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Higher education system has a critical role to play in educating environmentally aware and participant citizens about global climate change (CC). And, as shown by the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Climate Change – COP 21, held in Paris in December 2015, there is still a path to be followed regarding the role played by universities in the negotiations and in influencing decision-making on a matter of such global importance. The purpose of this first study conducted within Portuguese (Europe), Mexican (Spanish-speaking North America University) and Mozambican (Africa) universities is to investigate higher education system students’ perceptions on CC.

The data were collected through a questionnaire aiming at characterising students from the socio-demography, and from their perceptions, motivations, attitudes and knowledge relating to the topic of CC. Statistical analysis was used to compare and characterise the three national groups under study.

This study did not show significant perception differences among the analysed subsamples, although there was a tendency for Mexican students to express lesser belief that CC was happening, and for Mozambicans to show a greater belief in CC issues and motivation to mitigate its effects which may be related to the specifics contexts. The results show that relevant differences among nationalities mostly concerned the magnitude of choices (e.g. most respondents of each nationality expressed interest in CC issues, but the magnitude of this expression differed according to nationality). The principal component analysis (second and third components) clearly embodied nationality profiles (discussed in the context of different cultures, educational structures and CC impacts).

Further research is warranted to understand the integration of CC into higher education curriculum to improve and target educational efforts to suit students’ needs.

How CC perceptions vary cross-nationally and how research studies that examine the integration of CC into higher education curriculum are areas for which more research is needed.

The results highlight the importance of socio-cultural dimensions of each country in relation to the understanding or perception of CC issues, namely, in what concerns aspects related with gender roles, age, active learning and citizenship. This study’s data evidenced that despite the surveyed students being familiarized with CC phenomena, this knowledge does not translate necessarily into concrete mitigation practices and behaviours.

This paper aims to determine, from key actors’ perspective, how sustainability has been integrated into the policies and strategies of higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly Portuguese public universities, within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD) 2005-2014.

Semi-structured exploratory interviews were conducted after gathering a sample of 15 key actors in decision-making processes who designed and implemented Portuguese education for sustainable development (ESD). Seven interviews with the key actors were undertaken and analyzed, leading to other plans, policies and programs that were not publicly accessible.

The main findings are the lack of commitment from governmental institutions to implementing ESD at the university level and how few documents are partially linked to sustainable development, according to the key actors’ opinions. Nevertheless, Portuguese universities’ autonomy and their social responsibility have lead them to develop several initiatives and policies toward ESD.

Convenience sample does not allow results to be generalized to all Portuguese HEIs. Future investigation will be undertaken, including the analysis of plans, policies and strategies at university level, and a questionnaire survey will be applied to those responsible for implementing sustainability in Portuguese universities.

This study provides findings, conclusions and recommendations that ultimately motivate HEIs to achieve sustainable development and to be more effective in integrating sustainability into their policies and strategies.

The paper contributes to the literature by reflecting the lack of integration of policies and strategies in HEIs in a southern European country (Portugal), within the framework and goals of the UN DESD 2005-2014, and by explaining similar patterns probably existing in other countries.

The study aims to examine the vertical integration of the sustainable development goals (SGDs) in Portuguese public higher education institutions, namely, at the level of undergraduate and master’s degrees, and the extent to which Portuguese higher education institutions (HEI) are preparing for the United Nations’ call to promote SDGs.

A content analysis of the designations and objectives of the 2,556 undergraduate and master’s degrees (in 33 Portuguese public higher education institutions) was done to determine whether they promote at least one SDG.

The results show that 198 courses directly address at least one SDG; on average, each higher education institution (HEI) has six courses that explicitly address at least one SDG; universities have more courses in SDG areas than in polytechnics; more master’s degrees embrace SDGs than undergraduate degrees; and most of the courses addressing SDGs are from the social sciences and humanities areas and from natural and environmental sciences.

This paper serves to raise the awareness of Portuguese HEIs of their role and responsibility in furthering SGDs.

Estuaries and shallow coastal areas are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, being recognized as important nursery areas for marine fish. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the causes and consequences of recruitment variability in marine fish, contributing to ecosystem‐based management strategies of estuarine and coastal areas.

The authors conducted a literature review, exploring the role of estuaries as nursery areas for marine fish, and analyzed the connectivity between estuaries and coastal areas, the main processes driving recruitment variability in marine fish during their pelagic (larval) and estuarine residency (juveniles) phases, and how it can be translated into variable coastal stocks.

Recruitment variability in marine fish is still one of the most important issues in marine fisheries ecology. In this paper, the authors demonstrate the potential of several processes for inducing variability in recruitment, including density‐independent mechanisms such as temperature, hydrodynamics, river flow and large‐scale factors, as well as density‐dependent processes, related with food abundance, competition and predation. Lastly, the authors evaluated the connectivity between estuaries and the ocean, and how this relationship can influence coastal stocks in the future. The main findings were analyzed in the context of climate change, which has been demonstrated to influence marine life at the individual, population and ecosystem levels.

This paper is a valuable tool for marine researchers and stakeholders, since it summarizes some of the most important processes that drive recruitment variability in marine fish, and how this information can be used for establishing sustainable ecosystem management programmes.

Environmental threats of immediate risk in areas such as coastal zones (CZ) have aroused new trends of citizenship and participatory democracy. The purpose of this paper is to analyse elements within those trends, such as environmental culture, socio‐political context, dynamics of social associative movement and integration of local knowledge. It also aims to contribute to an overview of the opportunities and barriers found in considering socio‐cultural and educational challenges in CZ.

In this analysis, case studies of integrated coastal management occurring worldwide were selected and reviewed, considering several nuances of socio‐economic and political contexts of CZ. Experiences of public response to coastal catastrophes such the Prestige oil spill in Spain, are also described.

Whether implementing sustainable coastal management through either balanced systems (between large and small‐scale strategies) or through largely bottom‐up approaches, participation is detected as one of the main factors for a successful integrated approach. Principles such as participatory governance and social justice should be adopted in initial phases of sustainable management processes and preferably involve all of the implied actors of CZ.

The literature reviewed highlighted specific factors that have empirically contributed to participatory sustainability of CZ, integrating three dimensions of citizenship: education, society's dynamics and culture.

The purpose of this paper is to explore women's perceptions about the benefits and risks of fish consumption, while exploring differences on their views about wild and farmed fish, considering light fish consumers.

The methodology adopted is exploratory, using focus group technique, segregating women by education level (higher education versus lower education). A focus group guide was designed, taking into account the following dimensions: attitudes towards fish consumption and perceptions towards farmed fish relative to wild fish, also considering risk perceptions related to farmed versus wild fish.

This study has shown that fish consumers enjoy the taste of fish and they are strongly convinced that eating fish is healthy. The main reason for their low fish consumption is related to perceive lacking of convenience. Women with higher education levels expressed additional knowledge considering different aquaculture systems and women with lower education levels were convinced that both wild and farmed fish offer benefits and present disadvantages.

The paper shows that attitudes of light fish users are partially similar to heavy fish users considering farmed fish production, with the search for convenience being driven by either perceived lack of time or perceived lack of cookery skills to prepare fish‐based meals.

This paper aims to connect participatory sustainability implementation with sustainability assessment, exploring learning theories, the principles of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) and respective indicators applied in the university context. Even though participation is partly considered in existing assessment practices, it is still unclear what and how to measure participatory processes that envision implementing sustainability principles in higher education institutions. Holistic approaches are often proclaimed, but reductionist assessment methods are frequently followed.

The study followed a qualitative approach, inspired by the Delphi method, and includes semi-structured expert interviews (N = 15) and two focus group discussions (N = 23), with participants coming from a total of 17 different countries. Data were analysed and compared according to qualitative content analysis and systemized according to the underlying theoretical strands.

The findings suggest that participatory processes can be better assessed from a social learning and organisational learning perspective, emphasizing non-linear criteria for the quality of the process in terms of depth and meaningfulness as well as criteria for the quality of the outcome in terms of knowledge generation and innovation. The findings also point implicitly to the need of considering double- and triple-loop learning, if a culture of participation towards sustainability is to be pursued, and underline the high impact of institutional governance.

Although a great volume of literature about sustainability implementation in higher education exists, studies focusing on participatory processes in this context are rather scarce. This research pays attention to sustainability experts working in universities rarely heard in a more systemic manner and also applies a reflective participatory approach itself by using qualitative methods.

The purpose of this paper is to perform a comparative analysis between Aveiro's Lagoon (Portugal) and Sepetiba Bay (Brazil), in order to understand the similarities and differences between these two coastal zones, in terms of human occupation.

This paper is supported by works (papers and scientific projects being developed) produced in Portugal and Brazil, by researchers from different areas of expertise.

These two coastal zones have a similar geomorphologic evolution, due to the fact that both appeared because of a sandy spit, which started to grow and separated these areas from the sea, converting them into sheltered coasts. It was because they are protected that these two study cases early became targets for human occupation. The anthropic impacts in the systems were sustainable until the middle of the twentieth century. Since then, however, the economic development options, based first in industry and second in tourism exploration, have compromised the natural healthy balance.

This paper could be a contribution to a scientific support for political decisions on the coastal zone management (namely in these studied areas).

The paper provides and increases the knowledge of the coastal zones’ evolution and occupation – from a multidisciplinary perspective – produced and made available to scientists, local politicians, students and local populations.

The paper provides a truly interdisciplinary approach, which allows a better understanding of the evolution of these two systems, discussing the causes and consequences of human activities in both coastal areas.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss integrative environmental assessments applicable to estuarine sediments, including the advantages and limitations of different lines of evidence that could form part of such assessments and their application to ecosystem services.

Weight of evident framework integrating multiple lines of evidence for sediment quality assessment.

Integrative environmental assessments are required to fully address the risks to resident fauna of anthropogenic contaminants deposited in estuarine sediments.

The paper presents an updated discussion of the methodologies for environmental assessments of contaminated estuarine sediments.