Browsing by Author "Caeiro, Sandra"
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- 2008 Ano Internacional do Planeta Terra: recursos e soloPublication . Amador, Filomena; Caeiro, Sandra; Caixeiro, Vanda; Antunes, Ana PaulaA evolução dos ambientes geológicos. O registo geológico, a questão dos solos e paleossolos, o processo de produção de cartas geológicas e a sua importância para o desenvolvimento sustentável. Professor convidado: Miguel Ramalho
- A 5Ps approach to teaching and e-learning sustainability: the case of Universidade AbertaPublication . Mapar, Mahsa; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Dias, Marco; Ferreira, Célia; Manuelito, Helena; Martins, Rute; Martinho, Ana Paula; Pereira, Pedro; Simão, João; Trindade, Jorge; Fernandes, Paula Vaz; Caeiro, Sandra
- Adaptive-participative sustainability indicators in marine protected areas: designPublication . Marques, A. S.; Ramos, Tomás B.; Caeiro, Sandra; Costa, Maria HelenaRecently there has been an effort to put in practice integrated management plans in Marine Protected Areas (MPA) not only because of their high natural and cultural importance but also due to usual conflicts related to local activities. These plans should include the use of adaptive sustainability indicators that reflect stakeholders concerns, and community interests, allowing a better assessment, management and reporting. An adequate set of indicators for the MPA should help their managers to improve management policies in order to achieve better decision making processes. This study aimed to develop a set of adaptive-participative sustainability indicators (SDI) for the assessment, management and reporting of MPAs that include, through the all process, the participation of local stakeholders at every levels, integrating the stakeholders knowledge and perceptions about the SDI meaning and a self-assessment of the SDI state produced also by the stakeholders. The proposed approach was tested in Luiz Saldanha’s Marine Park, located in South East of Portugal between the municipalities of Sesimbra and Setúbal. The framework to design the SDI comprised four phases: i) an international analysis of SDI sets for coastal zones and MPAs; ii) a participatory process, where the stakeholders had the possibility to state their concerns through an online and face to face questionnaire surveys about the strengths and weaknesses of the MPA; iii) an analysis conducted by a team of experts to reach a set of indicators that include the main relevant aspects of environmental, socioeconomic, and governance issues, taking into account the information from the first two phases and iv) a workshop and questionnaires held to assess the stakeholders’ global views and perception about the selected set of indicators and each indicator’s relative importance. This study showed the importance of a dynamic participative process involving the local stakeholders. It is concluded that this methodology allows a better understanding of each indicator by the local stakeholders and how it could respond to their concerns. It should also help the MPA managers, to define the most suitable management actions and monitor the management plan itself.
- An epidemiological approach to characterise the human exposure pathways in a contaminated estuarine environmentPublication . Machado, Ausenda; Fernandes, Ana Paula; Paixão, Eleonora; Caeiro, Sandra; Dias, Carlos MatiasThis study's aim was to develop and implement an integrative epidemiologic cross-sectional study that allows identifying and characterising exposure pathways of populations living and working on the shores of a contaminated estuarine environment. Population residing in Carrasqueira, located on the Sado estuary with known contaminated areas was compared to another population on a noncontaminated estuary (Vila Nova de Mil Fontes - VNMF), considered a nonexposed population. Simple random samples of individuals were selected in each study population from the National Health Service Lists: 140 individuals were selected in Carrasqueira and 219 in VNMF. Participation rates were higher in the exposed group (62.5%, n=102 in Carrasqueira and 48.3%, n=100 individuals in VNMF). The same structured questionnaire was used in both populations, including questions on occupational activities, leisure activities, consumption of food (including fish and mollusks from the estuary) and use of water for human intake and agriculture. Results showed that a significantly higher proportion of Carrasqueira participants reported doing tasks in their job that promote direct (48.8% vs 1.2% in VNMF, p-value<0.001) or indirect (30% vs 11.9% in VNMF, p-value=0.004) contact with water from the estuary. Regarding seafood consumption, the exposed population of Carrasqueira had a higher frequency of consumption of cuttlefish (23.5% vs 9% in VNMF, p-value=0.007), sole (22.5% vs 4% in VNMF, p-value<0.001) and clams (18.6% vs 5.0 in VNMF, p-value=0.004). The comparative study design, with exposed and nonexposed populations living on the shores of two different estuaries allowed us to confirm the hypothesis of a higher risk of contamination from the contaminated estuarine environment. The study design and the selection of both populations were adequate for this type of epidemiologic study of potential routes of human contamination in a mixture of contaminated estuarine environment and can be used in other estuarine areas with similar environmental risk.
- An integrative assessment to determine the genotoxic hazard of estuarine sediments: combining cell and whole-organism responsesPublication . Costa, Pedro M.; Pinto, Miguel; Vicente, Ana; Gonçalves, Cátia; Rodrigo, Ana; Louro, Henriqueta; Costa, Maria Helena; Caeiro, Sandra; Silva, Maria JoãoThe application of the Comet assay in environmental monitoring remains challenging in face of the complexity of environmental stressors, e.g., when dealing with estuarine sediments, that hampers the drawing of cause-effect relationships. Although the in vitro Comet assay may circumvent confounding factors, its application in environmental risk assessment (ERA) still needs validation. As such, the present work aims at integrating genotoxicity and oxidative DNA damage induced by sediment-bound toxicants in HepG2 cells with oxidative stress-related effects observed in three species collected from an impacted estuary. Distinct patterns were observed in cells exposed to crude mixtures of sediment contaminants from the urban/industrial area comparatively to the ones from the rural/riverine area of the estuary, with respect to oxidative DNA damage and oxidative DNA damage. The extracts obtained with the most polar solvent and the crude extracts caused the most significant oxidative DNA damage in HepG2 cells, as measured by the formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG)-modified Comet assay. This observation suggests that metals and unknown toxicants more hydrophilic than polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons may be important causative agents, especially in samples from the rural part of the estuary, where oxidative DNA damage was the most significant. Clams, sole, and cuttlefish responded differentially to environmental agents triggering oxidative stress, albeit yielding results accordant with the oxidative DNA damage observed in HepG2 cells. Overall, the integration of in vivo biomarker responses and Comet assay data in HepG2 cells yielded a comparable pattern, indicating that the in vitro FPG-modified Comet assay may be an effective and complementary line-of-evidence in ERA even in particularly challenging, natural, scenarios such as estuarine environments.
- An on-line teacher training course on education for sustainability: assessment of open (mooc) and closed versions of the coursePublication . Caeiro, Sandra; Paz, João; Carmo, MárioThis paper reports the experience of a first edition of an on-line teacher training course on education for sustainability both for open (MOOC) and closed versions, and the respective assessment. The course was implemented by the Portuguese Distance Learning University (Universidade Aberta – UAb) under a protocol with the General Secretariat of Education and Science of the Portuguese State in an Open EdX platform (NAU). The results show that the planning, preparation of own materials suitable for the target audience and the validation of this type of open/massive and certified closed courses by different actors, before the course taking place is fundamental. It was also confirmed by the positive participation and feedback from the participants. In addition, the collaborative component in both course versions were fundamental to ensure success in this type of training actions. Differences in both versions were discussed as well as recommendations for future editions.
- An open participatory conceptual framework to support state of the environment and sustainability reportsPublication . Ramos, Tomás B.; Martins, Ivone P.; Martinho, Ana Paula; Douglas, Calbert H.; Painho, Marco; Caeiro, SandraIt is fundamental to monitor, evaluate and report the state of the environment at global and local levels, to better implement sustainable development principles and practices. The State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports should be written in an understandable and accessible way for stakeholders and also be developed from the beginning with its involvement and participation. Despite several initiatives that refer public engagement in State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports, from the national to the corporate levels, usually the participatory approaches are restricted to consultations of key actors. They do not explore the role that could be played by stakeholders as part of the report staff, from designing to production and reviewing. The aim of this research is to develop a conceptual framework to support open participatory, interactive and adaptive State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports, where the stakeholders’ involvement (non-experts and experts) will effectively contribute to the design, data gath- ering and evaluations produced in the reports. The proposed open participatory approach will support the design and implementation of a collaborative report. The stakeholders’ assessment of the State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports can also be used as an indirect way for formal results evaluation, allowing for cross-validation. The paper analyses and explores two practices of regular and formal State of the Environment reports: the “European Environment e State and Outlook (transnational scale) and the “Portuguese State of the Environment Report” (national scale). In both reporting initiatives, the partici- patory approaches in the design and production of the reports are weak or inexistent and many times merely formal. A set of steps and procedures, embedded in a formal framework, is proposed for adoption in the both initiatives. The proposed framework should be implemented through gradually and prioritised steps to mitigate practical difficulties, due to the complexity of institutional reporting processes. The open participatory State of the Environment and Sustainability Report will represent a joint commitment among stakeholders for active reporting development with new information and knowledge. Rethinking tradi- tional reporting and related participatory approaches can move the State of the Environment and Sus- tainability Reports to a new stage of evolution: a continuous updating of information. In this process, data and information will come from formal and informal sources and, stakeholders can scrutinize each other’s participation and increase the overall content and quality of the collaborative disclosures.
- Anticipating future needs in key competences for sustainability in two distance learning universities of spain and PortugalPublication . Majadas Matesanz, María; Caeiro, Sandra; Nicolau, Paula BacelarThe current eco-social crisis includes global challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation and demographic shifts that call for a global response. The European Environment Agency claims that over the next decade, very different answers will be needed to the world’s challenges than the ones provided over the past 40 years to confront the foreseeable global changes. Higher Education Institutions have their own responsibility in training future professionals in cross-cutting key competences for sustainability, which are defined through different frameworks. Considering that current students will need to overcome global challenges, this research aims to identify the ways in which Higher Education Institutions are anticipating the introduction of key competences for sustainability into the curricula of their programs. Specifically, it aims to detect the perception of the heads of three departments and three faculties of two universities in Spain and Portugal about the presence of key competences for sustainability in the selected degrees. For this study, a qualitative research approach was employed. The methodology used involved the application of interviews to departments and faculties heads. The results showed there is a growing interest in sustainability at Higher Education Institutions, but key competences for sustainability were not yet sufficiently valued as competences needed for the students in the future, in particular those linked with the professional world. Further similar research could be conducted at other levels (master’s degree, doctorate).
- ARDES Teaching: Module 1, Lesson 1, Topic 2. Sustainable development goalsPublication . Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Mapar, Mahsa; Caeiro, Sandra; Bidarra, José; Veiga, Pedro Alves da
- ARDES Teaching: Module 1, Lesson 1. Topic 1. Sustainability concepts and circular economyPublication . Mapar, Mahsa; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Bidarra, José; Veiga, Pedro Alves da