Conference Presentations by Rita Vasconcellos Oliveira
Papers by Rita Vasconcellos Oliveira
Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene, 2021
Os agentes educativos formais ou informais, enfrentam desafios conjuntos que se têm vindo a compl... more Os agentes educativos formais ou informais, enfrentam desafios conjuntos que se têm vindo a complexificar em virtude das exigências societais. Esta situação é particularmente sentida no ramo da Educação Ambiental, pois esta encerra objectivos formativos e ecossistémicos muito ambiciosos. Tendo em conta este cenário, a presente tese tem como objectivo dar uma perspectiva englobante sobre a dimensão educativa ambiental de um desses agentes, a saber, os biocativeiros, não só na óptica dessas instituições mas igualmente analisando os efeitos da faceta educativa dos cativeiros biológicos sobre os sujeitos que os visitam. Esta dissertação pretende ser um olhar integrador, sobre como os objectivos, o discurso, os valores e programas educativos do Oceanário e Jardim Zoológico, ambos de Lisboa, modelaram a consciência bioética dos indivíduos que visitaram, educativamente, estes locais. Para tal, este estudo procura, a partir de um fundo filosófico, operacionalizar a noção de consciência, enquanto mecanismo de carácter ético -moral, necessária à relação do Ser Humano com o mundo natural (consciência bioética) para detectar, empiricamente, qual o impacto educativo dos cativeiros biológicos. O estudo analítico foi realizado numa amostra de estudantes (12 -16 anos de idade) provenientes de uma escola básica portuguesa, sendo então um estudo exploratório quaseexperimental. Esta dissertação demonstra a existência de uma modelação, ao nível das atitudes, valores e capacidades de ajuizamento ético -moral da realidade (humana e natural), nos sujeitos que foram alvo do plano experimental. Contudo, os dados demonstram que o efeito educativo ficou muito aquém dos invocados objectivos formativos e de razão de ser dos cativeiros biológicos que fizeram parte do estudo. Por esta razão, a tese inclui uma reflexão final onde se lança o desafio às instituições e principalmente aos agentes educativos, para que se avance na direcção de uma educação (ambiental) de carácter holístico, onde as dimensões tecno -científica e cultural sejam harmonizadas com o mundo ético -moral, no sentido da possível criação de uma educação que abranja todos e que considere a totalidade, de forma objectiva e subjectivamente integradora, ou seja, A Educação Bioética.
Etikk i praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, 2016
The climate change mitigation effort is being translated into several actions and discourses that... more The climate change mitigation effort is being translated into several actions and discourses that make collateral benefits and their rationale increasingly relevant for sustainability, in such a way that they are now a constant part of the political agenda. Taking a broader and consensual perspective, co-benefits are considered here to be emerging advantages of implementing measures to lower greenhouse gases. Starting with the analysis of policy documents referring to two European urban transportation strategies, the emergent co-benefits are problematized and discussed to better understand their moral aspect. Further ethical reflection is conducted after an analysis of some unintended consequences of the co-benefits rationale arising from the examples. The discussion focuses primarily on the challenges of an integrative moral justification for co-benefits and also for their role in the climate change mitigation effort. We also discuss the limitations of the current normative models that frame a co-benefits rationale, both from a moral viewpoint and in relation to the overall climate change mitigation strategy. In this article, we propose the concepts of well-being and freedom, as portrayed by the Capability Approach, as possible guiding notions for the moral and social evaluation of goodness of these emergent benefits as well as their rationale. Additionally, some preliminary conclusions are drawn regarding the potential of the presented concepts to support climate change mitigation action. Finally, we outline a scenario where the Capability Approach is the moral guideline for a co-benefits rationale and illustrates its potential in terms of enhancing climate change mitigation strategy.
Sustainability, 2021
Social innovation has gained increased attention as a mechanism for sustainable development. As t... more Social innovation has gained increased attention as a mechanism for sustainable development. As the Brundtland Commission highlights, the improvement of present conditions should not compromise future generations’ needs. So far, (social) sustainable development has mostly focused on the amelioration of contemporary people’s wellbeing, relegating its duties towards future generations to second place. Given this, I consider it necessary to (re-)direct social innovation towards the promotion of the wellbeing of future people. I propose the concept of irreplaceable goods, a notion deriving from a strong sustainability perspective, which could then be integrated into social innovation practices related to sustainable development. Focusing on guaranteeing, at least, sufficient fruition of certain goods and resources, I devise this concept as a governance tool for steering development actions towards intergenerational justice, driven by social innovation action. In this article, we firstly...
Science and Engineering Ethics
Sustainability, 2018
The establishment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) bolstered momentum to achieve a ... more The establishment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) bolstered momentum to achieve a sustainable future. Undeniably, the welfare of future generations is a fundamental value of sustainable development since the publication of the Brundtland report. Nevertheless, SDGs and their targets are meagre on intergenerational justice concerns. The 15-year target horizon of the SDGs might be beneficial for implementation reasons. However, such a short-term perspective is far from innocuous in justice terms. It jeopardises the establishment of long-term goals, which protect both present and future people. This article advocates for clearer stances on intergenerational justice. What type of distributive principles could and should dictate the present socio-economic development? Looking at intragenerational justice principles contained in SDGs does not provide a full answer since they express conflicting visions of what constitutes a fair development. Furthermore, a fair distribution of the development benefits and burdens among present and near future people does not necessarily guarantee the wellbeing of more distant generations. I propose an intergenerational sufficientarian perspective as a way to extend the beneficial impacts of SDGs to both close and distant future generations. Hopefully, it facilitates the translation of the SDGs into policies that promote fairer implementation strategies.
The Learning Teacher magazine, 2013
In Portugal, there is not a specific national program regarding environmental education. This pan... more In Portugal, there is not a specific national program regarding environmental education. This panorama gives a chance to both teachers and schools to develop their projects and actions. A project was developed with 8th-grade pupils with the objective to introduce environmental education in a science class context. The particularity of this project was that the original idea came from the class students and it included not only environmental sciences but also ethics contents. The project outcomes reached far beyond the ecological problems that were part of natural science curriculum for the students’ school year and ended in a multidisciplinary approach to sustainable development.
The climate change mitigation effort is being translated into several actions and discourses that... more The climate change mitigation effort is being translated into several actions and discourses that make collateral benefits and their rationale increasingly relevant for sustainability, in such a way that they are now a constant part of the political agenda. Taking a broader and consensual perspective, co-benefits are considered here to be emerging advantages of implementing measures to lower greenhouse gases. Starting with the analysis of policy documents referring to two European urban transportation strategies, the emergent co-benefits are problematized and discussed to better understand their moral aspect. Further ethical reflection is conducted after an analysis of some unintended consequences of the co-benefits rationale arising from the examples. The discussion focuses primarily on the challenges of an integrative moral justification for co-benefits and also for their role in the climate change mitigation effort. We also discuss the limitations of the current normative models that frame a co-benefits rationale, both from a moral viewpoint and in relation to the overall climate change mitigation strategy. In this article, we propose the concepts of well-being and freedom, as portrayed by the Capability Approach, as possible guiding notions for the moral and social evaluation of goodness of these emergent benefits as well as their rationale. Additionally, some preliminary conclusions are drawn regarding the potential of the presented concepts to support climate change mitigation action. Finally, we outline a scenario where the Capability Approach is the moral guideline for a co-benefits rationale and illustrates its potential in terms of enhancing climate change mitigation strategy.
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Conference Presentations by Rita Vasconcellos Oliveira
Papers by Rita Vasconcellos Oliveira