The EDINSOST project: improving sustainability education in spanish higher education

The EDINSOST R+D+i “Society Challenges” Project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under the research challenge in the field of social change and innovation, aims to contribute to the improvement of social challenges across the (1) Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation, (2) the State Plan of Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation, and (3) the European 2020 Strategy. The research is both highly multidisciplinary and contextualized and is applied in Ten Spanish Universities working together in the “Curriculum sustainability" group of the CRUE Sectorial Commission of Sustainability. The goal of this group is to create synergies and action frameworks agreed at a national level. This is an area of research action whose lack of common criteria for integrating sustainability competencies, learning processes and assessment hinders their achievement. To meet this challenge, frameworks and processes have been designed to facilitate the integration of sustainability into the university curriculum holistically through mapping and validation of pedagogical practices and the diagnosis of the state of Spanish universities, for which building materials for teaching and learning sustainability competencies have been developed. The project objectives and results are focused on: 1) Defining the map of sustainability competencies of the university degrees involved in the project, and establishing the framework to facilitate their integration in a holistic manner; 2) validating teaching strategies for the acquisition of sustainability competencies from a constructivist and community-oriented pedagogical approach; 3) diagnosing the state of faculty sustainability training needs and developing and pilot training proposals; and 4) diagnosing the state of learning of sustainability competencies in university students as well as preparing and piloting training proposals. The research methodology has an interpretive focus and uses quantitative and qualitative techniques to cover a population with three impact levels. Firstly, Bachelor and Master Degrees that integrate the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social and economic). Secondly, and taking into account their long-term multiplier effect, special emphasis is made on five Bachelor and Master degrees in Education, since these graduates are the future teachers of the next generation of citizens. Finally, seven technological Bachelor Degrees are studied for their great impact on societal challenges.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The role of storm flows in concentration of pesticides associated with particulate and dissolved fractions as a threat to aquatic ecosystems - Case study: the agricultural watershed of Save river (Southwest of France)

Measurement of the fluxes of pesticides was carried out for a year, ending in March 2009, in the Save catchment, in the vicinity of Toulouse. The hydrograph separation technique was used to evaluate the respective contribution of stormflow and baseflow in transport of 12 pesticide molecules. Transport of over 59% of pesticides and their controlling factors such as total suspended matter (TSM), particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) occurred during storm periods. Hysteresis patterns could be observed in the concentration-discharge relationships only for some molecules between rising and falling periods of the storm hydrograph. Clockwise hysteresis was noticed for low to moderately soluble pesticide molecules and for particulate fractions, which explains the role of surface runoff in pesticide displacement. In contrast, anticlockwise hysteresis was registered for soluble molecules and dissolved fractions, explaining the role of subsurface flows and soil leaching processes. The important role of TSM, POC and DOC in pesticide transport was clearly established. We also came to the conclusion that the role of stormy periods in pesticide movement and their controlling factors worked as a threat to aquatic ecosystems. And there was a positive relation between riverine TSM, POC, DOC and pesticides according to pesticide properties

Analysis of the presence of sustainability in Higher Education Degrees of the Spanish university system

This paper analyzes the extent to which sustainability is present in the curricula of the 16 Education Degree programs belonging to the EDINSOST project: 6 Early Childhood Education Degrees, 7 Primary Education Degrees, 2 Pedagogy Degrees and 1 Social Education Degree. The results obtained suggest that sustainability is present in all Degrees, but not uniformly so. A great disparity is observed in the number of subjects that develop sustainability, with an average of 22.63 subjects per Degree. The competency most present is the ‘ Application of ethical principles related to the values of sustainability in personal and professional behaviors, ’ while the least present is ‘ Sustainable use of resources and prevention of negative impacts on the natural and social environment. ’Sustainability is not developed uniformly in the different universities either. Three universities (UAM, UCA and UIC) develop sustainability competencies at 100%, while others such as the USAL do so at only 50

O ciclo dos datos científicos

Infografía elaborada pola liña 2 da "Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias Rebiun

10 pasos para elaborar un Plan de Xestión de Datos

Infografía elaborada pola liña 2 da "Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias Rebiun

Ciencia Aberta: A investigación e os datos científicos accesibles e abertos a toda a cidadanía

Infografía elaborada pola liña 2 da "Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias Rebiun