New University of Lisbon
Nova University Lisbon (UNL – Universidade NOVA de Lisboa) was founded in 1973. As a public institution of higher education, NOVA has the mission to serve society through knowledge, locally and globally, by developing teaching and research of excellence that create significant social and economic value. NOVA has nine academic units distributed across multiple campuses in the Greater Lisbon region, located between the municipalities of Lisbon, Carcavelos, Oeiras and Almada (Campus de Caparica, where the NOVA School of Sciences and Technology is located). The university enrolls over 22, 000 students.
Faculty of Sciences and Technology
The program of the European Master of System Dynamics is accommodated by the NOVA School of Sciences and Tecnhnology (FCT NOVA – Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia). Founded in 1977, FCT NOVA is currently one of the most prestigious Portuguese public schools of science and engineering. FCT NOVA enrols ca. 8, 000 students, has around 500 academic and research staff. It has 14 departments/sectors and hosts 15 research centres. An important measure of academic quality at FCT NOVA is provided by growing employer satisfaction and successful job market insertion of graduates and postgraduates. FCT NOVA keeps close links with many Portuguese and foreign universities with regard to the exchange of academic staff and students, as well as collaboration within research projects. Through its departments and research centres, FCT NOVA also provides a range of services to public and private enterprises within its areas of expertise. At FCT NOVA, lecturers for the programme integrate the Ecological Economics and Environmental Management research area of CENSE – Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research.
Dr. P. Antunes
Paula Antunes is Full Professor at the School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon. She was Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of FCT NOVA and director of CENSE, Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research. She teaches environmental management, sustainability science and ecological economics. Her research focuses in ecosystem services, circular economy models, sustainability assessment, participatory decision-making and environmental policies. She has considerable experience in developing interdisciplinary research and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams in the scope of national and international research projects and policy studies. She is Associate Editor of the journal Ecological Economics and belongs to the Editorial Board of Sustainability and Environmental and Sustainability Indicators.
Dr. R. Santos
Rui Santos has a PhD in Environmental Engineering (Environmental Economics and Social Systems) from NOVA University Lisbon, a MSc. in Operations Research and Systems Engineering from the University of Lisbon (IST) and a Degree in Economics from Portuguese Catholic University. He is Full Professor at the School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon. He was Director of CENSE, Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research, 2017-2021. He teaches environmental economics and ecological economics courses in several undergraduate and graduate programs. His research focuses in ecological economics, mainly in the areas of design and evaluation of environmental policy instruments and socio-economic assessments, mainly with applications in ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, and water and waste management. An economist by training, he has acquired a great deal of knowledge and experience in environmental science and engineering and has participated and coordinated several multidisciplinary projects integrating environmental and socio-economic aspects in the scope of national and international research projects and support to policy design and evaluation.
Dr. N. Videira
Nuno Videira has a PhD in Environmental Engineering from NOVA University of Lisbon and a MPhil in System Dynamics from the University of Bergen. Currently, he is Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at FCT NOVA, where he collaborates in several courses in the economics and environmental management area. His research work focuses on participatory system dynamics modelling approaches for stakeholder engagement in environmental and sustainability decisions, with applications to several topics, such as, human-wildlife coexistence, ecosystem services, water resource management, sustainable consumption, degrowth pathways and sustainability transitions. He has collaborated on several research projects and studies supported by national and international organisations.
Programme
Sustainability Science (10 ECs)
Students will gain an understanding of the concept of sustainable development and of the assumptions and implications of the different perspectives regarding SD. They will also be able to understand how a system dynamics approach can be useful for formulating policies aimed at promoting sustainability. Students learn to assess and make use of the sustainability concepts, and methods involved in solving different problems in business organisations and in public policy domains. Furthermore, students can reflect on the principles of sustainability in combination with system dynamics.
Integrative modelling (10 ECs)
Students will be introduced to several integrated modelling concepts and approaches and its application to environmental and sustainability assessment processes. This will allow the development of several competences, such as: i) Understanding of integrated modelling concepts and tools; ii) Capacity to critically assess and combine two or several modelling approaches, for a better system comprehension and policy evaluation possibilities; iii) Ability to judge issues and values associated with different combinations of models, and how various system levels interact in a system dynamics perspective; ability to discuss issues of uncertainty, complexity and knowledge representation in integrative model building processes; iv) Understanding the role that integrated modelling can play and capacity to apply methods and tools in environmental appraisal and policy formulation contexts, namely for visioning, foresight, future scenarios studies, public and stakeholder participation, and the evaluation of ecosystems functions and services.
Sustainability Strategies Lab (10 ECs)
This course is aimed at introducing the main concepts that are relevant for the development of sustainable development policies applied in a real-world situation. It is expected that students develop several competences, namely: i) Understanding the main concepts and tools for the formulation of policies aimed at sustainable management of natural resources; ii) Capacity to assess and propose the application of different environmental policy instruments in a particular context; iii) Applying a system dynamics approach in the formulation and evaluation of a sustainability strategy and policy proposals; iv) Understanding the relationship between sustainability strategies and competitiveness in private and public organizations.
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