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We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

In the twenty-first century, the family has been turning towards a greater plurality of training paths, situations, family and parental arrangements. However, despite changes in legislation, values, representations and practices, the word family remains inexorably associated with the heterosexual bi-parental model. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of the family dynamics of non-heterosexual people, mainly concerning the process of transition to parenting, in relation to family changes in Portuguese society. To do so this study aims to analyze four in-depth interviews¹ with young adults, women and men who have a homoconjugality relationship and a project of parenting in mind.

Based on a qualitative methodology the study intends to discuss issues related to the challenge of heteronormativity, equality within the couple, projects and gender representations of parenthood and in particular what it means for the men and women interviewed, to be a father and to be a mother in a same sex couple and how they project themselves as fathers and mothers.

The study discusses all these issues always in relation to the biographical trajectories, the history and life as a couple and the structural and individual resources, such as school and professional qualifications. It also analyzes the main difficulties experienced in revealing their sexuality to the significant others and the difficulties / strategies they anticipate in relation to the parenting project.

The authors conclude that female interviewees show greater independence of a male figure in relation to their parental projects and anticipate less difficulty in their parental skills compared with the gay man interviewed.

To analyze the dynamics of parenting in same-sex couples, this study also points out to the need to construct a model of analysis capable of articulating structural factors, such as job insecurity and heteronormativity, biographies and individual resources and profiles of conjugal interactions.

This chapter analyzes studies on organizational creativity in Latin America. Having identified a gap in the literature, we conducted a systematic literature review that provides academics, entrepreneurs, and managers with an overview of their regional reality. Creativity, seen here as a phenomenon that is distinct from innovation, constitutes a field of growing interest, albeit fragmented. Creativity is a multilevel phenomenon that influences individuals, groups, organizations, and the environment. Our results indicate that in the Latin American context, organizational creativity is a recent field, with publications concentrated in the last decade, and characterized by isolation when viewed from the perspective of partnerships among authors and institutions. We analyzed 39 articles and identified authors, journals, and countries with the largest number of publications. Research papers that investigate what enables creativity in organizations as well as articles that focus on organizational levels are the most commonly found. Subsequently, we discussed implications and directions for the field.

Science Education Outdoors provides students with direct contact with natural phenomena and enables active learning, a key factor in Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE), a student-centred methodology for the acquisition, construction and understanding of knowledge.

This chapter will describe three case studies which used the IBSE methodology as both a teaching and learning methodology, promoting a deeper understanding of how IBSE can contribute to the success of learning and teaching in outdoor settings.

The three case studies were based on three training courses conducted at the Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra (BGUC, Portugal). The first case study was the annual regular course for garden educators, and the other two were the two editions of the COInquire professional and accreditation training course for teachers and educators. Involving a total of 70 participants, data was collected through the application of questionnaires.

The study revealed that all participants considered IBSE a successful teaching–learning process and they remarked the opportunities created for the active construction of new knowledge. Strengthened by numerous live educational resources, the use of IBSE in the garden facilitated the questioning and interpretation of nature, supporting the open-minded and well-founded training of teachers, educators and students.

Additionally, the participants considered IBSE to be an effective methodology to boost their professional improvement, contributing to the development of innovative approaches to the curricular programmes on biodiversity and sustainability.