More Sustainable Dining at BUT Through the Eyes of Students of the Faculty of Business and Management

Sustainable dining is one of the topics that Brno University of Technology (BUT) perceives not only as an environmental challenge, but also as an opportunity to improve service quality and student satisfaction. For this reason, the BUT Sustainability Office joined forces with the Faculty of Business and Management and involved students in an analysis of the current state of dining at the university. The collaboration took place within the course Service Design Management, led by Assoc. Prof. Ing. Lucie Kaňovská, Ph.D., and included both full-time and part-time students. The students focused not only on the operation of BUT canteens, but also on the broader dining ecosystem—vending machines for food and beverages, cafés, bistros, and coffee machines across university campuses.

An Analysis Based on Data and Student Experience

The aim of the student projects was to map the current state of dining at BUT, identify strengths and weaknesses, and propose specific measures leading to higher quality, more efficient, and more sustainable operations. Students worked with questionnaires, interviews, and benchmarks of good practice from other Czech and international universities.

The results showed that students appreciate the availability of canteens, while also perceiving room for improvement—for example in the diversity of the offer (especially vegetarian and vegan meals), serving organization, queue length, the quality of information in applications, and the reduction of single-use packaging. In the case of vending machines and snack bars, there was repeated demand for healthier options, better placement, and clearer information about waste sorting and the possibility of using personal containers.

From Analysis to Recommendations

The projects went beyond identifying problems and included proposals for concrete solutions. Students recommended, for example, introducing different portion sizes as a tool to reduce food waste, expanding returnable packaging systems, offering discounts for using personal containers, better use of digital tools for pre-ordering and communication, or pilot testing weeks for new measures. Clear and accessible communication towards students—especially first-year students—was also identified as an important topic.

Project Presentations and Further Cooperation

The student project presentations were attended by representatives of the BUT Sustainability Office, Tereza Kučerová and Kateřina Myslivcová. The final presentations were also attended by the new Director of BUT Dormitories and Canteens, Ms. Bc. Iva Jarolínová, DiS., who assumed her position on 1 December 2025.

“I consider student involvement to be very beneficial. Their perspective is authentic, based on their own experience, and at the same time supported by analyses. We plan to further work with many of the recommendations when promoting steps towards more sustainable operations of BUT canteens,” said the Director of Dormitories and Canteens.

Practical Benefits for Both the University and Students

The collaboration between the Faculty of Business and Management and the Sustainability Office demonstrates how teaching can be linked with the real needs of the university. Students gained experience with a practical project, while BUT obtained valuable inputs for the further development of its dining services. The analyses and proposed measures will serve as one of the starting points for further discussion and gradual steps towards higher-quality and more sustainable dining at Brno University of Technology.