O Sistema de gestão de responsabilidade social no Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre: metodologia, programas e resultados

O Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre (IPP) elegeu como eixo estratégico o desenvolvimento sustentável, em que um dos pilares foi a implementação do Sistema de Gestão de Responsabilidade Social (SGRS), culminando em 2011 com a certificação pela norma de referência NP 4469-1:2008, sendo a primeira instituição de ensino superior portuguesa a consegui-lo. O método utilizado baseia-se na estrutura implementada, no desenvolvimento do SGRS e nos resultados obtidos através dos programas de responsabilidade social (RS). O Sistema assenta nas preocupações sociais definidas, nos princípios, valores, objetivos e na política da qualidade e RS do IPP, suportado por um grupo de melhoria contínua transversal a todo o instituto, com diversas áreas de atuação e responsáveis de cada um dos programas de RS. Existe uma monitorização regular, auditorias internas e externas e uma reflexão crítica anual ao SGRS. Dos resultados do SGRS, no contexto deste estudo de caso, destacam-se um incremento da satisfação das partes interessadas, o reforço do contributo dos colaboradores, uma melhoria dos níveis de integração dos estudantes, um aumento dos níveis de confiança e notoriedade. Concluindo, o IPP tem, atualmente, maior capacidade de resposta interna e externa, corresponde ao princípio de subsidiariedade e reforçou a sustentabilidade e a afirmação regional. Palavras-chave: Gestão de instituições de ensino superior; Responsabilidade Social; Certificação; Gestão da performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Europeanisation and territorial governance: an inquiry into power and institutional culture change in Portugal

From within the European Union integration project, a shared spatial development agenda has emerged. From the beginning of the European Spatial Development Perspective process in 1989, to the post-enlargement Territorial Agenda of 2007, in a non-binding policy context of inexistent formal competencies, member-states agreed on a shared vision, spatial development objectives and planning principles for the EU territory. This catalysed the institutionalisation of European Spatial Planning. Fuelled by processes of socialisation framed within a platform for common policy learning the latter produced an undeniable cultural footprint. Growing attention has been given to the impact that this process has had on domestic planning systems and institutions among member-states. This impact is widely referred to as the Europeanisation of planning. This thesis examines the Portuguese National Spatial Planning Policy Programme (PNPOT) under the light of the hypothetical causal relationship between the Europeanisation of planning and institutional culture change in Portugal. As evidence mounts of innovation in policy discourse, conceptual paradigms, legal framework and practices, the research focus shifts to the domestic drivers, mechanisms, key actors and their motivations, enabling factors and obstacles to culture change. The outcome is a portrait of the contemporary challenges faced by planning in Portugal. The latter highlights the fragilities of the planning-related policy learning dynamics, capacity-building processes, inter-institutional coordination deficit and structural shortcomings in terms of the communicational capacity and the adaptational ability of institutions and practitioners in an evolving public policy context. Finally, although a policysteered process, planning culture change in Portugal, if to prevail, depends on the mobilisation of the community of planners. Through a communicative power framework they must work alongside central and local government and citizens in an inclusive spirit of mutual learning and partnership. For a culture change in planning to have any effect in shaping places, it must first shape minds

Assessing the relationship between human well-being and ecosystem services: a review of frameworks

Focusing on the most impoverished populations, we critically review and synthesise key themes from dominant frameworks for assessing the relationship between well-being and ecosystem services in developing countries. This requires a differentiated approach to conceptualising well-being that appropriately reflects the perspectives of the poorest-those most directly dependent on ecosystem services, and their vulnerability to external and policy-driven environmental change. The frameworks analysed draw upon environmental sciences, economics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, and were selected on the basis of their demonstrated or potential ability to illustrate the relationship between environmental change and human well-being, as well as their prevalence in real world applications. Thus, the synthesis offered here is informed by the various theoretical, methodological, and hermeneutical contributions from each field to the notion of well-being. The review highlights several key dimensions that should be considered by those interested in understanding and assessing the impact of environmental change on the well-being of the world's poorest people: the importance of interdisciplinary consideration of well-being, the need for frameworks that integrate subjective and objective aspects of well-being, and the central importance of context and relational aspects of well-being. The review is of particular interest to those engaged in the post-2015 development agenda

Co2 efflux, co2 concentration and photosynthetic refixation in stems of Eucalyptus globulus (Labill.)

Research PaperIn spite of the importance of respiration in forest carbon budgets, the mechanisms by which physiological factors control stem respiration are unclear. An experiment was set up in a Eucalyptus globulus plantation in central Portugal with monoculture stands of 5-year-old and 10-year-old trees. CO2 efflux from stems under shaded and unshaded conditions, as well as the concentration of CO2 dissolved in sap [CO2 *], stem temperature, and sap flow were measured with the objective of improving our understanding of the factors controlling CO2 release from stems of E. globulus. CO2 efflux was consistently higher in 5-year-old, compared with 10-year-old, stems, averaging 3.4 versus 1.3 mmol m22 s21, respectively. Temperature and [CO2 *] both had important, and similar, influences on the rate of CO2 efflux from the stems, but neither explained the difference in the magnitude of CO2 efflux between trees of different age and size. No relationship was found between efflux and sap flow, and efflux was independent of tree volume, suggesting the presence of substantial barriers to the diffusion of CO2 from the xylem to the atmosphere in this species. The rate of corticular photosynthesis was the same in trees of both ages and only reduced CO2 efflux by 7%, probably due to the low irradiance at the stem surface below the canopy. The younger trees were growing at a much faster rate than the older trees. The difference between CO2 efflux from the younger and older stems appears to have resulted from a difference in growth respiration rather than a difference in the rate of diffusion of xylemtransported CO

Mineral profiling of muscle and hepatic tissues of Australian Merino, Damara and Dorper lambs: Effect of weight loss

Seasonal weight loss (SWL) is a major constraint to extensive animal production systems. The Australian sheep production is based on merino sheep, a European breed not tolerant to SWL. Tolerant alternative breeds such as the fat-tailed Damara and the Dorper have been increasingly used in Australia and elsewhere, due to their robustness. The aim of this study was to understand the mineral profile of muscle and liver tissues of Australian Merino, Damara and Dorper, when subjected to SWL in order to understand SWL-tolerance physiology. Twenty-four lambs were divided randomly between growing (control) and nutritionally restricted groups for each breed. The trial lasted 42 days. Animals were weighed bi-weekly and at the end of the trial, lambs were slaughtered. Liver and muscle samples were taken immediately after slaughter. Mineral assessment was carried out using inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry. Analysis of variance showed mineral concentrations were generally increased in the muscle of restricted animals, mainly because of fat tissue mobilization. An increase in Zn and Fe concentrations indicates an increase of enzymatic activity in the liver of restricted sheep as well as differential abundance of Fe-containing proteins. High concentrations of Cu in the liver of Dorper indicate higher ability to accumulate this element, even under SWLinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Designing locally-appropriate conservation incentives for small-scale fishers

Large, long-lived marine animals (‘marine megafauna’) are amongst the world's most threatened taxa, primarily due to overfishing. Reducing fisheries' impacts on marine megafauna is particularly challenging in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), where endangered species can have important consumptive use values. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have been proposed as a potential solution, but there is a lack of empirical data on if and how they might work in this context. We present a novel combination of methods – scenario interviews with contingent valuation (CV) – for exploring and designing locally-appropriate PES schemes; and apply these methods to investigate how different types of incentives might influence fisher behaviour and mortality of Critically Endangered taxa in two case study SSFs in Indonesia. Fishers almost unanimously supported positive conditional incentives: 98 % and 96 % of fishers would stop landing hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna spp.) and wedgefish (Rhynchobatus spp.), respectively, in contrast to 1 % and 6 % under a business-as-usual scenario, and 52 % and 46 % in response to a negative incentive (fine). CV results showed that an incentive-based scheme for catch mitigation of all hammerheads and wedgefish across both sites could cost US$71,408–235,927 annually, and save up to 18,500 and 2140 individuals, respectively. This study provides empirical evidence that PES could offer a cost-effective and socially-just approach for marine conservation in SSFs; and offers a scalable method for designing locally-appropriate investment-ready schemes, which could support the delivery of societal goals such as net positive outcomes for marine biodiversity and a sustainable and equitable blue economy

Interweaving Knowledge Systems Through Sustainability Governance

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Study of the requirements of an autonomous system for surface water quality monitoring

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness of the preservation, protection and sustainable use of natural resources. Water resources, being one of the most important natural resources, face major threats due to contamination by pollutants of various types and origins. Maintaining the quality of water resources requires more robust, reliable and more frequent monitoring than traditional techniques of data collection based on sporadic, discontinuous and manual processes. The management of large geographical areas, the insufficient spatiotemporal discretization of the values of samples collected by traditional processes and the unpredictability of natural phenomena, require a new approach to data collection procedures. This article, which is the result of ongoing research, defines the technical requirements and technologies used in a continuous and regular monitoring of surface water quality in freshwater systems, whose data acquisition system helps to identify the sources of pollution and the contaminants flow along the waterways. The design of a versatile real-time water quality monitoring system, which, due to its environmental constraints should be based on renewable energies and wireless transfer of energy, will contribute to improve the management and effective protection of water resources.This work was supported by Centro2020, Portugal 2020 and European Union (EU) under the grants, CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-024052E – Libélula: Mobile robotic surface water quality monitoring system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Avaliação do desempenho da investigação aplicada no ensino superior politécnico: construção de um modelo

Apresenta-se um modelo de avaliação de desempenho da investigação aplicada nas instituições de ensino superior politécnico (IESP) em Portugal, centrado na construção de indicadores quantitativos e qualitativos, na missão destas instituições, bem como no impacto regional decorrente da sua ação. O modelo, apurado a partir de três estudos de caso, organiza-se em três dimensões: inputs, outputs e impactos da investigação aplicada. Inova por representar uma perspetiva holística da avaliação da produção académica, em particular das IESP. A inexistência de modelos de avaliação deste tipo no ensino superior português coloca, porém, desafios ao seu desenho, à recolha de informação e ao próprio modo de funcionamento das IESP (financiamento, organização, etc.).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of Dietary Laminaria digitata with Carbohydrases on Broiler Production Performance and Meat Quality, Lipid Profile, and Mineral Composition

Research Areas: Agriculture; Veterinary Sciences; ZoologyABSTRACT - We hypothesized that dietary inclusion of 15% Laminaria digitata, supplemented or not with carbohydrases, could improve the nutritional value of poultry meat without impairing animal growth performance. A total of 120 22-day old broilers were fed the following dietary treatments (n = 10) for 14 days: cereal-based diet (control); control diet with 15% L. digitata (LA); LA diet with 0.005% Rovabio® Excel AP (LAR); LA diet with 0.01% alginate lyase (LAE). Final body weight was lower and feed conversion ratio higher with LA diet than with the control. The ileal viscosity increased with LA and LAR diets relative to control but without differences between LAE and control. The pH of thigh meat was higher, and the redness value of breast was lower with LA diet than with control. Meat overall acceptability was positively scored for all treatments. The γ-tocopherol decreased, whereas total chlorophylls and carotenoids increased in meat with alga diets relative to control. The percentage of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and accumulation of bromine and iodine in meat increased with alga diets compared with control. Feeding 15% of L. digitata to broilers impaired growth performance but enhanced meat quality by increasing antioxidant pigments, with beneficial effects on n-3 PUFA and iodineinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio