Coordination meeting confirms EUSTEPs project is on track!
EUSTEPs partners were hosted earlier this month in Aveiro, Portugal, for a two-day meeting as the project enters its third and last year. Conversations focused especially on the hotly anticipated university Footprint Calculator and the upcoming EUSTEPs MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), which are the akey deliverables scheduled for 2022. In addition, partners are already planning for a second training for university administrative staff after the Calculator launches in early 2022, which will focus on how to use it and interpret its results. Finally, partners started planning the 3rd multiplier event scheduled for March 2022 in Lisbon. Targeted audiences include educators, students, academic staff, and more. Participants will be introduced to the Calculator and hear about the Ecological Footprint results for the four EUSTEPs academic partners. Stay tuned for more info!
First Master degree thesis focused on the EUSTEPs Calculator impresses evaluation committee
Enrolled in the Ecotoxicology and Environmental Sustainability course at the University of Siena, graduate student Giulia Onofrietti received 110/110 and an Honor mention for her thesis on EUSTEPs and the University Footprint Calculator – the first thesis ever on this topic. Congratulations to Giulia! “This experiment demonstrates that the calculator works and can become operative,” said her thesis supervisor Prof. Federico Maria Pulselli. Giulia was supported also by co-supervisors Dr. Nicoletta Patrizi, Valentina Niccolucci and Massimo Gigliotti, members of the EUSTEPs team in Siena. Her work followed the development of the food section of the Calculator and applied the methodology to the University of Siena, carrying out the pilot calculation of the Ecological Footprint and identifying the critical points of data collection. “The results confirm the availability and accessibility of the calculator in order to provide an assessment,” Giulia concluded.
NEW on EUSTEPs.eu! Downloadable teaching material for HEIs administrative staff
From its onset, the EUSTEPs project aims to introduce a broader and holistic approach to teaching and practicing sustainability within universities, calling the administrative staff of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) — together with students, educators, and management bodies — to embrace a more sustainable university by developing a set of multidisciplinary skills and a necessary shift in attitudes. Complementing the module for students and the associated educators’ manual, the new module now available is designed to help administrative staff grasp how sustainability relates to not only the whole spectrum of daily life but also with their workplace and the administration of HEIs. It is structured in four 2-hour sessions. Check it out.
WATCH: 2 videos explain the EUSTEPs module designed for students
Are you interested in helping spread the word among about the EUSTEPs module, which any HEI educator in any department can incorporate into their course? Or are you still wondering whether it may be a valuable add-on to your own course? Two videos were recently posted on the website, which you are invited to watch and share, starting with a short intro by Prof. Sara Moreno Pires of the University of Aveiro on this page. Once there, filling in the form to access the downloadable material webpage will give you free access to an in-depth presentation about the overview of the EUSTEPs module by Prof. Federico Maria Pulselli of the University of Siena.
Student exchange activated between the Universities of Siena and Aveiro
Thanks to an ERASMUS traineeship program, new post-graduate student Giulia Onofrietti will spend three months at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, with EUSTEPs faculty member Prof. Sara Moreno Pires starting January 2022. There, she will be contributing to the assessment of the four EUSTEPs academic partners’ respective Ecological Footprints. Also, she will be part of the team identifying recommendations for how the HEIs can transform their practices to reduce the Footprint of their activities.
