Project List

As energy prices have surged throughout Europe, affecting all households (directly or indirectly) through their energy bill, citizens increasingly want to contribute to the renewable energy transition. Next to market parties and government, the role of citizens in energy communities (ECs) in developing Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) can and should be strengthened, and wider groups of citizens can be involved. From this shared problem and understanding across Europe, the project will work on ‘Creating, Optimizing and Planning Positive EneRgy districts while connecting citizens’ energy at different geographical levels’ (COPPER). The first objective is to co-develop P2P citizens-based support- and information systems that are inclusive of energy-vulnerable groups and which foster active energy citizenship. In P2P platforms information is exchanged on the energy transition, support and coaching are given, and citizens will be trained to become civil energy coaches. This will start from specific neighborhoods, and lead to exchanges between different communities and (eventually) in the wider region. Citizens'  upport and information systems more generally will be identified, based on desk research and contact with key stakeholders and resident groups in each country (see letters of support). Then these platforms will be evaluated in terms of the autonomous role of citizens, facilities offered, sharing of tools, P2P help and coaching, nature of topics and challenges discussed among residents, degree of inclusiveness, and potential for innovation towards PEDs. Moreover, PEDs need to be embedded within the wider energy system by creating reliable entities such as organized ECs with intermediary roles, linking supply, demand, and storage in the energy market. The second objective is to develop different models based on certain ‘archetypes’ of energy communities. This means the modeling of differences in both scale and configuration of ECs, in different country settings, to...

O presente projeto pretende analisar e compreender qual a relação que, atualmente, os jovens em Portugal têm com a leitura, nomeadamente de livros, enquanto prática cultural, e como se perspetiva o futuro da cultura de leitura neste país. Vários estudos têm revelado que determinados contextos sociais têm um impacto profundo nas práticas de leitura dos jovens, e que, nas últimas duas décadas, se verifica um decréscimo da leitura por prazer junto desta população Recorrendo a estudos com uma estratégica metodológica quantitativa – inquéritos por questionário a uma amostra representativa de jovens matriculados no 3.o ciclo do ensino básico e do secundário, realizados em 2019 e 2023 –, pretende-se aferir como os contextos familiar e escolar – e neste as culturas juvenis –, marcados pela generalização dos dispositivos digitais online, influenciam a relação dos jovens com a leitura e livros, e, por consequência, o futuro da cultura de leitura em Portugal.   Orientação: José Soares Neves (CIES-Iscte) Patrícia Ávila (CIES-Iscte)    

INITIATE is a project that aims to empower higher education institutions to develop R&I through institution transformation. INITIATE, in its widening dimension, seeks to raise excellence in science and knowledge valorisation of Europe's universities through cooperation and knowledge circulation. Through stakeholder inclusion and co-design approach, INITIATE will design an approach for institution transformation that will reflect on the current needs and resources of the institution, external elements such as policy barriers, good practices from other initiatives and identification of possible collaboration areas with other institutions including local ecosystems. Through iterative process and R&I Labs supported by online tools such as Knowledge Hub, INITIATE will generate policy recommendations for helping stimulate R&I development and scientific excellence in Widening countries, in addition to research outputs and creation of joint applications for other funding sources (e.g. Horizon Europe). The approach will be demonstrated in Croatia, Portugal and north Macedonia. This will finally result in a roadmap for long term uptake of R&I in widening countries with identified replication cases and forming of the Alliance for green energy transition that will assure the long-term sustainability of INITIATE results. The action focuses on universities in Widening countries, in which the cases for the implementation of INITIATE approach will be conducted. Additionally, the project aims to achieve several outcomes, including the successful institutional reform and upgrade of higher education institutions in the R&I dimension, empowerment to be actors of change, and the mainstreaming of a culture of excellence in science and value creation amongst higher education institutions, particularly in less research-intensive institutions and countries. To achieve these outcomes, the project will engage universities as well as local ecosystems.

This project starts from the observation that European citizens, in general, and the Portuguese, in particular, have limited knowledge about European funds and a moderately positive opinion about their impact. Despite the huge volumes of investment and the fact that there have been policy instruments in place across Europe for many decades (notably those from cohesion policy), it is a subject that seems relatively distant and diffuse to the ordinary citizen. Some studies warn that this is not positive for the strengthening of the European integration process, nor for the strengthening of the perception of the public value of these same policies, and in this matter it is possible to evolve considerably. It is a path, in our view feasible and recommendable, that will lead us to the strengthening of democracy as a whole, but also to the promotion of our fundamental values and collective well-being. In addition to these fundamentals, which alone are sufficient to justify change, it is necessary to also emphasize the gains in effectiveness, efficiency, equity and sustainability that can be obtained through greater knowledge and citizens involvement in the processes of formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies. From the challenge launched by the Aviso PAT2030-2023-01, the project seeks to diminish the lack of knowledge about European funds by citizens through the qualitative improvement of the PT2030 communication efforts. To this end, it is proposed to develop an applied research project aimed at identifying the most appropriate communication strategies for strengthening and affirming the public value of these financial instruments. These strategies are specifically pointed to the media professionals and to the knowledge and skills gaps in this field, as well to the detection of action proposals in the field of empowering audiences directly related to the media ecosystem