IP azul: Divulgar - Hoje comemora-se o Dia Internacional da Educação

Join us in celebrating the

UN International Day of Education!

Since the 1972 UN Stockholm Conference, education has been recognized as key in fostering environmental protection and has played a central role in easing the transition to a sustainable world. So we want to take this opportunity to share a few highlights of the sustainability education project we’ve been involved with since 2019, Enhancing Universities’ Sustainability Teaching and Practices through Ecological Footprint (EUSTEPs).

Project partners developed and tested a teaching module on sustainability and published the process in this journal article. The teaching module’s content was expanded upon to produce the Sustainability and Ecological Footprint: From Theory to Practice MOOC. The first session of this online course was attended by nearly 200 students. A second tutored session is coming soon, so stay tuned!
The project was included as a best case in the UN SDSN guide on Accelerating Education for the SDGs in Universities and as a resource in their most recent Net Zero on Campus project’s online toolkit.
EUSTEPs partners spearheaded and guided the development of the innovative University Footprint Calculator, as well as the Ecological Footprint Reduction Recommendations for Higher Education Institutions report. Since its launch in April 2022, 108 universities from 22 countries have already used the Calculator to monitor the sustainability of their campuses.

"Access to the [University] Footprint Calculator provided by EUSTEPS was essential to measure our baseline and design sustainability indexes for the institution. This tool will continue to have great relevance in the follow-up of this work, to understand our evolution and the success/unsuccessfulness of our interventions in reducing our Ecological Footprint."

Paulo Jorge Ferreira, Rector of the University of Aveiro

Are you a University professor or administrative staff member? Test the University Footprint Calculator and find out the Ecological Footprint of your institution. Not a member of the staff? You can check out our well-known Footprint Calculator. Use this popular resource to calculate your personal Footprint data and find out when Earth Overshoot Day would land if everyone on the planet lived like you.

Can’t get enough Footprint data? Then check out a couple of our newest tools! The Footprint Scenario Tool lets you design possible futures by toggling key parameters that shape overshoot: how much biocapacity we will lose or gain over time, how much each of us will use, and how many of us there will be on the planet. And the Food Footprint Platformshows our analysis of EU and Mediterranean countries’ food Footprint and trade flows in a fun, interactive way.

If these educational resources have left you feeling inspired, multiply their impact by forwarding this email to the students, teachers, and lifelong learners in your life. Because with your help, we can bring sustainability education tools to all.