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Understanding social sciences students’ perceptions of environment and nature: implications for critical thinking, reimagine socioecological futures and enriching intercultural dialogues

2025-03-04Book part Restricted access
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datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg10:Reduzir as Desigualdades
datacite.subject.sdg13:Ação Climática
dc.contributor.authorAlves, Fátima
dc.contributor.authorVidal, Diogo Guedes
dc.contributor.authorLourenço, Vitória
dc.contributor.authorViegas, Vanda
dc.contributor.editorFilho, Walter Leal
dc.contributor.editorNewman, Julie
dc.contributor.editorLange Salvia, Amanda
dc.contributor.editorViera Trevisan, Laís
dc.contributor.editorCorazza, Laura
dc.date.accessioned2025-08-14T16:10:39Z
dc.date.available2025-08-14T16:10:39Z
dc.date.issued2025-03-04
dc.description.abstractThis study presents the results of a survey applied to students of the curricular unit called “Environment, Health, and Wellbeing” which is part of the undergraduate degree in Social Sciences at the Universidade Aberta (Open University), an online distance public university in Portugal. The purpose of the survey was to understand students’ perceptions of the environment and nature, as constructed in their particular sociocultural contexts. It consisted of a series of questions about their environmental perceptions, their position on the environmental crisis and a call to re-imagine future socio-ecological scenarios. The survey was applied online to a universe of 308 students, organised in 5 classes of this curricular unit. With a total of 92 responses (29.9%), the majority of responses came from females (79.8%), with an average age of 44 years old and employed. Through qualitative analysis and reference to established themes, we reveal the multifaceted nature of students’ perspectives on environmental challenges. Students are concerned about environmental issues such as climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity and believe that these issues should be addressed through policies and regulations. They were also capable of envisioning potential futures and exploring pessimistic, realistic, and optimistic scenarios. These findings underscore the significance of acknowledging and embracing diversity in social-ecological education. They bolster the argument that adjusting educational strategies to accommodate various perspectives, identifying obstacles, fostering critical thinking, and promoting innovation can inspire contextually relevant solutions to global socio-environmental challenges. Socio-ecological education needs to resonate with a wide range of students to empower them as agents of change in our rapidly changing world.eng
dc.identifier.citationAlves, F., Vidal, D. G., Lourenço, V., & Viegas, V. (2025). Understanding Social Sciences Students’ Perceptions of Environment and Nature: Implications for Critical Thinking, Reimagine Socioecological Futures and Enriching Intercultural Dialogues. Em W. L. Filho, J. Newman, A. Lange Salvia, L. Viera Trevisan, & L. Corazza (Eds.), North American and European Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education (pp. 585–605). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-80434-2_32
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/978-3-031-80434-2_32
dc.identifier.issn978-3-031-80434-2
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/20191
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherSpringer Nature Switzerland
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectNature
dc.subjectEnvironment
dc.subjectSocial perceptions
dc.subjectSocioecological futures
dc.subjectCritical thinking
dc.titleUnderstanding social sciences students’ perceptions of environment and nature: implications for critical thinking, reimagine socioecological futures and enriching intercultural dialogueseng
dc.typebook part
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage605
oaire.citation.startPage585
oaire.citation.titleSpringer Nature Switzerland
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameAlves
person.familyNameVidal
person.givenNameFátima
person.givenNameDiogo Guedes
person.identifierhttps://scholar.google.pt/citations?user=NRP26CoAAAAJ&hl=pt-PT&oi=ao
person.identifier.ciencia-idF41D-6E75-A58D
person.identifier.ciencia-idC918-3B10-A36E
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-2600-8652
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-2777-2372
person.identifier.scopus-author-id57205490753
relation.isAuthorOfPublication01db740c-0644-4274-a03f-4c348c8b8ac5
relation.isAuthorOfPublication321ebcc7-4f68-444f-82bc-38f2f0b00204
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery01db740c-0644-4274-a03f-4c348c8b8ac5

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Capítulo de livro em revista internacional Alves, F., Vidal, D. G., Lourenço, V., & Viegas, V. (2025). Understanding Social Sciences Students’ Perceptions of Environment and Nature: Implications for Critical Thinking, Reimagine Socioecological Futures and Enriching Intercultural Dialogues. Em W. L. Filho, J. Newman, A. Lange Salvia, L. Viera Trevisan, & L. Corazza (Eds.), North American and European Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education (pp. 585–605). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-80434-2_32
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