NOVA University Lisbon stood out at the UN Climate Change Conference as the only Portuguese higher education institution to promote an event in the Portuguese pavilion. This initiative, which also involved partners from EUTOPIA, an alliance of European universities of which it is a member, highlighted the importance of putting climate action at the top of the university agenda.
The panel, entitled “Prioritising Climate Action on the Higher Education Agenda”, was moderated by Francisco Ferreira, President of the portuguese NGO “ZERO” and included Júlia Seixas, Pro-Rector of NOVA, recognised for her extensive experience in environmental engineering and the coordination of projects related to climate and energy for more than two decades, and two other important international voices, Angie Bone, Associate Professor of Practice in Planetary Health at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), in Australia, and Elena Korosteleva, Professor of Global Sustainable Development and Policy and Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD), University of Warwick. Both institutions are members of EUTOPIA and highlighted the importance of university engagement in global climate action.
In her speech, Júlia Seixas highlighted the multiple fronts on which universities can act: “From the decarbonisation of campuses to the impact of educational programmes, we have a responsibility to lead by example.” She also mentioned the urgent need to train teachers to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into curricula, explore new pedagogical models, and start a constructive dialogue with national accreditation bodies.
The event, organized in partnership with the National Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development (CNADS), placed NOVA in a prominent position during the United Nations Climate Conference, held in Azerbaijan, between the 18th and 22nd, reaffirms the university’s pioneering role in promoting sustainable solutions and mobilizing for climate action in higher education.
An unmissable conversation that you can watch here