ReWell - Waste recycling for Planetary Wellbeing

  • Awarded persons: Jesica de Armas Adrián and Jaume Garcia Villar
  • Department: Economics and Business
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

The project analyses the changes that COVID-19 has induced in Catalan households’ waste generation and recycling behaviour. It aims to identify their sociodemographic and psychographic triggers and to develop environmental indicators of their effects on climate change. The research pays special attention to aspects with long-lasting effects and to contribute to the development of enhanced waste reduction/collection programs, to generate knowledge that contributes to the urgent need to mitigate the environmental impacts of waste to enhance Planetary Wellbeing. More information about the project here.


 

The Digital revolution and sustainable consumption

  • Awarded persons: John Palmer and Mireia Artigot
  • Department: Political and Social Sciences and Law
  • Type of action: Workshops and Conferences

This project made it possible to organize a workshop and two international conferences at UPF related to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on consumers and consumption in the context of the climate crisis as well as to broader issues of health, technology and climate change. The workshop and conferences brought together multiple disciplinary perspectives on these issues, including law, political and social sciences, economics and ecology. These activities harnessed ongoing research by faculty and graduate students at UPF and helped to link them with wider academic networks.

Related publications:

  • Bunker, Aditi, et al. 2023. “The Effectiveness of Mosquito-proof Storm Drains in Urban Settings of Barcelona, Spain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” OSF. May 31. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/JZQAH. (Presented at the Urban Spaces and Mosquitoes conference. Full article now under review at Journal of Urban Health.)
  • Lührsen, Daniela Sofie, et al. "Adult Aedes albopictus in winter: implications for mosquito surveillance in Southern Europe." The Lancet Planetary Health 7, no. 9 (2023): e729-e731. (This article was discussed and joint analysis was carried out during the Urban Spaces and Mosquitoes conference.)
  • Rocklöv, Joacim, et al. "Decision-support tools to build climate resilience against emerging infectious diseases in Europe and beyond." The Lancet Regional Health–Europe 32 (2023). (This article was discussed and parts were presented at the Urban Spaces and Mosquitoes conference.)


 

The Maya Forest as a Global Commodity Frontier: An Environmental History of Capitalism

  • Awarded person: David Pretel
  • Department: Humanities
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

This interdisciplinary project traces the history of the tropical forests of the Yucatán Peninsula a threatened ecosystem that provides important environmental services and vital resources to local communities. It offers an environmental history of the new capitalist frontier that emerged under extractive pressures and the long-term consequences of this development. More information about the project here.


 

Identification and isolation of probiotic bacteria to protect the critically endangered Montseny brook newt against chytridiomycosis

  • Awarded persons:  Elena Bosch, Javier del Campo, Salvador Carranza
  • Department: Medicine and Life Sciences
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

Extinctions, natural population declines, and the disappearance of species are taking place on a global scale, contributing to what scientists refer to as the sixth mass extinction event on our planet. These unfortunate occurrences are driven by various factors, including climate change, invasive species, pollution, overexploitation, and the emergence of diseases. Among all vertebrate groups, amphibians appear to be particularly vulnerable. Their heavy reliance on water for reproduction, coupled with their permeable skin, makes them exceptionally sensitive to environmental changes. Many of these changes are the result of human activities, such as pollution, habitat loss, and climate change. This project aims at finding specific microbial communities correlated to resistance to a devastating fungal emergent infectious disease that has already caused the disappearance of more than 200 species of amphibians around the planet and is threatening the critically endangered Montseny Brook Newt.

Related publications:

  • Tulloch, Sergi, et al. Comparative microbiome analysis reveals differences between wild and captive populations of the Montseny Brook Newt (Calotriton arnoldi). To be submitted for publication in November 2023.

 


 

Healthcare Mobility - an optimization approach

  • Awarded person: Helena Ramalhinho
  • Department: Economics and Business
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

The main objective of this project is to optimize the community healthcare coverage, by focusing on logistics aspects of healthcare services. The medical personnel can provide a good support service if the population can access or be in contact with a medical team and/or medical facility, so the mobility aspects of a healthcare system are relevant. We are considering two main lines of research: the optimization of the mobility of the citizens/patients by planning the best location and allocation of public health services’ infrastructures and resources delivered to communities; and the optimization of the mobility of health services using mobile health equipment to visit remote or rural locations.

Related publications:

  • De Armas J., Vieira B., Ramalhinho H. (2022), Optimizing an integrated home care problem: a heuristic-based decision-support system, Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2022.105062.
  • Bittencourt R.D.L., Pessoa L., De Armas J., Ramalhinho H. (2022), Localização de centros de serviços para idosos: uma aplicação do problema de cobertura máxima. In Proceedings of the LIV Brazilian Symposium of Operational Research (SBPO), November 8-11, 2022, Brasil. Prize for the best undergraduate research promoted by the Brazilian Society on Operations Research.
  • Ramalhinho H., Rodríguez-Pereira J., Sarrá P. (2023) Heuristic algorithm tool for planning mass vaccine campaigns. Submitted for publication.
  • Martins P., Trigo A., Ramalhinho H. (2023) Routing Solutions to help in Pandemics Outbreaks: A Case Study.. Submitted for publication.
  • De Armas J., Ramalhinho H., Rodríguez-Pereira J., Pessoa L., Rakotonirainy R.G., Location of Healthcare Services. Work in process.


 

(In)Corporate Sustainability Conference

  • Awarded person: Lela Melon and Pere Fullana
  • Department: ESCI-UPF, Law
  • Type of action: Workshops and Conferences

The (In)Corporate Sustainability Conference aimed tofacilitate interdisciplinary discussions on sustainability challenges and solutions in public administration, corporate practices, and higher education. The event took place from September 8-10, 2021, at Pompeu Fabra University, Spain.

Related publications:

Foodseed - Food Sustainability Education in Catalan Schools

  • Awarded persons: Sergi Jimenez-Martín and Antonio Ladron de Guevara
  • Department: Economics and Business
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

The project analyses Food Sustainability Education (FSE) integration in primary and secondary Catalan schools, analysing the present situation, identifying gaps and priorities for its promotion. The objective is to raise awareness and enhance critical thinking within educational agents as a trigger of the urgent required social change towards sustainable food systems and consumption habits. 

The project counts with the collaboration of partners from City, University of London (UK) and other institutions to undertake cross-country studies and European research initiatives. 


 

Creation of an Interdisciplinary International Research Group on Sport Sustainability

  • Awarded person: Alberto Carrio Sampedro
  • Department: Law
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

The aim of this project was to launch a new international and interdisciplinary research group on sport sustainability, led by UPF. The aim of this research group was, and still is, to examine the impact of professional sport on climate change and global warming and to develop appropriate strategies to combat
it. Ensuring sustainable sport at a global level, and effectively meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is an urgency and a commitment of the main international sport governing bodies (SGBs). This new international research group is composed of recognised researchers on sport sustainability from different fields of knowledge, such as economics, journalism, law, philosophy and ethics of sport. Researchers from this group are currently involved in international advisory committees, Erasmus + projects on sport ethics and the democratisation of sport. As a result, all members of the research group have proven research careers and the ability to influence the most important international sport organisations.


 

Greening Consumer Welfare: Towards a New Perspective on Consumer Protection

  • Awarded persons: Mireia Artigot Golobardes, Léla Melon 
  • Department: Law 
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

The project "Greening Consumer Welfare: Towards a New Perspective on Consumer Protection" embarked on a journey to redefine core notions of consumer protection regulation in the context of broader policy coherence for sustainable consumption and production. The project's primary objective was to shed light on the missed opportunities for sustainable consumers, particularly in light of the New Deal for Consumers. Although not all planned activities have been fully executed, the project has made significant progress towards its goals, with a particular emphasis on the upcoming book publication and the prestigious Routledge pre-approval. Furthermore, the successful organization of the "Greening Consumer Welfare Conference" has been a significant achievement, accompanied by dedicating the third day of the second edition of the (In)Corporate Sustainability Conference to the relationship between sustainability and consumer welfare.


 

PROSOCIAL: Fostering prosocial behaviors in children with and without autism through Mixed Reality

  • Awarded person: Narcís Parés
  • Department: Information and Communication Technologies
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

The PROSOCIAL project consists of a Mixed Reality environment with Full-Body Interaction created to address social and communicative behavior difficulties in children with Autism Spectrum Condition. The project provides an ecologically valid play space where the interaction between four children with ASD or four children without ASD is fostered. The intelligent system mediates the experience by making the children perform synchronized activities so that they achieve Interpersonal Entrainment. By achieving IE, children gain a sense of belonging to the group and consequently show more prosocial attitudes towards the other children. For the development of the interactive experience, we are applying participatory design methodology.

Related publications:


 

BEAM: Bettering Education by Advancing Mental Health literacy

  • Awarded person: Marc Beardsley
  • Department: Information and Communication Technologies
  • Type of action: Pilot Project

An objective of BEAM was to develop and pilot a protocol for comparing multiple self-regulatory activities for the classroom. Hence, the project designed and ran exploratory studies that evaluated self-regulatory activities for the classroom using full-body movement and psychophysiological measures. Activities evaluated included those that involve physical movement (activities that also work as “brain breaks”). Hence, some activities were calming activities and others were energizing activities. 

Related publications:

  • Batuhan Sayis, Marc Beardsley & Marta Portero-Tresserra, Multimodal assessment of best possible self as a self-regulatory activity for the classroom, 11th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, September 2023.
  • Marc Beardsley, Batuhan Sayis & Marta Portero-Tresserra, Multimodal Assessment of an Ultra-Brief Practice of Progressive Muscular Relaxation Adapted for the Classroom, 31st International Conference on Computers in Education, Japan, December 2023.