrition (DNUT) is ideal for issuing this diploma, since the academic team has experience from different axes that are interrelated to seek answers to a complex problem.

The course targets graduates or professionals from careers related to health disciplines, nutrition, food, innovation, agronomy, environment, and others, who want to acquire knowledge and tools that complement their disciplinary area, in the context of nutrition and sustainable food.

Module 1: The current global food and health crisis.
Module 2: Food systems and their impact on nutritional food security.
Module 3: Food and the food industry: Impact on health and sustainability.
Module 4: Sustainable food for adequate nutrition in health and disease.
Module 5: Sustainable food systems applied to public health.

Register here: https://medichi.uchile.cl/diploma-alimentacion-sostenible/

Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Sustainable Nutrition (Bern, Germany)

**Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) Sustainable Nutrition**

The Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Sustainable Nutrition is offered at Bern University of Applied Sciences, in person, in German, at the Bern Campus. The course is generally held over seven months in two-day blocks on Fridays/Saturdays. It provides 12 ECTS credits, with a workload of 360 hours (incl. study days). There is a fee.

The CAS Sustainable Nutrition looks at global perspectives and Swiss contexts, and enables you to derive concrete nutritional recommendations for a healthy and sustainable diet in Switzerland. For this purpose, exemplary challenges are deepened, and solutions are discussed that you can network with your traditional professional field or carry into new occupational fields. A sustainable food system should give the entire world population access to safe and needs-based nutrition with fairly produced food produced taking into account planetary boundaries. This requires nutritionists who help shape the transformation of the nutrition system.

The target audiences for this course are nutritionists, food scientists, and other actors in the Swiss food system with a tertiary degree and a nutrition background.

Immerse yourself in the complexity of sustainable nutrition and become a mediator in the transformation of the nutrition system. In the CAS degree program you will:

explore the complexity of the different dimensions of sustainable nutrition.
discuss the Planetary Health Diet of the EAT Lancet Commission and other references as well as guidelines and recommendations and transfer global concepts to local conditions.
deal with the production and consumption of selected foods of animal origin such as meat and fish, the nose-to-tail approach and cultured meat.
design measures to reduce food loss or waste.
you will get to know the perspective of different actors in the nutrition system.
connect different aspects of a sustainable nutrition system with your own professional field and design a vision of your own role in it.
work on a self-selected topic to promote a sustainable food system.

updated 2026 February

Class Central MOOCS

Browse Class Central for more in depth distance courses offered as MOOCS (massive open online courses) from various universities around the world. This is a database of free online courses run by a small company with a mission to make education accessible.

The listing contains 250+ courses relating to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), several of which are of direct relevance to health and sustainability. Details vary by course but most run for 4-8 weeks and have instructors who provide feedback. Some are not accessible from all geographic regions, and while auditing is generally free, payment is required to receive an official certification.

We suggest the following as good places to start.

**Food Security & Sustainability**
(Course fees)

**Sustainability of Socio-Ecological Systems: The Nexus Between Water, Energy, and Food**
(Free – Course fees for certificate)

**Systems Thinking in Public Health**
(Free – Course fees for certificate)

**Sustainable Food Systems: A Mediterranean Perspective**
(Free – Course fees for certificate)

**Future Food: Sustainable Food Systems for the 21st Century**
(Free – Course fees for certificate)

**Food & Our Future: Sustainable Food Systems in South East Asia**
(Free – Course fees for certificate)

**Climate Adaptation in Africa**
(Free – Course fees for certificate)

updated 2026 February

British Nutrition Foundation (website)

The British Nutrition Foundation is a public-facing charity that exists to promote health and wellbeing and prevent diet-related ill health through evidence-based nutrition science. They provide a bridge between nutrition science, government, industry, education, and people, and a conduit to a healthier, more sustainable food environment for all.

Their team of nutrition scientists and education professionals is dedicated to making trusted, evidence-based nutrition science accessible to everyone. They empower people with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to make healthier food, diet, and lifestyle choices with the aim of having a future where everyone has a healthy and sustainable diet.

Food, a fact of Life is a page dedicated to teaching young people aged 3-16 years about where food comes from, cooking, and healthy eating.

They also host many webinars on a wide variety of topics to watch live or on demand.

updated 2026 February

Agriculture, Nutrition & Health (ANH) Academy Science-Policy Platform (website)

The Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health Academy Science-Policy Platform brings together researchers, practitioners and policymakers working for better nutrition and health through improved agriculture and food systems.

With over 13,000 members in 160+ countries, the ANH Academy is a global network and platform for sharing research and evidence, capacity strengthening and collaboration across diverse disciplines. The ANH Academy also shares methods and metrics developed through Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) grants and fellowships.

The aims and objectives of the ANH Academy Science-Policy Platform will be realised by coalescing activities around the central focus of demand-driven generation and uptake of evidence into policy processes. The successful components of the existing IMMANA Phase 2 programme are foundational to this new focus, including:

Competitive Research Grants,
expert-led thematic working groups,
ANH Academy Science-Policy Platform convened events,
leading and supporting original research endeavours,
prioritising actions via evidence syntheses and stakeholder consultations, and
promoting scientific capabilities through Fellowships, the ANH Support Centre for Agriculture and Nutrition Research (SCANR) and its associated mechanisms for capacity sharing and curriculum enrichment.

Entering its third phase in 2025, the ANH Academy is building on its growing interdisciplinary community, directing its efforts towards informing and supporting evidence-based policy change, through expanded partnerships in Africa and South Asia.

As part of this process, it will establish regional collaborative partnerships—Regional Collaboratives—which will drive the use of evidence and knowledge in policy decision making in Africa and South Asia. The institutions involved in these partnerships will be formally integrated into the ANH Academy, co-managing and co-delivering with existing partners.

updated 2026 February

United Nations’ Food Systems Coordination Hub (website)

The United Nations’ Food Systems Coordination Hub is the catalyst inside the UN system in relation to #FoodSystems and the 2030 Agenda.

Their vision is to convene, stimulate, and support action for food systems transformations aimed at accelerating progress towards the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Their mission is to serve countries through systemic, country-driven, customized support in translating their commitments into effective actions to reach sustainable food systems by 2030, leveraging the wider UN system’s capacities.

The hub offers several webinars and workshops advertised on their website and social media, and are archived in their Facebook Videos and/or YouTube channel. For upcoming events, visit this page.

Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) for Nutrition & Dietetics (2024)

PHRC – N&D Tips for Data Collection Download PDF

The Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) was adapted for nutrition and dietetics in 2024 by a student-faculty team at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

The tips in the PDF document were created by them to guide you through the process of assessing your school and curriculum.

It is hoped that the PHRC will serve as a valuable tool to advocate for planetary health to be prioritised by nutrition and dietetics schools globally, in education, and all other domains of action. Let us know if you take part so we can share it further! (contact information is in the links)

updated 2026 Feb

Sustainable food systems and planetary health education for nutritionists and dietitians: prioritising curriculum concepts with Q methodology (2026 Feb)

Citation: Barbour L, Browne S, Everitt T, Pettinger C, Wegener J, Farokhifar T, Kim S, Tsen C, Bonar G, Carlsson L (2026;), “Sustainable food systems and planetary health education for nutritionists and dietitians: prioritising curriculum concepts with Q methodology”. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-08-2025-0978 (open access)

Purpose: The global food system is undermining human and planetary health. Urgent transdisciplinary action is required among food system stakeholders equipped to address complex challenges. This study aims to identify and prioritise curriculum concepts for tertiary education, with the aim of preparing entry-level nutritionists and dietitians to contribute to sustainable food systems and planetary health within their practice.

Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-methods Q study was conducted. Curriculum concepts were identified from literature and an online survey (n 84, 23 countries), then prioritised by workshop participants (n 43, 11 countries) based on relevance for entry-level nutritionists and dietitians. Participants reflected on their decision-making process using a post-workshop survey. Data were analysed using by-person factor analysis, resulting in a three-factor solution.

Findings: Three distinct viewpoints were identified: Viewpoint 1: Start with core concepts; Viewpoint 2: Prioritise diverse knowledges and social justice; and Viewpoint 3: Develop soft skills to address systemic challenges. Consensus was achieved regarding the relevance of some curriculum concepts; respect for diverse knowledges and cultures was considered highly relevant, while Policy and Food Industry were considered less relevant for entry-level practice.

Originality/value: Q methodology enabled structured exploration of international perspectives among diverse food systems stakeholders, both within and outside the disciplinary field of nutrition and dietetics. The results offer discipline-specific guidance to inform a curriculum framework for tertiary educators. Such purpose-driven education can equip nutritionists and dietitians to contribute to sustainable food systems and planetary health for current and future generations.

Keywords: Planetary health, Sustainable food systems, Nutrition and dietetics, Tertiary education, Q methodology, Higher education curricula, Sustainable food literacy, Sustainable climate action

2026 February