Fostering a significant Triple Change concerning culture, food value chain, and policy in the food system is crucial for ensuring that sustainable food is desirable and trustworthy for consumers. To address the urgent need for a more sustainable food system that benefits the environment, society, and the economy, CUES (Consumers’ Understanding of Eating Sustainably) sets to foster the Triple Change through co-designing scientific methods and approaches to transmit and present sustainability related information to guide consumer knowledge and behaviour, and to determine the persuasive cues to promote sustainable consumer behaviour most effectively.

CUES will develop nine interventions and a series of policy dialogues through a multi-actor participatory approach. This innovative approach goes beyond the state-of-the-art by addressing the complex interplay of factors in the food system and actively involving consumers, food value chain actors, and policymakers. The learning community, communication and behaviour change toolkits developed by CUES aim to remove the bottlenecks in current practice with respect to informing, motivating and engaging consumers, and to reach at least three million consumers, increasing their consumption of sustainable food.