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Higher education is incorporating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at a fast rate for different purposes. Scientific papers include within the concept of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) the myriad applications of information and communication technology, e-resources, and pedagogical approaches to the development of education. TEL’s specific application to higher education is especially relevant for countries under rapid development for providing quick and sustainable access to quality education (UN sustainable development goal 4). This paper presents the research results of an online pedagogical experience in collaborative academic research for analyzing good practice in TEL-supported higher education development. The results are obtained through a pilot implementation providing curated data on TEL competency’s development of faculty skills and analysis of developing sustainable higher education degrees through TEL cooperation, for capacity building. Given the increased volume and complexity of the knowledge to be delivered, and the exponential growth of the need for skilled workers in emerging economies, online training is the most effective way of delivering a sustainable higher education. The results of the PETRA Erasmus+ capacity-building project provides evidence of a successful implementation of a TEL-supported methodology for collaborative faculty development focused on future online degrees built collaboratively and applied locally.

The social confinement resulting from the COVID-19 crisis temporarily reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Although experts contend that the decrease in pollution rates was not drastic, some surveys detect growth in social concern about the climate. In this new climate-conscious environment, municipalities and local governments are promoting a new way of living and caring for cities, even before they can regain national and international freedom of movement. This work analyzes the connections between new climate awareness arising from the COVID-19 crisis, proposals of sustainable citizenship around the world, and its communication on Twitter to educate the new eco-conscious audience. The methodology mixes quantitative and qualitative analysis, using the Twitonomy Premium tool and the Twitter research tool with data extracted at the end of December 2020. Among the top ten most influential and active accounts, the results show educational institutions, local institutions, companies, neighborhoods, associations, and influencers. The impossibility of living in the city has not prevented citizen education and commitment to make real change for when that city and its citizens return to normality. However, this new normality must be different: more ecological, more responsible, more sustainable, and practiced from early childhood.

BackgroundWe previously showed that, by activating innate immune receptors Toll‐like 4 (TLR4), adolescent intermittent ethanol (EtOH) exposure causes neuroinflammation, myelin damage, and behavioral dysfunctions. Recent findings reveal that clinically used opioid antagonists naltrexone (NT) and naloxone (NX) inhibit opioid‐induced TLR4 signaling and that NT, NX, and nalmefene (NF), the 6‐methylene derivative of NX, are able to reduce alcohol drinking escalation.MethodsNF (0.1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) was injected 1 hour prior to EtOH (3 g/kg, intraperitoneally) following intermittent treatment in female (PND35) adolescent mice. Inflammatory molecules, myelin proteins, and apoptotic markers were assessed in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and striatum/nucleus accumbens (STR/NAcc). The effect of NF on alcohol drinking preference was evaluated in both the wild‐type and TLR4 knockout (KO) adolescent mice. Using astroglial cells, the inhibitory potential of NT, NX, and NF on lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or the EtOH‐triggered TLR4 response, was compared.ResultsOur findings indicate that NF prevents the up‐regulation of cytokines (IL‐1β, IL‐17A, TNF‐α), chemokines (MCP‐1, MIP‐1, KC), and pro‐inflammatory mediators (iNOS, COX‐2), along with myelin damage and apoptotic events, in both PFC and STR/NAcc. NF also abolishes EtOH‐induced escalation of alcohol preference/consumption, but has no effect when administered to TLR4‐KO mice. In vitro experiments indicate that NX and NF inhibit TLR4 activation upon LPS or EtOH stimulation. Immunofluorescence studies and lipid rafts isolation show that NF is able to prevent TLR4 translocation to lipid rafts/caveolae in astrocytes.ConclusionsThese results suggest that NF prevents neuroinflammation and brain damage by blocking the TLR4 response and also support the role of central pro‐inflammatory immune signaling in the modulation of alcohol consumption/addiction.

AbstractThe co‐occurrence of chronic pain and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) involves complex interactions between genetic and neurophysiological aspects, and the research has reported mixed findings when they both co‐occur. There is also an indication of a gender‐dependent effect; males are more likely to use alcohol to cope with chronic pain problems than females. Recently, a new conceptualization has emerged, proposing that the negative affective component of pain drives and maintains alcohol‐related behaviors. We studied in a longitudinal fashion alterations in alcohol drinking patterns and pain thresholds in a mouse model of chronic neuropathic pain in a sex‐dependent manner. Following partial denervation (spared nerve injury [SNI]), stimulus‐evoked pain responses were measured before chronic alcohol consumption, during drinking, during a deprivation phase, and following an episode of excessive drinking. During the course of alcohol drinking, we observed pronounced sex differences in pain thresholds. Male mice showed a strong increase in pain thresholds, suggesting an analgesic effect induced by alcohol over time, an effect that was not observed in female mice. SNI mice did not differ from sham‐operated controls in baseline alcohol consumption. However, following a deprivation phase and the reintroduction of ethanol, male SNI mice but not female mice showed more pronounced excessive drinking than controls. Finally, we observed decreased central ethanol sensitivity in male SNI mice but not in females. Together with our finding, that ethanol is able to decrease a pain‐induced negative affective memory we come to following conclusion. We propose that a lower sensitivity to the intoxicating effects of alcohol together with the ability of alcohol to reduce the negative affective component of pain may explain the higher co‐occurrence of AUD in male chronic pain patients.

The university is an essential participant in education, a key place where societal change processes are developed. So, it must be a place to bring up current challenges and social requirements. That is the reason why it holds the responsibility to assure the creation of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values in the students to achieve an effective solution to environmental issues. The objective of this research was the assessment of the attitudes, knowledge, and pro-environmental behavior in university students from different faculties, studies, and degrees, as well as their influence in this group. The results show that most of the students have previous concepts of environment, and they consider that a good environmental education is necessary to solve the environmental issues that they have around. This proves that key factors in attitudes become essential elements for changing them. The differences made by gender and studies in several fields in attitudes (cognitive and emotional levels) are also confirmed.

The prevailing need for a more sustainable management of natural resources depends not only on the decisions made by governments and the will of the population, but also on the knowledge of the role of energy in our society and the relevance of preserving natural resources. In this sense, critical work is being done to instill key concepts—such as the circular economy and sustainable energy—in higher education institutions. In this way, it is expected that future professionals and managers will be aware of the importance of energy optimization, and will learn a series of computational methods that can support the decision-making process. In the context of higher education, this paper reviews the main trends and challenges related to the concepts of circular economy and sustainable energy. Besides, we analyze the role of simulation and serious games as a learning tool for the aforementioned concepts. Finally, the paper provides insights and discusses open research opportunities regarding the use of these computational tools to incorporate circular economy concepts in higher education degrees. Our findings show that, while efforts are being made to include these concepts in current programs, there is still much work to be done, especially from the point of view of university management. In addition, the analysis of the teaching methodologies analyzed shows that, although their implementation has been successful in favoring the active learning of students, their use (especially that of serious games) is not yet widespread.

The European Universities initiative, launched by the European Commission in 2018, has its origin in the concept of Civic Universities (CivUs) and consists of transnational higher education alliances throughout the European Union that share long-term strategies. They are expected to become universities of the future, to promote European ideals and character, and to revolutionize the competitiveness and excellence of European higher education. European universities add 41 alliances, involving 31 different countries. This article presents an early quantitative evaluation of this initiative. This paper addresses the coverage of the 41 alliances and selects five of the most advanced for a deeper evaluation of their best practices and their contribution to the realization of CivUs. This paper also outlines the criteria for evaluating the extent to which good practices implemented by these alliances are aligned and can contribute to the attributes of CivUs, based upon state-of-the-art educational standards. A quantitative framework, based on application of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), is also provided to rank the good practices developed by these alliances against the previous evaluation criteria. Furthermore, by applying a sensitivity analysis, this paper also addresses the robustness of this approach.