Purpose: To clarify needs and requests of the young generation to the contemporary and future education on food systems, this paper aims to examine the following issues: students’ background knowledge, students’ behaviour as consumers and food citizenship, most interesting topics of SFS for students and students’ preferences and expectations in developing different skills, topics and preferences in teaching/learning methods. Design/methodology/approach: This study was performed as an online-survey amongst eight European Universities in seven European Union (EU) countries to which 1,122 students responded. Data was analysed with descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses. Findings: Taste and Health are the most important values and motives that influence students’ food buying and consumption decisions, but significant differences were found amongst students from different universities and countries. The most important topics for students for future teaching courses are “organic food”, “fair trade”, “organic agriculture” and most important skills to learn are “ability to make a judgement and justify decisions” and the “ability to create and innovate”. Excursions and field trips as teaching methods was given the highest ranks. Research limitations/implications: Different study programmes and cultural backgrounds of the participating students in the different universities could be a limiting factor for the interpretation of some results. Originality/value: These results provide a basis for improvement of higher education in the EU towards sustainable food systems based on experiential learning/teaching methods.

Background: Contemporary food market offers plenty of different food products from all over the world. However, as people have more disposable income, they are more discerning with regards to quality, and certified food has a reputation as being more wholesome and more healthy. In other words, food quality issues become crucial in a consumer's choice. Nevertheless, the question arises – that what should be considered as a food quality, and which quality criteria consumers are ready to pay more? There are many certified products within the variety of agricultural food, and for understanding which products are more preferable for a consumer, it is necessary to know, what do labels mean and what do they guarantee. Absence or lack of this knowledge promotes the information asymmetry between consumers and food producers. Italian traditional food was chosen as an example, due to its crucial meaning for authentical development of the rural areas and particular culture heritage. Methods: To analyze phenomenon of an information asymmetry within the labeled food market were studied the next theoretical issues: dimensions of traditional food and its labeling; consumer’s behavior and attitudes towards traditional food; features and consequences of an information asymmetry. The empirical side highlights the contemporary tendencies of the Italian quality food market. Results: As the main reason of information asymmetry is the lack of information for consumers, the paper offers for food producers to use knowledge management as the main tool to smooth an information asymmetry. An implementation of knowledge management includes two directions: development of the appropriate communication strategy and application of the Internet of Things to provide on the food packing the sufficient information for consumers. In that direction, many recent patents have been developed. Conclusion: The findings of this paper confirm the importance of the literature review for understanding the reasons of an information asymmetry. The offered pathways for reducing of this phenomenon will increase the share of the traditional food products on the Italian food market, thereby sustaining the local producers.

Sustainable agricultural education is a fundamental base for the sustainable development of the agri-food systems. Sustainable education should provide the necessary skills to the practical world. This paper is focused on skills and competences required by the agri-food stakeholders for their current work and for future sustainable development around the world. An online survey was disseminated for data collection, and quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed to understand the impact of the demographic factors on the variety of skills mentioned by the different stakeholders. As a result, according to all of the stakeholders, the skills of navigating in a changing world, networking and strategic development are relevant for their current work, and technical skills were mentioned as relevant for future sustainable development. The age factor, rather than geography and gender, was found to have a stronger impact on defining the aforementioned skills.