The implementation of sustainability practices in portuguese higher education institutions

The purpose of this work is to analyze the current state of implementation of sustainability development (SD) in Portuguese higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was developed to measure the level of implementation of SD practices in HEIs as well as the number of rankings, certifications and declarations of these institutions. The questionnaire was sent by e-mail to all rectors, presidents, directors of faculties, departments and schools of Portuguese universities and polytechnics. A sample of 53 leaders was obtained. Findings Portuguese HEIs are mainly engaged in the social dimension of sustainability. The economic dimension emerges in second place and the institutional in third; the environmental dimension is the least developed. Except for a few specific topics (e.g. related to research on SD, and the offer of degree courses in SD), there are no significant differences between universities and polytechnics in the implementation of SD practices. Only 11 per cent of HEIs are innovators in the implementation of SD practices, and a majority of HEIs have implemented less than 34 per cent of the SD practices studied. Research limitations/implications This research has a national scope, and the results should be interpreted only in the Portuguese context. Future studies should include a larger range of institutional actors within the faculty. Practical implications This study provides valuable insights and theoretical and methodological guidance for future implementation processes supporting the transition to sustainability in HEIs. Originality/value This is the first study conducted in Portuguese HEIs with the aim of determining their efforts to implement and promote sustainability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainability assessment in higher education institutions

This Special Issue “Sustainability Assessment in Higher Education Institutions” provides peer-reviewed research from several geographies and institutions and covering various topics with the broad objective of achieving an assessment of the effectiveness and impact of different implementation dimensions measuring and evaluating how sustainability is being applied in practice. A set of nine papers, covering sustainability education, interdisciplinary teaching, sustainable assessment, governance strategies, commitments and practices, and social responsibility at Higher Education Institutions, contribute significantly to this area of knowledge.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Zooplankton biomass, abundance and diversity in a shelf area of Portugal (the Berlenga Marine Natural Reserve).

During November 1997 and May 1998, zooplankton samples were collected with other environmental data along the shelf area of Berlenga marine natural reserve (MNR) (NW Portugal). Copepods contributed > 70 % to the total zooplankton community. In November the dominant species of copepods were Paracalanus parvus, Temora stylifera and Centropages chierchiae with larvaceans and the cladocerans Penilia avirostris also abundant. The meroplankton was dominated by echinoderms. In May the dominant species of copepods were Pseudocalanus elongatus and Acartia clausi, Centropages typicus, and Calanus helgolandicus, with barnacle larvae and the pisces larvae also abundant. The islands influence was represented in the results by the increase in diversity and meroplankton’s relative importance at the sampling stations in the vicinity of the islands

The contribution of scientific research for integrated coastal management: the Mondego estuary as study case

The present paper quantifies and summarizes the research performed in the Mondego estuary (Portugal) over the last decades. Online databases were used to quantitatively assess the international publications, the master dissertations and PhD theses focused in the research about that estuary, from 1989 to 2012. In general, there had been a notable growth trend in publication output. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science was the most active journal publishing on Mondego estuary. Field studies were the predominant type of research and the population/community dynamics and functioning have been one of the main research topics. Towards the time, the estuary has been used as local for several studies and the existing database has been useful to test theoretical ecological hypotheses and to support some management decisions and ecosystem restoration schemes. The efforts intended to its preservations are justified by its high ecological value, presenting large diversity of habitats and biodiversity, and its socio-economic importance, providing goods and services to population. The published research results cover several aspects of the system including the hydrology, the nutrient cycling, the communities’ structure, diversity and dynamics. Moreover, research focused in existing environmental problems like eutrophication, extreme climatic events and contaminants, characterizing them and proposing solutions. The Mondego estuarine water quality status, was also intensely studied especially in order to implement the Water Framework Directive. The Mondego estuary has suffered intense anthropogenic pressure and hydromorphological modifications over the last decades that induced a progressive decline in its ecological condition. In order to reverse the tendency of the ecosystem degradation a restoration project was implemented in 1997/98, followed by a more intensive intervention in 2006. Parallels, the estuary suffered the effects of climate changes that seems to masked the response of water quality and biological communities to mitigation measures. Although we are only at an early stage in the projected trends of global warming, ecological responses to recent climate change are already clearly visible in this shallow water temperate estuarine system

Sustainability assessment in higher education institutions

UID/AMB/04085/2019 UIDP/50017/2020 UIDB/50017/2020This Special Issue "Sustainability Assessment in Higher Education Institutions" provides peer-reviewed research from several geographies and institutions and covering various topics with the broad objective of achieving an assessment of the effectiveness and impact of different implementation dimensions measuring and evaluating how sustainability is being applied in practice. A set of nine papers, covering sustainability education, interdisciplinary teaching, sustainable assessment, governance strategies, commitments and practices, and social responsibility at Higher Education Institutions, contribute significantly to this area of knowledge.publishersversionpublishe

The use of an estuarine system (Mondego estuary, Portugal) as didactic tool to incorporate education for sustainable development into school curricula

The present paper reviews and discusses the use of the Mondego estuary (Portugal) ecosystem as educational tool for science and environmental teachers/educators. The Mondego estuary is a coastal area of acknowledged high socioeconomic and environmental value (National Ecological Reserve, Important Bird Area and RAMSAR site) whose characteristics (e.g. two distinct subsystems with different physicochemical and ecological characteristics, strong environmental gradients, and anthropogenic pressures) have been used for educational purposes. However, besides the vast available scientific output focused in the Mondego estuary, few had the focal point in its pedagogical potentialities (were only published three MSc dissertations and two book chapters in books of Environmental Education incorporating teaching strategies to approach issues, behind different educational perspectives). The Mondego estuary is presented here as an ecosystem that can be used for educational purposes related to ecology, conservation biology, and sustainability in the coastal zone. In order to use the Mondego estuarine system under an educational framework, some examples of tools to address the pedagogical potentialities, like interpretative routes, analysis of scientific texts, and teachers training programs are presented.O presente trabalho revê e discute o potencial do ecossistema estuário do Mondego (Portugal) como ferramenta educacional para professores/educadores em ciências e para a sustentabilidade. Este estuário é uma área costeira de reconhecido valor socioeconómico e ambiental (Reserva Ecológica Nacional, Área Importante para as Aves e sítio Ramsar), cujas características (por exemplo, dois subsistemas distintos, com diferentes características físico-químicas e ecológicas, fortes gradientes ambientais e pressão antrópica) apresentam elevado potencial educativo. Contudo, apesar da vasta produção científica disponível focada no estuário do Mondego, poucos trabalhos tiveram o enfoque nas suas potencialidades pedagógicas (apenas foram publicadas três dissertações de mestrado e dois capítulos em livros de Educação Ambiental, incorporando estratégias de ensino para abordar questões relacionadas com este ecossistema estuarino, sob diferentes perspectivas educacionais). O estuário do Mondego é apresentado aqui como um ecossistema que pode ser usado com objetivos educacionais relacionados com a ecologia, biologia da conservação e sustentabilidade na zona costeira. De modo a usar o estuário do Mondego sob um formato educational são apresentados alguns exemplos de ferramentas para desenvolver as suas potencialidades pedagógicas, tal como percursos interpretativos, análise de textos científicos e programas de formação de professores

Felicidade, bem-estar e sustentabilidade: entre a globalização e a adoção de formas de racionalidade(s) inclusiva(s)

Numa época caracterizada pela omnipresente crise, os valores e as estruturas que suportaram a vida e o tecido social parecem declinar. À desorientação resultante, junta-se a necessidade de exploração de outras formas de pensar, de sentir, de agir e de viver, que abrem caminho entre a massificação própria de um mundo globalizado. Neste artigo, partimos de três eixos temáticos – felicidade, bem-estar e sustentabilidade, para analisar as consequências que decorrem do modelo epistemológico, económico e ético-político dominante, destacando a importância da recuperação dos saberes plurais e de formas de racionalidade não hegemónica, como as racionalidades leigas e as “Epistemologias do Sul”.At a time characterized by the omnipresent crisis, the values and structures which hold the life and the social fabric seem to decline, resulting in confusion and also in the need to explore other ways of thinking, feeling, acting and living. This opens a path through the massification of the globalized world. In this article, we set out from three themes - happiness, well-being and sustainability, to analyze the consequences of the epistemological, economic and ethical-political dominant model, highlighting the importance of the recovery of plural knowledge and of the ways to non- hegemonic rationality, such as the lay rationalities and the "Southern epistemologies”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Education for sustainable development through policies and strategies in the public portuguese higher education institutions

Many European countries, particularly in Northern Europe, have conducted integrated studies on Sustainable Development in Higher Education. In Portugal, no attempt has been made to evaluate in detail how Public Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are incorporating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at policy and strategy level and how it was implemented within Ministry of Education and Science. This study aimed to determine how sustainability was integrated into policies and strategies of 14 HEI in Portugal within the framework and goals of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) 2005- 2014. Based on grounded theory strategy, multi case studies and documental content analysis a deductive approach was undertaken. Pre-selected key terms based on literature search were used for the content analysis. Documentary research on polices, plans and programs from the Governmental Great Planning Options as Governmental Constitutional Plans and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science was performed through the analysis of the possible forms of implementation of DESD, and their consequent impacts on strategies of the public Institutions taking part of the Portuguese Council of Rectors. Given that 2014 was the final year of DESD 2005-2014 and 2005 was the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) assessment year, the approach of sustainability in public policies and strategies in the Portuguese HEI is on schedule. Notwithstanding some international drivers and a few practical examples at University level, preliminary results showed that ESD is still in its early stages of development and that there is a lack of national integrated strategies or policies. There is an absolute need for a change in the paradigm of Portuguese HEI and several barriers to overcome, both through learning and application of best practices from other European and worldwide countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Education for sustainable development through policies and strategies in the public portuguese higher education institutions

Many European countries, particularly in Northern Europe, have conducted integrated studies on Sustainable Development in Higher Education. In Portugal, no attempt has been made to evaluate in detail how Public Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are incorporating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at policy and strategy level and how it was implemented within Ministry of Education and Science. This study aimed to determine how sustainability was integrated into policies and strategies of 14 HEI in Portugal within the framework and goals of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) 2005- 2014. Based on grounded theory strategy, multi case studies and documental content analysis a deductive approach was undertaken. Pre-selected key terms based on literature search were used for the content analysis. Documentary research on polices, plans and programs from the Governmental Great Planning Options as Governmental Constitutional Plans and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science was performed through the analysis of the possible forms of implementation of DESD, and their consequent impacts on strategies of the public Institutions taking part of the Portuguese Council of Rectors. Given that 2014 was the final year of DESD 2005-2014 and 2005 was the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) assessment year, the approach of sustainability in public policies and strategies in the Portuguese HEI is on schedule. Notwithstanding some international drivers and a few practical examples at University level, preliminary results showed that ESD is still in its early stages of development and that there is a lack of national integrated strategies or policies. There is an absolute need for a change in the paradigm of Portuguese HEI and several barriers to overcome, both through learning and application of best practices from other European and worldwide countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio