Objectives
Ecological economics and environmental management
Principal Researcher: Rui SantosThe focus of the group is in the pursuit of interdisciplinary research, integrating environmental and socio-economic sciences in order to promote a deeper understanding of the interplay between ecological systems and social and economic development, focusing in sustainability issues.
Current research topics include:
- Governance, participation and science-society interfaces – participatory processes, multi-level governance of natural resources, visions of the future and sustainability scenarios;
- Public policies for sustainable development – new environmental policy instruments, stakeholder participation in the design and evaluation of environmental policies, the role of institutions in environmental policy;
- Economic valuation of ecosystem services – new approaches to the economic valuation of ecosystem services, articulation of human value systems and ecological functions; participatory methods for economic valuation of environmental services;
- Ecological-economic modelling and mediated modelling – dynamic modelling linking ecological and socio-economic systems, use of mediated modelling as a platform for participation;
- Environmental management, eco-design, sustainability assessment – environmental assessment of products and organizations, product chain management and life-cycle assessment, sustainable innovation in organizations, products and services.
