Abstract:

Introduction:
The current society continuously proposes changes in the population life habits and needs, generating new and different demands in the consumer´s diet. The food industry must respond to the consumer and offer innovations in products and processes that meet these needs, with the aim of improving; making knowledgeable decisions, sustainable consumption, the impact of both on production, inclusive growth and quality of life, mainly to groups with different nutritional needs (infant feeding, millennials, active adults, athletes, senior citizens, etc.).

In the field of the food sector, It is important, in the field of the food sector, to take into account the preferences, attitudes, needs, behaviors, lifestyles and education of consumers and improve communication between them and the scientific community. The innovation is considered as a driving force of competitiveness in the food sector, and should be promoted as a horizontal competence among students whose future is linked to the healthy feeding of the population, in the context of sustainability. Conscious of the creative capacity of the students, the professors involved in master level in food industry have designed a pilot experience based on Design Thinking (DT), because this methodology is perfectly adapted to solve problems based on creativity and innovation.

The project aims to develop a creative component in students, so necessary for the competitiveness of the food sector nowadays.

Results:
We collected 56 responses provided, automatically by the GoogleForms platform, in a period of about 45 days. Due to the simplicity with which the platform synthesizes the answers, two analyses of results were carried out; the overall results of the survey, without taking into account the different groups according to the professional activity; and, an in-depth study, which segmented the population into students, professors, researchers and company members (3). The statistical analysis was carried out through the RStudio program that facilitates the task of data crossing.

Within the competences or attributions that should be required in an innovative profile, the most highly valued by the target population were: the creativity to solve problems, the ability to adapt to new situations, the capacity to accept the defeats and keep working for the achievement of the objectives and proactivity and self-learning capacity. All of these competences could be worked with active methodologies such as Design Thinking applied to a challenge or contest, as they are stimulated through the different stages of the methodology (2); empathy is required as the student must adapt to new situations; devising is developed by stimulating creativity to solve problems; proactivity and capability to learn and prove is worked during the prototyping phase; finally, the ability to accept the defeats and keep working on it is essential since it is an error test phase.

Keywords:

Challenge Based Learning (CBL), Project Oriented Learning (PBL), Transversal Competencies, Evaluation, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship.