Susana Loureiro, a researcher from CESAM/DBio, spoke yesterday, on November 1st, on the “90 segundos com ciência” program on Antena 1. She discussed the PARC project, which aims to monitor and study the impact of different chemical substances on the environment and human health.
You can listen to the researcher’s participation and learn more here: 90 Segundos de Ciência Episódio 188 – de 01 nov 2023 – RTP Play – RTP
Today, on November 2nd, the Atlant & Med – Blue Economy Forum 2023 is taking place at the Escola Superior Náutica Infante D. Henrique in Oeiras. Fátima Alves, a researcher from CESAM/DAO, along with José Maria Costa, Secretary of State for the Sea, and various other distinguished guests, is attending this event as the moderator for panel IV, titled “Ocean Environmental Monitoring: Data Collection and Public Dissemination.”
The Atlant & Med – Blue Economy Forum 2023 aims to share perspectives and experiences of models at the level of public policies, ongoing programs, and projects developed by entities involved in the development of the blue economy. It also seeks to exchange experiences in the field of the blue economy, especially regarding the transfer of scientific, technological, and innovative research to businesses.
This event aims to promote dialogue among relevant partners for the development of a transformative blue economy, identifying synergies, sharing best practices, and fostering interaction between public and private entities in the sector. To achieve this goal, it will involve the participation of various entities, aiming to enhance interaction and strengthen networks between Portuguese and Catalan companies and institutions. The purpose is to promote economic and institutional relationships in the field of the blue economy.
Adília Pires and Rita Torres, researchers from CESAM/DBio, secured funding from the 1st edition of the RESTART program by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The FCT announced the definitive results of the RESTART program in October of this year. In this inaugural competition, 143 applications were evaluated, and 31 projects were approved for funding, resulting in a success rate of 22%.
The program has a total funding of €1,511,708.00 allocated to R&D projects in all scientific areas. RESTART aims to empower a competitive return to research activities in new circumstances, providing support to researchers in promoting and developing original and innovative research ideas, particularly those who have recently benefited from parental leave.
Learn more about this program here: Programa RESTART – FCT
On November 4th, Paula Quinteiro (CESAM/DAO) participated in ComceptCon 2023: Damn plastic!, at the Museum of Leiria.
The annual conference of COMCEPT took place once again at the Museum of Leiria. It was a full day dedicated to science and critical thinking.
This year, COMCEPT was challenged to explore plastic in its various facets, from production to its many, more or less problematic, uses. For this purpose, individuals from the fields of chemistry, environment, biology, heritage, and arts were invited.
José Alves, a researcher at CESAM/DBio, participated in the 12th edition of OBSERVANATURA, held on October 28 and 29 at Herdade da Mourisca in Setúbal. This event, a fair dedicated to nature tourism, is organized in collaboration with the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), TróiaNatura, and the municipalities of Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém, and Sines. Its main mission is to promote birdwatching tourism and showcase the natural heritage of the Arrábida Natural Park and the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve.
As part of this event, José Alves gave a lecture titled ‘Why Travel to the Arctic? Connectivity and Performance of Migratory Shorebirds,’ where he presented recent discoveries about the ecology of migratory shorebirds. The lecture covered both the behavior of these birds during winter in the temperate estuaries of Portugal and their reproduction in the Arctic.
Additionally, José Alves presented the RTP documentary titled ‘Long-Distance Migrants: Between the Tagus and the Arctic.’ This documentary highlighted the Tagus Estuary as an essential refuge for thousands of birds during winter, with a special focus on the migration of red knots between the Tagus Estuary and the subarctic region of Iceland, as well as the work of the researcher and his team in this area.
“The White Stork: Between the Church and the Cliff” was named the Best Environmental and Ecology Documentary at the sixteenth edition of the International Film and Tourism Festival – Art & TuR, held in the city of Caldas da Rainha from October 24 to 27. A total of 262 promotional films and documentaries from 47 countries participated in the competition, evaluated by an international jury.
This documentary explores the life cycle of one of Portugal’s most emblematic birds, the white stork. The journey begins on the Alentejo Coast, where the only colony of storks nesting on marine cliffs is found. The documentary is scheduled to premiere soon on RTP1. Additionally, all award-winning documentaries from the festival will be screened on TAP flights, which transport around 4 million passengers per year.
The Center for Environmental and Marine Studies of the University of Aveiro (CESAM-UA) is the scientific partner of this documentary, produced by Play Solutions Audiovisuais. Joaquim Pedro Ferreira, a researcher and science communicator at CESAM, co-authored it with Paulo Caetano and co-directed it with Pedro Miguel Ferreira.
This award, like other recent ones, is a recognition of CESAM’s successful investment in the audiovisual field. Promoting scientific knowledge and enhancing awareness of natural resources among the general public are two major goals of CESAM.
Yesterday and today, on October 25th and 26th, in Nantes, the first meeting of the “REWRITE – REWilding and Restoration of Intertidal Sediment Ecosystems for Carbon Sequestration, Climate Adaptation, and Biodiversity Support” project took place, coordinated by Vona Méleder from the University of Nantes. Ana Sousa, a researcher at CESAM/DBIo and project coordinator at the University of Aveiro, João Serôdio (CESAM/DBio), and Carina Lopes (CESAM/DFis) were present at the meeting. The consortium, with 25 partners from Europe, Canada, and the United States, gathered to discuss the next steps and initiate the co-creation of a sustainable future for coastal areas. The project, with 10 case studies, will last for 5 years and is co-financed by the European Union/Commission within the Horizon Europe program.
On October 20th, the workshop “Challenges and Needs of Ocean Stakeholders in Portugal” took place at the University of Aveiro. The event brought together a group of experts and professionals to discuss crucial issues for those working in and for the ocean in Portuguese territory, fostering closer collaboration between academia and entities representing the entire value chain of the sector.
Organized within the framework of the BESIDE and A-AAGORA projects, this event followed a practical working meeting format. Participants engaged in interactive group exercises that resulted in the identification of 60 challenges and 41 information and scientific data needs in the ocean sector.
The event concluded with a lunch that fostered spontaneous and informal sharing of ideas to address the identified challenges, further strengthening the personal and professional connections among participants.
The project teams, in collaboration with CESAM, will now analyze the results of this session and develop proposals for solutions and decision-making support. The information will be presented in a report and executive summary, to be shared with participants in a second session scheduled for February 22, 2024.
This event once again demonstrated the commitment of our researchers to address real societal issues, specifically the challenges of the ocean in Portugal, encouraging even more effective collaboration between academics and stakeholders in the Blue Economy.
Learn more about the BESIDE and A-AAGORA projects.
Text by: Dionísia Laranjeiro, Helena Vieira, Mariana Almeida
On the past Sunday, October 22nd, on RTP1’s “Telejornal da Tarde,” a segment was broadcast featuring contributions from some of the speakers of the Biodiversity panel at the ECOPINE Conference, including Paula Maia, a researcher at CESAM/DBio. In the segment, the researcher emphasized the importance of managing pine areas to promote their multifunctionality, both for biodiversity and economic purposes.
The “Soils of the Interior: Monitoring to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change – Soil@INT” project began in October 2023 and will run for 3 years. This week, we had the opportunity to interview the project’s lead researcher, Rita Tinoco Torres, to learn more about its objectives, approaches, and expected impact.
CESAM: Thank you for sharing more information about this new project.
First of all, we would like to understand the motivations that inspired you to create this project and what led you to initiate it.
Rita T. Torres: The Soil@INT project arises from a perspective of continuity, having matured through the various projects ongoing in the Côa Valley, involving the participation and/or coordination of members from different CESAM groups. Field experience allowed the identification of one of the structural problems recognized in the territory, which could influence the main agricultural and forestry activities and the natural capital of the region: the loss of basic soil functions due to desertification and the current and future increase in aridity in the Côa Valley.
CESAM: Can you explain this loss of basic soil functions further…
Rita T. Torres: Soils are a vital resource, providing and regulating numerous ecosystem services (ES); however, they are highly vulnerable to degradation. The interior region of the Iberian Peninsula is one of the most threatened by desertification, with high levels of aridity, erosion risk, and declining soil productivity. Paradoxically, this is one of the regions most dependent on ecosystem services generated by its natural capital.
CESAM: You mentioned the concept of ecosystem services several times…
Ecosystem services are, in a very simplified way, the benefits that ecosystems can provide to humans.
CESAM: What are the objectives of Soil@INT?
Rita T. Torres: Taking the municipality of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo as a case study, the Soil@INT project aims to develop innovative, low-cost, and robust soil monitoring tools. These tools are based on the correspondence between data collected in situ and data obtained through remote sensing, whose spatial-temporal resolution and replicability potential will leverage soil management programs in interior territories. Thus, Soil@INT will provide the inland region with a system for active management of natural capital, focusing on sustainability, the valuation of ecosystem services, and climate resilience. This system will be designed in coordination with local stakeholders, whose qualification, capacity-building, and awareness will provide territories with tools capable of autonomously maximizing natural capital in the medium to long term.
CESAM: How can the general public benefit from or get involved in this particular project?
Rita T. Torres: The transfer of knowledge from Science to Society will be carried out through the Citizen Science project “Test your soil for free,” which will be implemented and will be a flagship of Soil@INT among the general public (regional and national). The Côa Valley will be seen as a natural laboratory and a “living laboratory” (experiments and innovation in a field laboratory, as envisaged in the EU’s SoilMission), in order to attract funding from a scientific perspective through the hiring of researchers, the recruitment of postgraduates, and a technical perspective through the hiring of technical personnel to assist in project implementation.
CESAM: Who are the partners involved in the project, and what is the role of each?
Rita T. Torres: As partners, we have two non-governmental organizations, Palombar and the Association for Transhumance and Nature (ATN), a state laboratory, the National Laboratory for Energy and Geology (LNEG), and the Municipality of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo (MFCR). Palombar will be responsible for implementing the Citizen Science project (“Test your soil for free”) through a consolidated network of school contacts, local actors, and the general public. ATN has extensive local and regional experience in the management and conservation of ecosystems of high socioeconomic and environmental value and adds an ability to coordinate with local stakeholders that will be essential for the project’s success. LNEG has extensive experience in collecting and processing data obtained by remote sensing, through multiple approaches and platforms. Their expertise will be essential for the development of monitoring methodologies, as well as for data collection through unmanned aerial vehicle flights. MFCR will provide logistical support, which is essential given the scale of project implementation, and will enable coordination and coverage that would not be possible without their contribution. These partnerships, materialized through three ongoing projects, confer a synergistic character to Soil@INT and demonstrate a strong determination to contribute to local development.
CESAM: You mentioned three ongoing projects. What are these projects?
Rita T. Torres: They are rWILD-COA (International Research Program on the Côa Valley – FCT) “Ecological challenges and opportunities in the renaturalization process of the Côa Valley,” LIFE WOLFLFUX (LIFE Nature and Biodiversity Program) “Reducing social and ecological barriers to wolf pack connectivity south of the Douro River,” and ELP-WI (Endangered Landscapes Programme) “Renaturalization of the large Côa Valley.”
CESAM: Finally, we want to know about the funding and the source of funding for this project?
Rita T. Torres: Soil@INT is funded by the “la Caixa” Foundation through the Promote program, aimed at revitalizing the interior regions of Portugal. The funding is €312,366.00.
CESAM: Thank you very much for your participation in this interview. We wish this project every success and look forward to following and learning about its results.
