The Environment & Society Research Group is headed by Dr. Carla Ferreira and brings together a group of experts on environment, ecology, chemistry, rural development, social sciences and economy to conduct innovative and forefront research.

Our common interest is to preserve natural resources and mitigate their degradation, decrease the ecological footprint of production processes, improve ecosystem services, adapt to global changes (e.g., climate change) and promote networking between the researchers and society, including industry to endorse sustainable development in the central region of Portugal and abroad.

We aim to develop avant-garde solutions for specific environmental and societal problems, and to explore sustainable solutions to optimize natural resources and human wellbeing.

Our research falls in the following areas:

1. Ecosystem conservation and socioecological systems resilience
2. Rural and urban development
3. Environmental economics and policy studies
4. Resource efficiency and cradle-to-cradle approaches
5. Valorization of agroforestry resources and life cycle analysis (LCA)
6. Sustainability and social responsibility

Some examples of our most recent research in each field area:

1. Ecosystem’s conservation and socioecological systems resilience

• Soil degradation and remediation of contaminated areas
• Water quality
• Photodegradation of fungicides in aqueous media
• Impact of land use changes on the ecological evolution of specific areas
• Antibiotic resistance
• Nature-based solutions

2. Rural and urban development

• Sustainable food systems
• Enhancement of regional and local origin products and value chains
• Family and urban farming
• Sustainable tourism
• Impact of land-use changes on soil properties and hydrological processes

3. Environmental economics and policy studies

• Economic costs and benefits of good environmental practices for farmers
• Waste tariffs as an economic instrument
• Development economics
• Economic policy analysis (e.g. support energy-climate policy)

• Biowaste treatment through different processes (e.g. composting)
• Recycling waste to improve soil fertility
• Nutrient fluxes in the natural environment and recovery processes
• Combined approaches for industrial processes eco-efficiency assessment
• Environmental, social and economic factors

• Analysis of the adsorption potential of metals by agroforestry results
• Chemical charactrization of waste and liquified waste in reactors
• Development of more environmentally friendly products
• Life cycle analysis of materials produced

• Social responsibility of higher education institutions
• Human wellbeing