Project List

  MIL Community Connections (MIL CC) aims to tackle three major challenges faced by public libraries today: 1) librarians often lack Media and Information Literacy (MIL) training and crucial skills, especially in the age of generative AI; 2) despite the availability of high-quality, free-to-use MIL resources, most are not tailored to the specific needs of libraries and their patrons; 3) library structures and community contexts vary greatly across Europe, yet MIL resources are often created without considering issues of translation and adaptation.   To address these challenges, MIL CC offers a hybrid course for librarians, designed and implemented by Learn to Check (Spain), involving librarians and local community members, including teenagers, adults, and elderly people. Initially in Catalan, the course will be translated into English, Portuguese, and Spanish, and will be updated and improved based on the results of a 2023 Irish pilot community training program aimed to empower teachers, librarians, and community leaders to deliver MIL workshops within their communities.   Through the MIL CC course, 150 librarians will develop community MIL projects tailored to specific contexts. They will also design, implement, and evaluate MIL activities, establishing a set of best practices. Standards for course implementation and project creation will be established and validated by national supporting partners and an international expert consultation group, using a co-design methodology.   All training materials and standards will be published under a Creative Commons license and extensively promoted through existing networks (e.g., EDMO) and a network of interconnected libraries, one of the key outcomes of MIL CC.  

In recent years, new workspaces, such as coworking spaces, fab labs, makerspaces, and creative hubs, have experienced exponential growth globally. Most of the literature presents the relationship between these new workspaces and sustainability issues in a positive light, particularly highlighting their contributions to urban regeneration processes and the promotion of sustainable businesses and practices. These spaces contribute to decarbonization efforts through the shared use of resources, reduced commuting, the adoption of soft mobility modes, and energy-efficient infrastructures. However, the real impact of these spaces and their practices on promoting sustainability requires further understanding. In this sense, this proposal aims to combine research on sustainability and ecological transformation with emerging literature on new workspaces, as well as the attitudes and practices of new generations regarding work and lifestyles. This project seeks to map collaborative workspaces in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) and conduct exploratory research on their potential impacts on sustainable urban development and carbon neutrality through the application of a questionnaire to managers and users of these spaces

Participation with the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Porto with the project “The role of labor inspection and prevention services in supporting compliance with OSH requirements in Portugal”, coordinated by Professor Liliana Cunha from FPCEUP according to objectives, methodology and calendar proposed in the Contract awarded to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, under reference OSHA/DC/8534.

A digitalização da comunicação política, especialmente em períodos de campanha, é hoje uma realidade não negligenciável. A literatura evidencia que os partidos de direita radical são particularmente propícios a utilizar a comunicação política digital como uma voz alternativa para captar eleitorado menos propenso à participação política convencional – em Portugal, os jovens. Ainda assim, a atividade online das juventudes dos partidos não tem sido estudada, apesar de os cidadãos mais jovens serem os maiores utilizadores das redes sociais. Neste trabalho, analisamos os comportamentos digitais (no X e Instagram) das juventudes partidárias do Partido Chega e da Iniciativa Liberal, dois partidos de direita e com presença recente no parlamento nacional, em período de campanha para as Eleições Legislativas e para as Eleições Europeias de 2024. Partindo das diferenças de abordagem temática de cada Juventude, testámos e concluímos que a Juventude do Chega faz mais uso de frames de conflito do que os Jovens Liberais. Com recurso a análise multivariada, testámos também se os frames de conflito e de populismo, quando usados na rede X, amplificam o engagement de forma significativamente desproporcional, tendo apenas alguns resultados significativos indicativos de uma combinação específica de populismo e rede social que impacta o crescimento das interações digitais. É discutida a grande robustez da teoria perante este segundo resultado que em parte a contraria, bem como a capacidade de inferência destes resultados para campanhas vindouras.   Orientação: José Santana Pereira (CIES-Iscte)

This project is developed within a PhD scholarship with the funding reference 2024.06107.BD.   The 21st century’s escalating concerns over food security and sovereignty, exacerbated by climate change and geostrategic risks, prompt urgent calls for sustainable solutions. This research project addresses this issue by focusing on safeguarding plant genetic heritage and food sovereignty in the Mediterranean region, recognizing its significance as a biodiversity hotspot, the Mediterranean diet’s UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status, and the concerning decline of public and NGOs seed breeders amidst the dominance of commercial ones with expensive patented seeds. Using a comparative analysis, including documentary research, mix methods, and key player interviews, it examines seed initiatives and policies in West and East Mediterranean countries, Portugal and Greece, considering economic, legal, and environmental dimensions. It aims to provide insights into preserving seed biodiversity and the implications for food sovereignty, emphasizing socio-economic impacts for local communities and addressing food justice issues, thus filling an academic gap and guiding public policy by promoting collaborative governance. Keywords: Food security; agricultural biodiversity; environmental sustainability; seed policies; mediterranean region.