Food4Sustainability makes course knowledge instantly applicable with a 3D simulation
Food4Sustainability (F4S) is a Portuguese non-profit CoLAB dedicated to innovation in sustainable food production. Through the F4S Academy, the organisation trains farmers, advisors and professionals in sustainable agrifood systems.
The challenge
In the F4S Academy courses, participants receive intensive training in reading a soil analysis. Even so, applying that knowledge in practice remained a challenge.
Participants couldn't test their choices and only saw the consequences much later in the field. This left a gap between knowing and doing.
Our solution
Within the Future Farm Lab, an initiative by MetaChef and EIT Food, MetaChef developed the interactive 3D simulation The Phosphorus Puzzle for F4S. In it, participants help farmer José: his apple orchard is yielding poorly, and the cause lies in the soil.
Based on the soil analysis, participants make a series of six decisions, with plenty of room for their own choices. Time then fast-forwards so they see what their choices have done to the soil and the harvest. This lets them practise safely and repeat the simulation as often as they like.
Additional reflection and knowledge questions turn it into a complete learning moment. Participants learn to see the soil not as separate values, but as one connected system.
"Future Farm Lab helped us turn a complex educational concept into an intuitive and engaging learning experience. The result is an innovative simulation that empowers learners to confidently interpret soil analyses and make evidence-based agricultural decisions."
