Ulisses Miranda Azeiteiro

University of Aveiro | UA · Department of Biology

Higher education institutions play a fundamental role and have great responsibility in promoting sustainability and achieving sustainable development goals. It is therefore essential to study the teacher's perceptions of incorporating sustainability since they are responsible for promoting competences and preparing citizens to respond with solution...

Digital technologies are now part of our daily lives, and the speed of their implementation and use has been accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital transformation, seen in the past as a problem, is now perceived as an important component in the future of sustainable development (SD), especially at higher education institutions wh...

Coastal ecosystems are currently exposed to pollutants and climate change. Namely, the increasing consumption of antineoplastics drugs and their potential release to aquatic ecosystems are raising concerns. Nevertheless, information regarding the toxicity of these drugs towards non-target species is scarce, especially considering climate change sce...

Anthropogenic-mediated climate change severely affects the oceans. The most common definition of a Marine heatwave (MHW) considers that water temperatures rise above the 90th percentile threshold values, based on the last 30 years' average of temperature records for a particular location, and remains this high for five or more days. The current rev...

Considering that the public health sector has been considered as a key stakeholder in climate action, it seems important to understand what interventions are carried out globally by trusted professionals such as nurses engaged in health promotion and environmental health in optimizing the health of individuals, families, and communities toward the...

Universities have an unrivaled potential to educate students on climate change issues and to actively engage them in climate affairs, both as citizens and influencers of future professions. Despite this potential and the many advantages of university student engagement in climate change, less emphasis has been given to understanding their attitude...

Background Sustainable production and consumption are two important issues, which mutually interact. Whereas individuals have little direct influence on the former, they can play a key role on the latter. This paper describes the subject matter of sustainable consumption and outlines its key features. It also describes some international initiative...

Background This paper presents a review of the literature and trends related to social values and sustainable development and describes a set of case studies from a variety of community-based projects which illustrate the advantages that social values bring about as part of efforts to promote sustainability. Three approaches were used to develop th...

Considerate the attitudes of traditional communities and their local ecological knowledge (LEK) can contribute to better policymaking and more appropriate management plans. Thus, this study strived to share the Minho River's fishermen LEK about great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758), as well as it exposes their conservation attitudes...

This paper provides an overview of how food production influences climate change and also illustrates the impact of climate change on food production. To perform such an overview, the (inter)link between different parts of the food supply chain continuum (agriculture production, livestock farming, food processing, food transport and storing, retail...

The chapter is developed on a two approach basis. In the first, it analyzed a global contextualization of the vulnerability of avifauna and wildlife to tourism impacts, where a transversal diagnosis is made. The vulnerability of wildlife to disturbance is complex and several studies suggest that animals undergoing non-threatening, predictable, and...

A alimentação constitui o satisfator principal da necessidade de subsistência, assim como um dos elementos centrais na configuração das sociedades humanas. A dieta, como construção cultural, está intimamente vinculada às emissões de gases de efeito estufa associadas aos sistemas agroalimentares. Assim, a dieta representa um claro exemplo de emissõe...

Background: The cockle is available to numerous fishing villages in Europe, especially Portugal. In the Ria de Aveiro, there is a lack of a fisheries management program and the need for new ecological studies on cockle biology, ecology, and conservation. We shared local ecological knowledge (LEK) highlights about the cockle-Cerastoderma edule (Lin...

Historical information on cockle landings and studies on local knowledge on cockle fishing, zoology, and ecology in the Ria de Aveiro remain incomplete. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the current conditions of artisanal fisheries in Europe, understanding the dynamics of this activity has become even more necessary. Therefore, this case study soug...

This chapter is dedicated to the food-heritage-education for climate emergency trinomial (FoHECE). It disseminates a study in the Euroregion of Eixo Atlântico. This Euroregion (Galicia, Spain and Northern Portugal) has been a victim of climate change (CC) due to drought. The project consisted of a participatory-action-research (PAR) with a set of e...

The X Iberian Symposium on the Hydrographic Minho River Basin, organized by the Aquamuseu do Rio Minho/Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Cerveira and co-organized by the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) - University of Porto, in a multidisciplinary context, addressed themes that covered areas from the geochemist...

O X Simpósio Ibérico Sobre a Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Minho, organizado pelo Aquamuseu do Rio Minho/Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Cerveira e co-organizado pelo Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental – Universidade do Porto, num contexto multidisciplinar, abordou temas que abrangeram áreas desde a geoquímica de sedimentos e...

Universities have an unrivalled potential to educate students on climate change issues and to actively engage them in climate affairs, both as citizens and influencers of future professions. Despite this potential and the many advantages of student engagement in climate change, less emphasis has been given to understanding students´ perceptions and...

Higher education institutions play an increasingly important role in advancing sustainable development. Various studies have demonstrated the key contribution made by teachers to achieving sustainable development. However, few works have addressed students’ perceptions in this regard and given that the students of today will be the main influencers...

Diadromous allis shad A. alosa is a fish species of high socio-economic and cultural value along the Minho River, and is also susceptible to multiple anthropogenic threats. This study aimed to assess fishers’ knowledge on artisanal fisheries of allis shad, and therefore assist and contribute to its conservation in northern Portugal. Results showed...

Studies on surf zone zooplankton biodiversity and population dynamics processes remain scarce in comparison to other coastal areas. In this work, we analysed the seasonal (winter/summer) variability of the surf zone zooplankton assemblage structure and copepod biomass of distinct areas with different substrate types (sandy beaches/rocky shores) at...

Background Cockles are an essential biological resource for several fishing villages in Europe, especially in Portugal. This bivalve is highly commercialized in the Aveiro coastal lagoon and has relevant socio-economic importance for local shellfishers. In the absence of a management plan, indications for carrying out new ecological studies on the...

The influence of multiscale processes such as climate, hydrodynamic and biological alterations on two coastal and estuarine gelatinous zooplankton groups were assessed under a warming decade from 2003 to 2012. At three sampling stations on the Mondego estuary, zooplankton and water samples were collected, evaluating the abundance of chaetognaths an...

The purpose of this study is to assess climate change knowledge among high school students and their beliefs and perceptions about the climate crisis. A questionnaire composed of 43 closed-ended questions was applied to 219 students aged 15–18 in three schools located in the north of Portugal. The results show that participants declared having limi...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global crisis, one which also influences the ways sustainability is being taught at universities. This paper undertakes an analysis of the extent to which COVID-19 as a whole and the lockdown it triggered in particular, which has led to the suspension of presence-based teaching in universities worldwide and influe...

The Amazon region contains a mosaic of different traditional communities. The role of traditional peoples in environmental conservation efforts has been much discussed in the literature. This article aims to synthesise some of this work by answering a central question: how have traditional communities come to play such an important role in environm...

This study aims at evaluating the environmental education (EE) and communication intervention for the valorization of migratory fish resources in an estuary of northern Portugal. The EE component intervention was implemented among Middle School pupils of that region. Students’ knowledge was quantitatively evaluated with an experimental approach of...

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is an antineoplastic drug widely used in chemotherapy treatments with high consumption rates and that has been detected in the aquatic environment. After being released into the aquatic environment, CP may cause adverse effects on aquatic organisms since antineoplastics are well-known cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic and terato...

Long-term time-series datasets are key for assessing the population dynamics of fish species with economic interest. This study examines two 100-year datasets for sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus and allis shad Alosa alosa from the Minho River. This basin on the Iberian Peninsula is home to one of the largest populations at the southern distribution...

Since January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the media and exercises pressure on governments worldwide. Apart from its effects on economies, education systems and societies, the pandemic has also influenced climate change research. This paper examines the extent to which COVID-19 has influenced climate change research worldwide during th...

This study is focused on perceptions regarding meat consumption, targeting university students. This is a timely topic in the context of climate change (CC), sustainability in agri-food systems, and in universities. Recently, some universities adopted food-related CC mitigation measures, by removing some types of meat from their canteens. This rese...

This Communication reports on the fires recently seen in the Pantanal region, in Brazil, the largely continental wetland globally. It outlines the causes of the problem and some of the means which may be deployed to address them.

There is a perceived need to develop approaches, methods and tools that may help higher education institutions to systematically introduce the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into research and teaching as an intrinsic part of their programs. However, at present, there is a gap in the literature on the suitable means to do so. This paper addres...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) have become the international framework for sustainability policy. Its legacy is linked with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), established in 2000. In this paper a scientometric analysis was conducted to: (1) Present a new methodological approach to identify the research output related to both SDGs and...

Climate change is one of the major challenges societies round the world face at present. Apart from efforts to achieve a reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases so as to mitigate the problem, there is a perceived need for adaptation initiatives urgently. Ecosystems are known to play an important role in climate change adaptation processes, since...

Mean sea-level is expected to rise significantly by 2100 in all scenarios, including those compatible with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. Global sea level rise projections indicate devastating implications for populations, ecosystem services and biodiversity. The implications of the sea-level rise (SLR) on low-lying islands and coas...

This chapter is dedicated to the food-heritage-education for climate emergency trinomial (FoHECE). It disseminates a study in the Euroregion of Eixo Atlântico. This Euroregion (Galicia, Spain and Northern Portugal) has been a victim of climate change (CC) due to drought. The project consisted of a participatory-action-research (PAR) with a set of e...

This paper aims to assess causes and the interactions between decision making, stakeholders and individuals, law and public policies to build a more precise overview of the relations, the possible results, and the factors which can interfere with environmental conditions and dynamics in Brazilian Amazônia. To better elucidate the issue, rational ch...

Cyclophosphamide (CP) and Cisplatin (CDDP) are antineoplastic drugs widely used in the treatment of neoplastic diseases that have been detected in the aquatic environment. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the presence in the aquatic environment of these two drugs and their effects on freshwater and marine invertebrates, which include...

Teaching about matters related to sustainable development requires not only a personal motivation from educators, but also a variety of competences. This paper reports on a multi-country study, which aimed at identifying the level of importance given to desired competences on sustainable development by teaching staff at a number of higher education...

The crisis caused by COVID-19 has affected research in a variety of ways. As far as research on sustainable development is concerned, the lockdown has significantly disrupted the usual communication channels and, among other things, has led to the cancellation of meetings and long-planned events. It has also led to delay in the delivery of research...

In order to yield the expected benefits, sustainability initiatives need to be undertaken by means of a close cooperation between universities on the one hand, and societal partners on the others. The principle of co-creation and co-execution of sustainability initiatives increases the value for all by mutual learning, and the sharing of expertise...

This book includes contributions from scientists and representatives from government and non-governmental organisations working in the field of land management and use and on management of fires. The book is truly interdisciplinary and has both a research and application-oriented dimension. The list of topics includes sustainability and water manag...

Global climate change challenges the lives and survival of rural communities. Mozambique is one of the Southern African countries most vulnerable to extreme climatic events, such as floods, storms, cyclones, and droughts. The future of rural communities and their generations could be jeopardised if sustainable and long-term actions are not implemen...

Approximately 200,397,5 km² (~25%) of the Mozambique territory have been declared a protected and biodiversity conservation area. Unprecedented efforts to protect biodiversity have placed the country on the upper list of the main African biodiversity conservation references. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic created significant disruptions in the...

Ecosystems services are at the base of the pyramid, strategy, and survival of rural communities in many developing countries such as Mozambique. Its massive decline has been widely announced and the future of rural communities is severely threatened. However, directing policies or decision-making to protect the local ecosystems services will involv...

This study shared the fishers’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) from the two fishing villages (Peniche, Portugal, and Arraial do Cabo, Brazil), based on answers to the following key question: What are the main target species for fishing in Peniche/Arraial do Cabo? A total of 221 semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Atlantic fishing vill...

Climate change is the most serious environmental, social, and economic problem humanity is currently facing. Education is a fundamental pillar for societies in their efforts to address climate change, as stated in Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. In view of this imperative, the need to develop a Climate Change Education (CCE) plan that would be u...

Ichthyoplankton assemblages are key components of estuaries worldwide, playing a vital role as nurseries for fish larvae. Nonetheless, estuaries can be highly affected by ongoing climate change. Impacts of climate variability on ichthyoplankton assemblages will have consequences for marine pelagic food webs and fish populations biology, namely recr...

This study presents a descriptive and exploratory research about the understanding of sustainable development (SD) among public higher education institutions’ students, in Portugal. It explores the student’s perspectives about SD through the analysis of their attitudes, skills and experiences on the theme. Their knowledge about sustainable developm...

Aleixo, A.M., Azeitiero, U.M., & Leal, S. (2020, October 30). A student perspective on sustainable development in Portuguese higher education Institutions [Oral presentation]. CCs2020, 2ª Conferência Campus Sustentável http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/5186

This study shared the fishers’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) from the two fishing villages (Peniche, Portugal, and Arraial do Cabo, Brazil), based on answers to the following key question: What are the main target species for fishing in Peniche/Arraial do Cabo? A total of 221 semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Atlantic fishing vill...

In this paper, we present a research about the understanding of sustainable development (SD) among students of public higher education institutions, in Portugal. It explores the students' perspectives about SD through the analysis of their attitudes, skills and experiences on the theme. Their knowledge about sustainable development goals (SDGs) and...

This Special Issue “Sustainability Assessment in Higher Education Institutions” provides peer-reviewed research from several geographies and institutions and covering various topics with the broad objective of achieving an assessment of the effectiveness and impact of different implementation dimensions measuring and evaluating how sustainability i...

Purpose This study aims to expand knowledge and provide further insights on how education for sustainable development (ESD) has been integrated into programmes at higher education institutions (HEIs) in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was given to key actors in charge of sustainability implementation at each Portuguese...

The urban environment is characterised by many pressures caused by population growth, transport (and its related emissions), and the damage to green areas. Yet, there is a variety of ecosystem services available in urban areas, which may be deployed to ameliorate the current problems and foster their sustainability. This paper reviews the role of e...

Purpose The study aims to examine the vertical integration of the sustainable development goals (SGDs) in Portuguese public higher education institutions, namely, at the level of undergraduate and master’ s degrees, and the extent to which Portuguese higher education institutions (HEI) are preparing for the United Nations’ call to promote SDGs. De...

Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for society. Its legacy is linked with the Millennium Development Goals, set up in 2000. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to 1) measure "core" research output from 2000-2017, with the aim to map the global research of sustainability goals, 2) descri...

This study presents a descriptive and exploratory research about the understanding of sustainable development (SD) among public higher education institutions’ students, in Portugal. It explores the student’s perspectives about SD through the analysis of their attitudes, skills and experiences on the theme. Their knowledge about sustainable developm...

This study presents a descriptive and exploratory research about the understanding of sustainable development (SD) among public higher education institutions’ students, in Portugal. It explores the student’s perspectives about SD through the analysis of their attitudes, skills and experiences on the theme. Their knowledge about sustainable developm...

Climate policies are essential to mitigate climate change and to develop successful adaptation processes. However, there is a paucity of international studies that analyse the status of climate change policies. This paper reports on research undertaken in a sample of 13 highly diverse countries, in regards to their geography, socioeconomic developm...

This book fills an important gap in the literature, and presents contributions from scientists and researchers working in the field of sustainable development who have engaged in dynamic approaches to implementing sustainability in higher education. It is widely known that universities are key players in terms of the implementation and further deve...

Climate policies are essential to mitigate climate change and to develop successful adaptation processes. However, there is a paucity of international studies that analyse the status of climate change policies. This paper reports on research undertaken in a sample of 13 highly diverse countries, in regards to their geography, socioeconomic developm...

Background: Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is a diadromous fish compromised by various stressors, which can lead to population decline and the urgency of stronger conservation regulation. In the absence of documentation of direct knowledge of local populations, a broader zoological and ecological understanding of sea lamprey fishing has become v...

Environmental disturbance on freshwater ecosystems significantly impacts all levels of the trophic web. Salinity in lentic freshwater ecosystems, as a consequence of climatic changes, is rising concern in the scientific community. These alterations affect water quality, the composition and diversity of the aquatic communities. This study aimed to a...

A educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável (DS) encontra-se no centro da Agenda 2030 para o DS (Nações Unidas, 2015) e dos seus dezassete objetivos (Leicht, Heiss & Byun, 2018). A meta 4.7 dos objetivos do desenvolvimento sustentável (ODS), que visa que todos os estudantes adquiram os conhecimentos e competências necessárias para promover o DS,...

Innovation is known to be an important and influential factor in fostering sustainable development. Yet, there is a paucity of literature on the extent to which universities are successfully implementing innovation in this field. This paper addresses this gap, by examining the role of innovation in the field of environmental sustainability in unive...

• Context: Anthropogenic activities affect ecosystems creating stress regimes and new disturbances. Among these anthropogenic activities, we highlight roads that are main cause of habitat segmentation. On the other hand, as roads were built to accommodate traffic in rural areas, rate of vehicle-wildlife collisions has significantly expanded, thereb...

The Copernicus Declaration of 1994, which was understood as a commitment to sustainable development (SD) by top management in higher education, was signed by many universities. This signature worked as an important driver for these institutions to put different dimensions of SD principles into practice. In Portugal, a Southern European country, six...