This session will focus on the theme «Acting Green, Feeling Well: How Pro-Environmental Behavior Supports Well-being», and will feature Professor Mariana Lobo Pinho.
The benefits of adopting environmentally friendly behaviours extend beyond environmental sustainability. Recent developments in Conservation Psychology show that such practices also enhance individual well-being. This is not only because humanity as a whole stands to benefit if the planet recovers from the current climate crisis, and people benefit from environmental health at the local community level as well, but also because individuals experience personal gains from acting in environmentally responsible ways.
Mariana Lobo Pinho is a researcher at the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) at the University of Aveiro and an Assistant Professor at the School of Psychology and Life Sciences at Lusófona University, Lisbon. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Lincoln (UK) and an MSc in Psychology from the University of Porto (Portugal). With over a decade of international experience, her work is grounded in interdisciplinary research, with a focus on person-environment interactions, gender, and well-being. Beyond academia, Professor Mariana Lobo Pinho has contributed as a national expert for the European Institute for Gender Equality, a consultant for the British Psychological Society, and a coordinator of community-based educational and environmental programmes. These roles reflect her strong commitment to research that is both socially impactful and relevant to policy development.