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- Conceito de sobrecarga ecológica. Tópico 1 (parte 1)Publication . Pulselli, Federico Maria; Patrizi, Nicoletta; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Galli, Alessandro; Malandrakis, George; Pires, Sara Moreno; Nicolau, Mariana; Papadopoulou, Athanasia; Mapar, Mahsa; Theodosiou, Nikolaos; Zachos, Dimitrios; Niccolucci, Valentina
- Pegada Ecológica (PE): conceitos. Tópico 3Publication . Galli, A.; Patrizi, N.; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Malandrakis, G.; Pires, Sara Moreno; Niccolucci, Valentina; Nicolau, Mariana; Papadopoulou, Athanasia; Mapar, Mahsa; Pulselli, F.M.; Theodosiou, N.; Zachos, D.
- EUSTEPs administrative staff teaching modulePublication . Pires, Sara Moreno; Nicolau, Mariana; Mapar, Mahsa; Malandrakis, George; Pulselli, Federico Maria; Galli, Alessandro; Patrizi, Nicoletta; Caeiro, Sandra; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Papadopoulou, Athanasia; Niccolucci, Valentina; Theodosiou, Nikolaos; Zachos, DimitriosEnhancing Universities’ Sustainability TEaching and Practices – EUSTEPs – is a project financed by ERASMUS+ program that features the collaboration among four European Universities and one Non-Governmental Organization. The team is coordinated by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), and is comprised of members from University of Siena (UNISI), Italy, University of Aveiro (UAv) and Universidade Aberta (UAb), both in Portugal, and Global Footprint Network (GFN), California, USA. The project aims to introduce a broader and holistic approach to sustainability within universities, having developed already one module dedicated to students and another for educators. In addition to this purpose, the project also envisions the development of a Footprint Calculator for Universities’ campus, allowing Institutions to acknowledge the environmental dimension of sustainability and connect it to their everyday functioning. All the actors whitin HEIs (students, academic staff, administrative staff and management bodies) are called to embrace a more sustainable campus, developing a set of multidisciplinary skills and a necessary shift in attitudes. This module is dedicated to the Administrative Staff of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and embraces a hands-on, experiential approach to sustainability understanding and Ecological Footprint concept. By presenting sustainability within the context of everyday life rather than through mere abstract theories and concepts around sustainability and, bridging with the 2030 UN Agenda Sustainable Development Goals, the administrative staff will be able to grasp how sustainability relates to not only the whole spectrum of daily life but also with their workplace and the administration of HEIs. The core aspect of the EUSTEPs Module to HEIs Administrative Staff is: 1. To make the administrative staff aware of sustainability and Ecological Footprint concepts. 2. To empower them to affect the sustainability of their workspace, as well as their community, bringing sustainability knowledge and its associated skills (usually limited to academics, researchers and students). Throughout this module, the administrative staff will not only be able to learn about sustainability and the human-environment relationship but also track their own individual Footprints; through discussing their results and behavior decisions with peers to shape a “learning by group discussion” process.
- Guidelines for setting-up transdisciplinary sustainability coursesPublication . Pulselli, Federico Maria; Malandrakis, George; Mancini, Maria Serena; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Nicolau, Mariana; Mapar, Mahsa; Theodosiou, Nikolaos; Patrizi, Nicoletta; Galli, Alessandro; Pires, Sara Moreno; Caeiro, Sandra; Papadopoulou, Athanasia; Niccolucci, Valentina; Givliotti, Massimo; Zachos, DimitriosThis report, developed by the ERASMUS+ project EUSTEPs (Enhancing Universities’ Sustainability TEaching and Practices), presents Guidelines for the creation of a Sustainability Course. It proposes a transdisciplinary curricular unit that can be included within all University degree programs (both bachelor and master). The document includes possible reasons, procedures, contents, and opportunities connected to such didactic initiative, with the aim of creating an approach that can be replicated in many Universities around the world interested in its implementation. It builds on the multi-year experience of the University of Siena (Italy) as a reference point, and the positive feedback from the EUSTEPs’ academic consortium members (namely Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Aveiro and Universidade Aberta). Thanks to its flexibility, every University can interpret the proposal presented in this report in a different way and proceed according to its own preferences, conditions, knowledge, and rules.
- Conceitos de sustentabilidade. Tópico 1 (parte 2)Publication . Pires, Sara Moreno; Theodosiou, N.; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Galli, A.; Malandrakis, G.; Niccolucci, Valentina; Nicolau, Mariana; Papadopoulou, Athanasia; Mapar, Mahsa; Patrizi, N.; Pulselli, F.M.; Zachos, D.
- “EUSTEPs Educators teaching module: sustainability around us: from theory to practice...and back”Publication . Malandrakis, George; Pulselli, Federico Maria; Galli, Alessandro; Pires, Sara Moreno; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Nicolau, Mariana; Papadopoulou, Athanasia; Mapar, Mahsa; Patrizi, Nicoletta; Niccolucci, Valentina; Theodosiou, Nikolaos; Zachos, DimitriosThis module, developed by the ERASMUS+ project EUSTEPs (Enhancing Universities’ Sustainability TEaching and Practices), uses a “learning-by-doing” approach to equip EU university students with science-based knowledge, multidisciplinary skills, and the transdisciplinary mindset needed to play a critical role in our societal effort towards sustainability, thus allowing students to be best prepared for the future labour market. The module is made highly effective by the adoption of the concept of Ecological Footprint (EF), a well-known and widespread quantitative approach to study, assess and understand sustainability concept. The EF is an ecology-based environmental accounting method, but we propose it not as a technical tool but as a medium to transfer important aspects of sustainability from a wide range of teachers to a wide range of students. This is possible by virtue of the verified ability of the EF method and related accessories to communicate, inform, visualize, and represent sustainability in its variegated forms. The module embraces a hands-on, experiential approach to sustainability teaching: by presenting sustainability within the context of everyday life rather than through a mere abstract teaching of intangible theories and concepts, the goal of the module is to allow students to understand, realize, and learn the full complexity of the economy-society-environment relationships, and help them grasp how sustainability relates to the whole spectrum of daily life. A series of universal, community and environmental education pedagogical approaches (PA) are employed in this module for the development of sustainability competencies. More specifically, seven out of the ten literature suggested education for sustainable development (ESD) pedagogical approaches are commissioned in this EUSTEPs teaching module, including the universal PAs of Case studies, Interdisciplinary team teaching/planning, Lecturing, Concept maps, Project or problem based learning, along with the community PA of Participatory Action Research, and the environmental education PA of Place-based environmental education.
- Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES): sustentabilidade e ferramentas de avaliação. Tópico 5Publication . Caeiro, Sandra; Malandrakis, G.; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Galli, A.; Pires, Sara Moreno; Nicolau, Mariana; Papadopoulou, Athanasia; Mapar, Mahsa; Patrizi, N.; Pulselli, F. M.; Theodosiou, N.; Zachos, D.
- How to integrate sustainability teaching and learning in higher education Institutions?: from context to action for transformation towards SDGs implementation: a literature reviewPublication . Pires, Sara Moreno; Nicolau, Mariana; Mapar, Mahsa; Dias, Marta Ferreira; Horta, Dina; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Patrizi, Nicoletta; Pulselli, Federico M.; Galli, Alessandro; Malandrakis, Georgios
- Teaching sustainability within the context of everyday life: steps toward achieving the sustainable development goals through the EUSTEPs modulePublication . Moreno Pires, Sara; Mapar, Mahsa; Nicolau, Mariana; Patrizi, N.; Malandrakis, Georgios; Pulselli, Federico; Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Niccolucci, V.; Theodossiou, N. P.; Mancini, Maria Serena; Galli, AllessandroIn 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.
- Empowering non-academic staff for the implementation of sustainability in higher education institutionsPublication . Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Mapar, Mahsa; Caeiro, Sandra; Moreno Pires, Sara; Nicolau, Mariana; Madeira, Catarina; Dias, Marta Ferreira; Gomes, Ana Paula; Lopes, Myriam; Nadais, Helena; Malandrakis, GeorgiosSustainability within higher education institutions (HEIs) is a well-established topic in the literature. Many fields of education for sustainable development have been explored, mainly focused on HEI students, as well as on academic staff. The technical, administrative, and management staff, referred to as non-academic staff has not received as much attention as the remaining HEI community, which leaves a gap in the successful implementation of sustainability practices and policies, as they play a vital and central role in the HEIs’ everyday functioning. Hence, the EUSTEPs project launched two sustainability training courses dedicated exclusively to this segment of the university community, aiming to increase their knowledge on facts and tools for the best sustainability transition. The first short-term online training, organized by the University of Aveiro and Universidade Aberta, Portugal, was run in May 2021. The training targeted 27 non-academic staff from different sectors. The second online training course was implemented one year later and involved 17 elements from the previous training. The results showed very high levels of overall satisfaction and full achievement of the participants’ expectations in sustainability issues. The non-academic staff learned and discussed the human–environment relationship, tracked and discussed their personal ecological footprint in the workspace, actively participated on how to run the university ecological footprint calculator, developed within the EUSTEPs project, and felt mobilized to implement actions to reduce their university’s environmental impacts (as well as in their general daily activities). Similar training programs can be used to impower non-academic staff for the implementation of sustainability in other higher education institutions, hence contributing to a successful integrated sustainability approach for the whole school.