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The SBE19 Brussels - BAMB-CIRCPATH "Building as Material Banks - A Pathway for a Circular held in Brussels on 5 to 7 of February 2019, is an initiative of the Consortium of the H2020 BAMB Project together with the Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) series of conferences. Being within the SBE series, this event gathers the support of CIB International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, iiSBE International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme, and FIDIC International Federation of Consulting Engineers. The goal of this series of regional and international conferences is to disseminate innovative policies and developments in the field of sustainable urban environment to a broad international audience of specialists in policy, design, construction and operation of buildings and related infrastructure. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This work evaluates, for the first time, the possibility of producing multifunctional alkali-activated composites combining ultra-low density, low thermal conductivity, high acoustic absorption, and good moisture buffering capacity. The composites were prepared using cork as a lightweight aggregate. This novel material might promote energy savings and tackle the CO2 emissions of the building sector, while simultaneously improve the comfort for inhabitants (e.g. humidity levels regulation and sound pollution reduction). The composites apparent density (as low as 168 kg/m3) and thermal conductivity (as low as 68 mW/m K) are amongst the lowest ever reported for alkali-activated materials (AAM) composites and foams, while their sound absorption ability is comparable to the best performing AAM foams reported to date, but in addition these eco-friendly composites also show good ability to passively adjust the humidity levels inside buildings. The multifunctional properties shown by the cork – AAM composites set them apart from other conventional building materials and might contribute to the global sustainability of the construction sector. Peer Reviewed

In this work we analyzed the mapping of Sustainable Development Goals in the curricular units of the undergraduate courses of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Évora. Of a total of 449 curricular units, only 374 had students enrolled in 2020/2021. The data presented refer to the 187 course units that had Sustainable Development Goals in addition to SDG4 (Quality Education) assigned to all the course units. Considering the set of curricular units, the results showed that the most mentioned objectives were those related to Gender Equality (SDG 5), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16). Regarding the differences between the departments, which are also distinct scientific areas, we have observed that the Departments of Economics and Management had more objectives related to labor and economic growth, while the other departments mentioned more objectives related to inequalities, gender or other.

Biofuels derived from microalgae biomass have received a great deal of attention owing to their high potentials as sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. Microalgae have a high capacity of CO2 fixation and depending on their growth conditions, they can accumulate different quantities of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Microalgal biomass can, therefore, represent a rich source of fermentable sugars for third generation bioethanol production. The utilization of microalgal carbohydrates for bioethanol production follows three main stages: i) pretreatment, ii) saccharification, and iii) fermentation. One of the most important stages is the pretreatment, which is carried out to increase the accessibility to intracellular sugars, and thus plays an important role in improving the overall efficiency of the bioethanol production process. Diverse types of pretreatments are currently used including chemical, thermal, mechanical, biological, and their combinations, which can promote cell disruption, facilitate extraction, and result in the modification the structure of carbohydrates as well as the production of fermentable sugars. In this review, the different pretreatments used on microalgae biomass for bioethanol production are presented and discussed. Moreover, the methods used for starch and total carbohydrates quantification in microalgae biomass are also briefly presented and compared.

Great part of the History of mankind is registered in the form of documents or works of art on paper support. Paper can be deteriorated due to physical, chemical and biological agents. Within microorganisms, fungi are the major paper biodeteriogens. Throughout history, several toxic methods have been used to prevent and stop fungal deterioration on paper based materials. More recently, a growing concern about environmental and health issues has led to the research on new antifungal alternatives, with lower toxicity. However, the existent antifungal methods and compounds still have drawbacks in terms of efficacy, health hazards, damaging effects on paper, or lack of thorough testing. In this context, the present thesis focused on testing and developing accessible antifungal treatments with low toxicity, which could prevent the long term paper deterioration. The selection of antifungal compounds was made taking into account the results from a literature review on antifungals used on paper conservation, a survey to paper conservators, and a review of antifungals used in cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, having as a basic premise their low toxicity. Aspergillus niger, Chaetomium globosum, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Penicillium chrysogenum and Penicillium corylophilum were selected as test fungal species. Fungal growth on paper was evaluated by measuring colonization areas and biomass dry weight determination. A formulation containing parabens and calcium propionate (PBs+CP) presented the best antifungal activity on paper samples, followed by a formulation containing clotrimazole and calcium hydroxide nanoparticles (CLT+NPs), and ultimately 70% ethanol (70%EtOH). Before application on cultural heritage materials, conservation treatments have to be thoroughly tested to assess if they can cause any damage on the treated materials in the short and long term. The effects of the tested formulations on paper were evaluated in terms of pH, colourimetry, folding endurance and molecular alterations, using moist heat artificial ageing. Besides plain paper, paper previously biodeteriorated by A. niger was tested in order to evaluate the potential of each compound to prevent further deterioration caused by fungal metabolites. The obtained results on biodeteriorated samples illustrate how tremendously damaging the products excreted by fungi can be in the long term. PBs+CP formulation was the only one capable of preventing long term acidification, loss of folding endurance, and discoloration caused by fungal metabolites, but on the other hand, on plain samples, this formulation caused paper discoloration. CLT+NPs formulation significantly prevented the acidification and loss of folding endurance, although causing a minor discoloration on paper at a long term. 70%EtOH had a mild positive impact in the chemical stabilization of paper and did not cause any paper discoloration. The information provided in this thesis contributes to a deeper understanding on safer options for preventing and treating paper deterioration by fungi and opens the way for further research in this challenging field of heritage conservation.

The paper discusses a case study of the Trás-os-Montes region to assess the resilience and sustainability of the local sheep sector. The area is a low-density mountainous region where small ruminant production is a relevant sector of the economy and is mainly based on natural resources. The study employed a mixed methodological approach to identify the socio-economic profile of different actors and the main obstacles and opportunities of this livestock activity. The research found that the main strength of the sector is the intrinsic quality of the products with origin in the various indigenous sheep breeds. However, marketing channels associated with this mechanism are generally limited, and its market shares are minimal. The analysis highlights the constraints resulting from the holdings’ small average size, the advanced age of most farmers, the lack of successors, the low profitability of the lamb meat, and producers’ weak bargaining power. Also, wool's lack of economic interest is an economic and environmental problem for farmers. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper presents the goals and components of a quantitative energy balance assessment framework to define PEDs flexibly in three important contexts: the context of the district's density and RES potential, the context of a district's location, induced mobility and the context of the dis-trict's future environment and its decarbonized energy demand or supply. It starts by introducing the practical goals of this definition approach: achievable, yet sufficiently ambitious to be inline with Paris 2050 for most urban and rural Austrian district typologies. It goes on to identify the main design parts of the definition: system boundaries, balancing weights and balance targets and argue how they can be linked to the definition goals in detail. In particular we specify three levels of system boundaries and argue their individual necessity: operation, including everyday mobili-ty, including embodied energy and emissions. It argues that all three pillars of PEDs, energy effi-ciency, onsite renewables and energy flexibility can be assessed with the single metric of a prima-ry energy balance when using carefully designed, time-dependent conversion factors. Finally, it is discussed how balance targets can be interpreted as information and requirements from the sur-rounding energy system, which we identify as a "context factor". Three examples of such context factors, each corresponding to the balance target of one of the previously defined system bounda-ries operation, mobility and embodied emissions are presented: Density (as a context of opera-tion), sectoral energy balances and location (as a context for mobility) and an outlook of a person-al emission budgets (as a context for embodied emissions). Finally, the proposed definition framework is applied to seven distinct district typologies in Austria and discussed in terms of its design goals.