Browsing by Author "Chacartegui, Ricardo"
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- A methodology to empower citizens towards a low-carbon economy: the potential of schools and sustainability indicatorsPublication . Lizana, Jesus; Manteigas, Vítor; Chacartegui, Ricardo; Lage, Joana; Becerra, Jose A.; Blondeau, Patrice; Rato, Ricardo; Silva, Filipe; Gamarra, Ana R.; Herrera, Israel; Gomes, Margarida; Fernandez, Amaia; Berthier, Celine; Gonçalves, Karla; Alexandre, Jose L.; Almeida-Silva, Marina; Almeida, Susana MartaEnvironmental empowering to control resource consumption and environmental impacts is critical to engage citizens to adopt more sustainable habits. This study demonstrates the potential benefits of innovative approaches based on sustainability indicators towards a low-carbon economy. A methodology to measure and promote sustainability in schools has been proposed and evaluated, aiming at showing the environmental performance and informing of potential environmental savings. The methodology, titled ClimACT, has two main purposes: measuring the environmental performance of schools through a school sustainability index based on measurable indicators in the areas of transport, procurement, green spaces, indoor air quality, energy, water and waste; and encouraging students, teachers and families towards an energy-efficient and low-carbon pathway through a structural procedure based on roles, activities and progress evaluation. The approach, applied to 39 pilot schools from Portugal, Spain, France and Gibraltar, achieved promising and encouraging results. All schools deployed the methodology successfully, achieving measurable environmental benefits in 95% of cases, with an average improvement of 10% in the global performance of schools after one year. Moreover, the 5112 surveys applied to school communities, before and after the methodology implementation, highlighted how the sustainable indicators had a significant influence on the daily lives of families, leading to improvements of their behaviour, with an average increase of 20% in indicators regarding good practices in transport, energy, water, waste and citizenship. The environmental empowering through measurable indicators is a step forward a low-carbon economy. This methodology is open and adaptable to all sectors and requirements.
- Mobility patterns of scholar communities in Southwestern European countriesPublication . Lage, Joana; d’Espiney, Ana; Canha, Nuno; Manteigas, Vítor; Alexandre, José Luís; Gonçalves, Karla; Chacartegui, Ricardo; Lizana, Jesus; Lechón, Yolanda; Gamarra, Ana Rosa; Fernandez, Amaia; Blondeau, Patrice; Gomes, Margarida; Almeida, Susana MartaThe present study aimed to provide an in-depth assessment of the commuting patterns of scholar communities of southwestern European countries and to identify measures to improve their sustainable performance regarding mobility. The adopted methodology characterized the mobility pattern of students as a sustainability indicator and the availability of related infrastructures and local public transport networks. Data were gathered by qualitative (behavioral questionnaires) and quantitative (technical audits) approaches, based on measurable indicators (key performance indicators and scores (ranging between 0–5)). Overall, French schools showed the best sustainable performance regarding mobility (2.0) and Gibraltar had the lowest (1.2). The existence of bike parking and electric car charging points were the main weaknesses founds (with their related mean scores being 0.6 and 0.2, respectively). The score associated with annual CO2 emissions due to students’ mobility had the best performance, where all countries managed to obtain an average of 3.1. The global score, which assessed the sustainable performance of scholar communities regarding mobility, had a mean value of 1.5 for all studied countries, which highlights the potential for improvement of the studied schools, mainly targeting the public transport network optimization and the enhancement of scholar infrastructures concerning bicycle parking and electric cars.