Sustainability Days at UC 2025

PhD in Biology, specialising in Ecology. Her research focuses on freshwater ecosystems, especially rivers, the impact of anthropogenic stresses and climate change on them, at national and global levels; and on riparian systems in cities: their biodiversity and ecosystem services, and their importance for the sustainability of cities.

With a PhD in Ecology from FCTUC, Susana C. Gonçalves is currently an external collaborator at DCV-UC and coordinates the MyCoLAB research group at the Centre for Functional Ecology. She created the citizen science project Mushrooms in the City, which has already documented more than 300 species in Coimbra. Susana is an active member of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Fátima Alves holds a PhD in Sociology and is an Associate Professor at Universidade Aberta, where she has been teaching since 2000 in the Department of Social Sciences and Management. She is the Coordinator of the PhD programme in Intercultural Relations and a senior researcher at the Centre for Functional Ecology, Science for People & the Planet, at the University of Coimbra, where she created and coordinates the research group Societies and Environmental Sustainability, whose research reflects a concern with articulating different disciplinary perspectives that emphasise the complementary and interdependent dimensions of socio-ecological phenomena, sustainability and health, as well as deepening the contribution of social studies. In addition, it focuses on dimensions that cut across these areas, such as socio-ecological relations, knowledge-power relations, where lay rationalities, governmentality, interdisciplinarity, interculturalities and the challenges of e-learning are situated. He is a member of several national and international research networks and is a member of the Scientific Council of the UNESCO Chair in Biodiversity and Conservation for Sustainable Development at the University of Coimbra.

Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra. Member of the European Legal Observatory of the Natura 2000 and Waters Network, and of the Advisory Board of the European Environmental Law Forum. She is a trustee of the European environmental law expert group Avosetta.org and coordinator of the Ibero-American network JUST SIDE on territorial justice. Ambassador for SDG 16 of the Portuguese Partnership for the Global Compact. Her areas of teaching and publication are European environmental law, law in the Anthropocene, eco-literacy, eco-innovation, nature conservation law, Earth system law, animal law, waste law, risk law, civil protection law, chemical law, and food safety law.

Rui C. Martins is an Associate Professor with Aggregation in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Coimbra. His research focuses on the development of technologies for water and wastewater treatment, and he is the co-founder of two companies in this field (Adventech and Envitecna). He is the coordinator of the Horizon Europe-funded project ‘H2OforAll – Innovative Integrated Tools and Technologies to Protect and Treat Drinking Water from Disinfection Byproducts (DBPs)’.

Civil Engineer, Docteur en Sciences Appliquées 1987, PhD in Civil Engineering, specialist in Hydraulics and Water Resources and Sanitary Engineering. Advisory Member of OE, Professor at DEC, FCTUC. He has published over two hundred scientific articles in the field of Hydraulics, Water Resources and the Environment. APRH Region Award 2021, awarded for the first time, in recognition of his contribution to the cause of Water and the defence of Water Resources in the context of the Central Region. Chairman of the Board of Directors of Águas de Coimbra, E. M., Retired Associate Professor at UC.

Ana Soares is an Assistant Professor at the University of Coimbra, where she teaches in the field of energy management, and a researcher at INESC Coimbra. She holds a PhD in Sustainable Energy Systems from UC (MIT Portugal Programme) and has international experience at EnergyVille/VITO (Belgium) in European projects focused on energy flexibility.

PhD in Civil Engineering, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Coimbra, co-author of 85 articles in international journals and more than 200 conference papers. He collaborated in the creation of Itecons and is currently one of its board members. As Technical and Scientific Supervisor of Itecons, he promoted the creation and growth of the Hygrothermal, Energy and Exterior Frames and Cladding Sections. He has participated in more than 50 research projects, most of which are related to the development and characterisation of construction solutions.

Degree in Biology (University of Aveiro) and MSc and PhD in Microbiology (University of Coimbra). He works in the field of infectious diseases, new diagnostic technologies, antibiotic resistance and the human microbiome at CNC/CiBB-UC, where he coordinates the Green Labs initiative. He is also a member of the Coordination of the Portuguese Network of Sustainable Laboratories.

Mariette Pereira is a Professor of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry in the Chemistry Department at FCTUC and dedicates her research to applying the principles of Green Chemistry in the synthesis of new materials and drugs that impact society's health and well-being. As head of the Catalysis & Fine Chemistry laboratory of the Medicinal Chemistry group at the Coimbra Chemistry Centre, she values knowledge through patents and scientific dissemination, actively contributing to the sustainability of research at UC.

Margarida Quina is an Associate Professor with Aggregation in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Coimbra. She teaches courses in the areas of the environment, sustainability, and the circular economy. Her research has focused on the recovery of solid waste and industrial liquid effluents within a sustainability framework, with a view to contributing to the circular economy, climate change and resource preservation.

Filipa Bessa is a biologist (PhD in Biosciences – Marine Ecology) and Assistant Professor at the Centre for Functional Ecology at the University of Coimbra. Her research focuses on assessing the effects of human activity, urbanisation and (micro)plastic pollution on aquatic ecosystems. Recently, through an interdisciplinary team, she created the Zero Pollution Manifesto for UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Portugal and expanded her work to the study of pollution in inland waters and mountain ecosystems.

Professor at FEUC and researcher at CES. Her research interests focus on issues of inequality economics, particularly inequalities between men and women, in the family and in the labour market. She has held various university management positions. She has been an advisor to the Economic and Social Council since 2021, representing women's rights associations on the CIG advisory board. She has collaborated with official mechanisms for gender equality, agencies and non-governmental organisations, both national and European. She is a member of the board of the Portuguese Association for Women's Studies (APEM).

PhD in Sociology from the University of Coimbra, he is a specialist in international migration, citizenship and public policy. He was a professor at the University of Porto and collaborates with national and international institutions such as the IOM, ICMPD, European Commission and Council of Europe. Author of over 100 publications on emigration and immigration in Portugal and Europe.

Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Coimbra. She teaches various subjects and conducts research in the areas of Spatial Planning, Urban Planning and Transport Planning, with a special focus on the articulation between these areas in the promotion of Sustainable Mobility, namely Public Transport and Active Modes of Transport (cycling and walking). She has several publications and has participated in various projects. He also conducts research on the adaptability of cities to current and future circumstances, particularly with regard to climate change, accessibility to various activities, and the relationship between cities and human health. These themes converge in the broad thematic area of sustainable urban neighbourhoods (in line with the concept of the 15-minute city), which are also intended to be smarter, more resilient and more inclusive. In this way, promoting connections between the city, technology and people for cities capable of facing the challenges of the future. He currently coordinates the Bachelor's Degree in Sustainable and Smart City Management (DEC) and the Doctoral Programme in Territorial Planning (DEC and FEUP).

Graduate and Master in Law and Postgraduate in Planning, Urbanism and Environmental Law. She conducts research on the relationship between the climate emergency, the State and the Law, collaborating with various research centres. Outside academia, she has been involved in various social movements, mainly dedicated to climate justice.

Catarina Silva is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. She is a senior researcher in the Adaptive Computing Group at CISUC and deputy director of CISUC. Her main areas of research are machine learning and pattern recognition. Recent research projects focus on responsible AI, large language models, smart and sustainable agriculture, transparency in AI in finance, Industry 4.0, circular and agile production, real-time condition-based aircraft maintenance, and ambient air quality monitoring. Board member of the Portuguese Pattern Recognition Association, senior member of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, former president of the Portuguese section of the IEEE.

Nuno Lourenço is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at the University of Coimbra and a researcher at CISUC, where he coordinates the Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence group. His main research interests are bio-inspired algorithms, optimisation and machine learning, notably the creation of the DENSER and ENERGIZE algorithms for the automatic design of energy-efficient networks. He actively participates in national and international research projects and in prominent bodies in the Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Computing community.

Luis Macedo received his PhD in Informatics Engineering in 2007 from the University of Coimbra, where he is currently a researcher in Artificial Intelligence and the lecturer of Trustworthy and Responsible Artificial Intelligence (Master in Artificial Intelligence), Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (Master in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science), and Artificial Intelligence and Problem Solving (Bachelor in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science). He served as Vice-President of the Portuguese Association for Artificial Intelligence (APPIA) from 2014 to 2015 and was a member of its Board of Directors from 2011 to 2019.

Penousal Machado is an Associate Professor with Aggregation in the Department of Computer Engineering at the University of Coimbra, where he coordinates the Cognitive and Media Systems group at CISUC and directs the Computational Design and Visualisation Laboratory. He is president of SPECIES – Society for the Promotion of Evolutionary Computation in Europe and its Surroundings. His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Computational Creativity, Evolutionary Computing, and Information Visualisation. Author of over 300 publications, he has been honoured with awards such as the EvoStar Award and the APPIA Award for Excellence and Merit in Artificial Intelligence. His work has been presented at international conferences and institutions such as the National Museum of Contemporary Art and MoMA in New York.