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Research Project
Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research
Funder
Authors
Publications
Students’ perceptions of a food safety and quality e-learning course: a case study for a MSC in food consumption
Publication . Fernandes, Ana Paula; Caeiro, Sandra
Life long training and education in food safety is a crucial issue in particular for
professionals working in the field. At the same time there is a need to evaluate the
effectiveness of that training in particular when is given in e-learning. The purpose of
this explorative work is to evaluate the Food Safety and Quality e-learning course
within a Master program offered in the National Distance Learning University in
Portugal. Following a case study methodology a mixed methods approached was
used, based on an online questionnaire survey to students that enrolled the course,
followed by a Focus Group Discussion to better discuss the weak points addressed
by the students in the questionnaire. The questionnaire aimed to assess students
perceptions about the course organization, recourses, assignments, acquired
competences, change attitudes and behaviour and link with the professional activity
Students who enrolled the course during 2016/17 and 2017/18 were surveyed in the
fourth semester of the curricular year, in the period of development of the master
thesis dissertation. In addition a quantitative analysis was conducted in the temporal
distributions of messages published on the Moodle platform (learning analytics) to
evaluate students’ interactions and engagement during the course.
This study has shown that overall, students are very satisfied with the course,
however they suggested improvements that are needed considering the
pedagogical model used and their availability to learn as students with full time jobs,
most related with the food science. This explorative research aimed to contribute to
the improvement of food safety and quality training based also on recent tools and
recommendations within e-learning in science education.
Exploring assessment practices of companies actively engaged with circular economy
Publication . Roos Lindgreen, Erik; Opferkuch, Katelin; Walker, Anna Maria; Salomone, Roberta; Reyes, Tatiana; Raggi, Andrea; Simboli, Alberto; Vermeulen, Walter; Caeiro, Sandra
An emerging research area is dedicated to developing approaches for assessing the ‘circularity’ of companies and their products, within the context of sustainability goals. However, empirical evidence on the uptake of these assessment approaches remains scarce. Using a purposive sampling, we conducted a survey receiving 155 responses and held 43 semi-structured interviews with Dutch and Italian companies active in circular economy (CE), pursuing three research aims: to explore the use of CE and sustainability assessment approaches; to study the process of developing assessment approaches; and to uncover benefits of—and barriers to—CE assessment. While we find high variability of assessment approaches, most often, companies develop tailor-made sustainability indicators and apply life cycle assessments to CE strategies. Importantly, assessment development for CE practices requires and facilitates collaboration with external stakeholders. Finally, we reflect on the paradox of standardisation versus tailoring of assessment approaches within the CE reality and recommend establishing company needs and capabilities before designing assessment approaches.
Empowering non-academic staff for the implementation of sustainability in higher education institutions
Publication . 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, Georgios
Sustainability 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.
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Funders
Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Funding programme
6817 - DCRRNI ID
Funding Award Number
UID/AMB/04085/2019