Teaching sustainability within the context of everyday life: steps toward achieving the sustainable development goals through the EUSTEPs module

In a world characterized by Ecological Overshoot, education can nurture sustainability-minded citizens and future leaders to help accelerate the transition towards a one-planet compatible society. Despite the essential role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in contributing to a sustainable society, a holistic understanding of how to incorporate sustainability initiatives into HEIs is still lacking. Given the importance of HEIs in societies and considering the number of students, educators, and staff they host every day, ensuring that sustainability is both taught and practiced within campuses becomes fundamental. To this end, a strategic partnership was created in 2019 to set up the ERASMUS+ project EUSTEPs - Enhancing Universities’ Sustainability Teaching and Practices through Ecological Footprint. Among the main outputs of the project is a teaching module for introducing the sustainability concept to students. This module takes a 360-degree approach to teach sustainability, allowing students to endogenously realize the full complexity of sustainability, in an engaging and captivating manner. This paper thus aims to: 1) present the EUSTEPs Module, its pedagogical approach and structure, and the learning outcomes and competencies students are expected to gain; 2) review the outcomes of its first pilot teaching in four European HEIs, and 3) shed light on how this Module contributes to the development of competences and pedagogical approaches for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our findings show that 90% of the students were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the Module, rating the Ecological Footprint as the most useful teaching tool among those included in the Module, and appreciated the interactive nature of the proposed teaching. Feedback obtained from students during the pilot teaching contributed to shaping the Module’s final structure and content. The Module – an important interactive sustainability pedagogical tool – is now ready for use with students from different disciplines, thus contributing to progress towards the UN 2030 Agenda, particularly SDG 4, SDG 11, SDG 12, and SDG 13.Project “EUSTEPs: Enhancing Universities’ Sustainability Teaching and Practices through Ecological Footprint,” KA 203, Strategic Partnership in Higher Education 2019–2022, Agreement No. 2019-1-EL01-KA203-062941.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Education for sustainable development in higher education: evaluating coherence between theory and praxis

Universities are an important part of the process of change taking place in society. However, this is often overshadowed by these institutions giving priority to technocratic models in the relationship between science and society. In this context, according to Habermas, theories can serve to clarify practical questions and guide praxis into the right actions (social emancipation and rational autonomy). Habermas introduces the need to evaluate the particular contexts in which scientific arguments are made and assessed. The aim of this study was to develop a set of assessment criteria for education for sustainable development in higher education curricula. These were developed in line with Habermas by introducing further adaptions within the context of education for sustainable development. These criteria were tested in a blended learning master’s programme in Environmental Citizenship and Participation at the Universidade Aberta, Portugal. The following research tools were used as follows: (i) a questionnaire survey to the graduates; (ii) content analysis applied to the information guide and to the abstracts of the dissertations that were produced. The case study revealed that an absence of theoretical frameworks could lead to inconsistencies between theory and praxis. Improvements to curricula are then drawn from this study

The effectiveness of e-Learning on biosecurity practice to slow the spread of invasive alien species

Online e-Learning is increasingly being used to provide environmental training. Prevention measures including biosecurity are essential to reducing the introduction and spread of invasive alien species (IAS) and are central to international and national IAS policy. This paper is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of e-Learning as a tool to increase awareness, risk perception and biosecurity behaviour in relation to IAS among individuals conducting work activities or research (fieldwork) in the field. We surveyed participants (a mixture of students and professionals) before, and 6 months after undertaking an e-Learning course on IAS and biosecurity practices. Awareness of IAS and self-reported biosecurity behaviour increased after e-Learning among students and professionals. Students had a lower awareness of IAS than professionals before training (20% of students vs 60% of professionals), but after training students showed a greater increase in awareness which led to similar levels of awareness post-training (81%). Prior to training, risk perception was also lower amongst students than professionals (33% of students and 59% of professionals were aware of the risk that their activities posed to the accidental spread of IAS). There was no change in risk perception amongst professionals after training, however training led to a doubling of risk perception in students. E-Learning also led to an increase in reported biosecurity behaviour and cleaning practices and there were higher levels of biosecurity cleaning amongst professionals. The higher awareness and better biosecurity amongst professionals is likely to reflect their familiarity with the issues of IAS and day-to-day activities in the field. Our results suggest that e-Learning is an effective tool to raise awareness and encourage behaviour change among field workers and researchers in an attempt to reduce the risk of accidental introduction and spread of IAS

Alexithymia, emotional awareness and perceived dysfunctional parental behaviors in heroin dependents

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com © Springer Science+Business MediaThe aim of this study was to analyse alexithymia and deficits in emotional awareness, in heroin addicts, and their relationship with perceptions of early parental interactions. The sample included 99 opiate dependent outpatients and 43 healthy controls. Assessment was performed using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale, the Inventory for Assessing Memories of Parental Rearing Behavior, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Findings suggest parental representations, which were mostly characterized by emotional unavailability and a rejection interaction pattern, significantly related to alexithymia. Emotional awareness was associated with the number of years of drug use and methadone level. Negative affect was associated with alexithymia but not to emotional awareness. Regression analyses emphasized the influence of perceived dysfunctional parenting behaviors in alexithymia and difficulties in identifying feelings, particularly an interaction with paternal rejection, moderated by self-reported anxiety. These results are discussed addressing comprehensive issues of emotion regulation and treatment strategies in heroin dependence

Assessing student perceptions and comprehension of climate change in portuguese higher education institutions

The higher education system has a critical role to play in educating environmentally aware and participant citizens about global climate change. Yet, few studies have focused on higher education students’ knowledge and attitudes about this issue. This study aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of views and attitudes about climate change issues, across the postgraduate student population in three universities—the on Campus University of Porto and University of Coimbra, and the distance learning Universidade Aberta, Portugal. We surveyed university students and graduates from three master programs in environmental sciences targeting their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour on climate change issues, and their views of the role that their master degree had on it. A majority of the respondents believed that climate change is factual, and is largely human-induced; and a majority expressed concerns about climate change. Still, the surveyed students hold some misconceptions about basic causes and consequences of climate change. Further research is necessary to comprehend the university postgraduate students’ population, so that curricula programs can be adapted to grant consensus on scientific knowledge about climate change, and an active engagement of the graduate citizens, as part of the solution for climate change problems

Bacterioplankton dynamics in the Mondego estuary (Portugal)

In this work, the density of bacterioplankton and environmental parameters were monitored over a 11 month period (July 1999-June 2000), and also during one tidal cycle (15 June 2000), at two sampling stations, in the estuary of River Mondego. These data were treated by multivariate analyses methods in order to identify the key factors that control the dynamics of the bacterioplankton in the estuary. Bacterial dynamics were dominated by temporal gradients (annual seasons and tide-related) and less by the spatial structure of the estuary. Three main metabolic groups of bacterioplankton--aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and nitrate-reducing bacteria (NRB)--involved in the cycling of organic matter, were present in the water column of the estuary. Their relative abundance depended on the particular physical, chemical and biological environment. The abundance of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, during the 11 month study, was modelled as a function of nitrate (the most important variable, with a negative effect), temperature, salinity and pH (with positive effects). SRB appeared to be limited to the water-sediment interface, where concentrations of sulphate and POM were greater. A competition between SRB and NRB for carbon has also been suggested.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VR3-4B6JTC7-8/1/1f5b2e8bcb56fdceb5fffe6f34b30e3

Revisiting crude and standardized mortality ratios : which ones to assess health systems performance?

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.Background: Standardized Mortality Ratios-SMR are often used to assess performance of health systems. Age adjusted SMR are rates one would expect to observe in the study population if it had the same age distribution as the standard year itself. SRM are thus artificial data, appropriate to compare groups (countries, for example) or time trends, isolating this analysis from age effects and its variability over time. Each main health data source (WHO, OECD, Eurostat) adopts a different year as population standard. But are mortality SMR better than crude ratios– CMR, to monitor the evolution of diseases, to infer on the performance of health systems or to compare countries?info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Education for sustainable development through e-learning in higher education: experiences from Portugal

E-learning in higher education can be of great relevance in effective life-long learning education for sustainable development in a population of students who are simultaneously full time employees. The aim of this research was to assess the Education of Sustainable Development effectiveness through elearning in higher education in a case study. The expectations and experience of students who enrolled in more than one programme in environmental and/or sustainability science (bachelor, master, and doctorate), offered by Universidade Aberta, the Portuguese Distance Learning University, were analysed. The six dimensions analysed were: general expectations; learning quality; teaching resources, pedagogical tools and evaluation; acquired competences in education for sustainable development; satisfaction and interactions; and reasons to pursue enrolment in a new programme at Universidade Aberta. Data was collected using semi-structured qualitative interviews. The results showed that the surveyed students felt that they attained a high level of motivation and satisfaction, and had reached an effective learning outcome of knowledge, competences, values, attitudes and behaviour in environment and/or sustainability sciences. For these reasons they were motivated to return to Universidade Aberta and enrol for further training in the sustainability area. These results are built upon previous work developed by the authors, and allow us to conclude that formal e-learning programmes can provide an effective alternative to face-to-face training, allowing students to pursue their studies, in a flexible, collaborative and interactive way, whilst holding down full time jobs. In this way, Education for Sustainable Development in an e-learning regime can contribute to, and have a role in, the transition to sustainable societal patterns

Training and employability, competences from an e-learning undergraduate programme in environmental sciences

The trail to sustainability requires revolutionising the way environmental professionals perceive and solve environmental problems. The challenge is to prepare them to cope with societal economic and technical changes, to maintain a job and a positive role in the quest for sustainability. The environmental sector is gradually moving from an ‘end-of-pipe’ approach to environmental management holistic, process-based approaches, which require an entire new set of technical, social and individual skills and competences. Environmental professionals have to acknowledge the different dimensions and complexity of environmental issues, through a more proactive attitude and development of integrated solutions. In a globalisation context, environmental professionals have to develop social, ethical, creative, personal and interpersonal skills in addition to technical competences to be of value in attaining sustainability. These skills are also necessary for university environmental graduates to enter the labour market and improve their employability. This study aims to assess the development and acquisition of key skills and competences in the 1st cycle degree programme of Environmental Sciences at the Universidade Aberta, the Portuguese Distance Learning University, and their contribution to the employability of its graduates. For the assessment a questionnaire survey was conducted to the graduated students. The results are discussed within the European Tuning framework for higher education programs