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Repositório Aberto

Universidade Aberta Scientific Repository

 

About the Repository

The Open Repository is the institutional repository of Universidade Aberta and was built with the aim of storing, preserving, disseminating, and providing access to UAb's intellectual production in digital format. The goal is to gather, in one place, the entirety of UAb's scientific publications, thereby contributing to the increase of its visibility and impact while ensuring the preservation of its intellectual memory.

Email repositorio_aberto@uab.pt

Recent Submissions

Crescimento económico e recursos naturais: desafios e limites planetários
Publication . Jacquinet, Marc
A relação entre o crescimento económico e os recursos naturais tem sido objeto de intenso debate desde o surgimento da economia política. No contexto contemporâneo, caracterizado pela emergência climática e pela degradação ecológica, torna-se imperativo repensar as bases físicas do crescimento e as suas implicações para a sustentabilidade. Este artigo analisa as interdependências entre o uso de recursos naturais, o modelo de crescimento económico e os limites planetários, à luz das contribuições da economia ecológica. A metodologia combina uma revisão teórica e documental com uma análise crítica das principais abordagens sobre o crescimento sustentável, a dissociação entre economia e ambiente, e os limites biofísicos ao desenvolvimento. Conclui-se que o atual paradigma de crescimento contínuo é incompatível com as restrições ecológicas do planeta, sendo necessária uma transformação estrutural da economia global orientada para a suficiência, a circularidade e a equidade ecológica.
2025-10-07Education resource Open access Show more
Ecological footprint assessment as a pathway to sustainabin the OpenEU Alliance
Publication . Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Martins, Rute; Caeiro, Sandra; Mapar, Mahsa; Casanova, Diogo
The integration of sustainable practices into the daily operations and infrastructure of HigherEducation Institutions (HEIs) plays a vital role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) (Purcell et al., 2019; Žalėnienė & Pereira, 2021). Developing action-oriented competenceswithin HEIs, such as collaborative sustainability governance strategies and actions, is a key inthis process (Mapar & Caeiro, 2024; Saleem & Dare, 2023). As part of this effort, assessing andreducing the Ecological Footprint (EF) has become a priority in many HEIs, with EF monitoringserving as an essential decision-making tool to encourage more responsible resource use withinthe institution (Valls-Val & Bovea, 2021). The OpenEU Alliance, coordinated by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, brings together tenEuropean HEIs — including both Distance Teaching and face-to-face HEIs — in a joint effort todrive digital transformation in higher education and establish a pan-European, student-centred,inclusive, digital, and green Distance Teaching university. As a part of this broader initiative, aspecific task has been set to reduce the Alliance EF by 5% over four years (2024–2028). To thatend, the adopted tool was the University Footprint Calculator (Mancini et al., 2022), an open-access digital tool, developed under the EEUSTEPs Erasmus project (EUSTEPs, n.d.), that allowsHEIs to evaluate and keep records of consumption of natural resources and ecosystem serviceswithin their activities and operations. The methodology involved: (i) establishing the baseline EFfor each university in Year 1, and propose a set of recommendations to reduce the EF based onthe most impactful categories; and (ii) monitoring the changes over the following three years, totrack the progress towards the overall OpenEU EF reduction by Year 4. This study presents the outcomes of the first year of OpenEU Alliance EF assessment, in whichkey initial milestones were achieved, including the establishment of a Community of Practice inEcological Footprint, with representatives from all partner universities. Activities comprised twointroductory meetings and a training session to explain the EUSTEPs calculator and the datacollection process, followed by regular meetings to share the efforts and challenges within theprocess. Based on that, each partner university collected its data on infrastructure and utilitycategories (e.g., energy use, buildings) and community-related activities (such as mobility foracademic purposes or food services). The achieved results provide a solid foundation fordeveloping the recommendations and implementing future actions. The collaborative framework, fostered within the OpenEU Alliance and supported by its baselineassessment, not only enhances data transparency but also builds institutional capacity toimplement targeted, impactful measures for reducing the EF. Through continued monitoringand shared learning, the Alliance will achieve its ultimate EF reduction target by 2028,contributing tangibly to the broader goals of the OpenEU Alliance on digital transformation,inclusivity, and green higher education.
2025-10Conference object Open access Show more
Exploring environmental literacy in online education at Universidade Aberta
Publication . Martins, Rute; Caeiro, Sandra; Guimarães, David; Mapar, Mahsa; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar
The implementation of Environmental Literacy in university curricula, together with the development of an environmental culture, emerges as a necessity given the current challenges faced by society, namely climate change, biodiversity loss, among others. Universities that are committed to implementing and developing sustainability practices include teaching as one of their key areas of action, through the creation of sustainability courses and/or curricular units as part of their academic offerings, among others (Caeiro et al., 2020; Farinha et al., 2019). Environmental Literacy incorporates the cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioural perspectives, encompassing knowledge, attitudes, and environmentally responsible behaviour, which can be interrelated (Kaya & Elster, 2019; Maurer & Bogner, 2020; Teksoz et al., 2012). Additionally, faculty support also plays a role in Environmental Literacy implementation (Vallée, 2024). Limited research has examined the development of environmental literacy among adult learners or how comprehensively higher education integrate sustainability across academic programs. Thus, this study aims to: (i) characterize the environmental literacy profiles of undergraduate students and faculty members at Universidade Aberta; and (ii) provide a preliminary assessment of the extent to which environmental sustainability is integrated into undergraduate curricula. This study is part of the APECHE (Assessing and Promoting Environmental Culture in Portuguese Higher Education) project, which involves eight Portuguese universities. This study is contextualized within Universidade Aberta, a public distance-learning university whose primary target audience is adults actively engaged in the workforce. The study adopts a mixed-method approach, incorporating a: (i) quantitative analysis to characterize environmental literacy, applying an online survey to 480 students (1st year) and 95 faculty members from the same undergraduate programs in the first data collection phase and 177 students (2nd year) in the second phase. The survey covered the three core domains of environmental literacy (knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours); and (ii) qualitative analysis to evaluate the extent to which environmental sustainability is integrated into the curricula. Therefore, a content analysis to the undergraduate programmes was conducted using the Curriculum Assessment System for Sustainability (CASS) model (De Oliveira et al., 2025). The categories of analysis included the course synopsis, keywords, competencies, content, bibliography, teaching methods, and assessment strategies. The findings reveal that the Environmental Literacy profile of 1st- and 2nd-year students and faculty members show that most already engage in individual environmental practices and have a solid environmental knowledge and attitude although revealing an attitude-behaviour gap regarding meat consumption and transportation habits. Furthermore, preliminary results from content analysis suggest the scant implementation of environmental topics into the content of the undergraduate programs and related pedagogical strategies. This study offers a characterization of the environmental literacy levels of adult students at the point of entry into higher education in Portugal and throughout their academic journey, as well as faculty members, supporting reflection on strategies to develop Environmental Literacy. This study fosters the Sustainable Development Goal 4 as it highlights the vital role of higher education institutions in cultivating environmentally responsible citizens.
2025-10-16Conference object Open access Show more
Development of computational thinking skills to improve the learning of programming languages in vocational education
Publication . Reis, A.; Pinto, Maribel; Dorotea, N.; Mejia - Tejada, R.; Puentes - Puente, A.; Marrero - Sera, E.; Cruz - Pichardo, I.; Manzur – Herrá , K.
The study analyzes the development of computational thinking in students of the 1st year of the Professional Technical Course of Informatics-Systems, exploring the potential of digital platforms Code.org and Tinkercad. These tools, based on block programming and text, prove to be effective in promoting the gradual learning of programming languages, while encouraging autonomy, creativity and problem-solving. The research adopts the qualitative Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology, which combines flexibility and scientific rigor, allowing the integration of theory and practice in collaboration with students. Data collection includes interviews, observations and practical use of the platforms, which are later analyzed in the MAXQDA 24 software. The focus is on identifying factors that influence the quality of learning in VET education. In summary, it is concluded that the integration between computational thinking, programming languages and digital platforms represents an innovative pedagogical approach, aligned with the technical and socio-emotional skills required in the twenty-first century.
2025-11-21Conference paper Open access Show more
Curricularização da Extensão Universitária: uma perspectiva de classe a luz do Projeto Ético Político do Serviço Social
Publication . Figueiredo, Kênia; Maciel, Fabrícia; Monteiro, Simone
O presente artigo busca refletir acerca da Curricularização da Extensão Universitária a partir de um resgate histórico crítico da política de Educação no Brasil a qual considera que suas bases se fundamentam na relação de classe, o que dialoga diretamente com o Serviço Social, uma vez que as expressões da Questão Social são estruturantes para a intervenção profissional, sendo o projeto ético político um referencial teórico-metodológico relevante para a superação dos desafios elencados, bem como para a própria organização da Extensão no Serviço Social.
2022Journal article Open access Show more