On December 3, was held the 1st edition of the Colloquium of the Master's Degree in Psychology and Environmental Sustainability, an event with two well-defined objectives: widening awareness of the burning issues in Environmental sustainability and the Climate Crisis in the UCP community and showing how understanding human attitudes, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors is a critical part of understanding and tackling environmental issues.

This is the first event of this master's degree, launched this academic year, and was also organized by the Católica Research Centre for Psychological, Family and Social Wellbeing (CRC-W).

After the opening session with Prof. Nelson Ribeiro, Dean of the FCH, Prof. Augusta Gaspar, coordinator of the master's degree and Prof. Francisco Esteves, director of the CRC-W, it was time for a presentation by Prof. Maria João Pereira, Secretary of State for Energy, on “The Climate Crisis, Priorities and Action in Portugal”. At the end of the presentation, there were several academic interventions ranging from emotions toward meat consumption, to attitudes toward invasive species, to concerns with water reuse systems, to public trust and to specific mental processes that can be tools to human behavior change toward a more pro-environmental consumption.

A corporate presentation, student flash talks, a round table, and a poster session rounded off this Colloquium where the interdisciplinary dialog between Psychology, Biology, Technology, Environmental Sciences, Activism and Public Policies was always present.

“When such a vital and burning issue is on the table we need as much interdisciplinary and cross-organizational collaboration as possible”, mentioned Prof. Augusta Gaspar about the event.

You can access all the information about the Colloquium of the Master's Degree in Psychology and Environmental Sustainability here.