Report
Católica Lisbon knows that there is much more to do in the fight against inequalities, to protect our common home, and to bring to life the sustainability agenda’s ambitions. We hope that the next pages will inspire you to walk with Católica Lisbon on this new path that humanity demands.
Católica Lisbon is aligned with the commitments and ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement, the European Green Deal, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) is also a signatory of the "Lisbon European Green Capital 2020 – Climate Action Lisbon 2030" initiative. Through this commitment, the university expresses its intention to join the initiative and implement an action plan to become more sustainable by 2030.
Católica Lisbon has already adopted several initiatives to strengthen sustainability on campus. The school is committed to continuing to implement sustainable practices and new processes to create an infrastructure that benefits not only its students and staff, but also its community and its surroundings. It also aims to create awareness about environmental issues and inspire everyone who visits the campus to act responsibly, in alignment with the school’s purpose and perspectives.
Promotion of measures aimed at greater efficiency of resource consumption, together with consumption evolution monitoring
Plastic
- Reduce the use of single-use plastics. 94% reduction in the purchase of plastic water bottles.
- Use of reusable bottles, ensuring the availability of water in all buildings with the aim of enabling students, visitors, and employees to refill their bottles.
- Provide the school with recyclable and biodegradable products instead of disposable materials by 2025.
- Eliminate 100% of single-use plastics in the school by 2023.
Waste generation
- 5% reduction in waste production in one year.
- Reduce waste by 5% per year and increase the number of recyclable materials by 5% per year.
Recycling
5% increase in recycling in one year.
Encourage the use of alternative modes of transport, such as bicycles, public transport, or electric vehicles
Sustainable mobility
Provision of electric charging stations in the national electric mobility supply network (mobi.e). Electric vehicle charging has been possible at the Lisbon campus since 2022.
Smart charging
This initiative, which belongs within the scope of the Portuguese Catholic University sustainability strategy (CASUS – Católica for Sustainability), is the result of a partnership with Mota-Engil Renewing. The installation of electric vehicle charging stations, powered by low-carbon energy, is intended to encourage campus users to adopt more sustainable transportation options. Vehicle charging at these stations is accessible to any UCP user. The marked parking spaces are intended exclusively for electric vehicles.
Promotion of awareness-raising and environmental education programs for members of the university community, encouraging them to adopt more sustainable practices in their daily lives and academic activities:
- Awareness-raising campaigns concerning water, energy, paper, and plastic consumption on its campus.
- Organize an ECO-Challenge involving students once a year.
- Develop, by 2025, at least six SDG courses to be integrated into degree programs.
SDG courses
"SDGs: humanity’s great challenges" is an innovative initiative launched by the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) in 2022 toward a shared and collective awareness of these common, global challenges. The initiative, which forms part of UCP's 2025 strategic development plan, aims to introduce courses dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into undergraduate and master's academic curricula, reinforcing the university’s commitment to pursuing an educational agenda aligned with the United Nations academic impact commitments and principles for responsible management education.
The promotion of an integral knowledge ecology arises in the strategic development plan as a structural axis of the teaching mission to train the best. In this context, "pedagogical innovation" and "curricular innovation" are fundamental dimensions in achieving this goal. The development in UCP students of versatile qualifications, transversal skills, and mastery of diverse conceptual frameworks based on a solid knowledge base imply the development of flexible curricula that allow differentiated academic paths and broad disciplinary choices.
With this initiative, UCP aims to raise awareness of sustainable development and provide students with a multidisciplinary approach to exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with the SDGs. The courses are co-created by different schools of the university and involve a diverse group of academics who bring together various perspectives to create an innovative and multidisciplinary approach.
The initiative presupposes the development of several courses, each dedicated to a specific SDG. More than 2,000 UCP students were surveyed to determine which courses would be offered first. The first course, offered as an elective in the second semester of the 2021/2022 academic year, focused on SDG 13 – Climate Action. The second focused on SDG 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, and took place in the first semester of the 2022/2023 academic year. The third focused on SDG 14 – Life Underwater and was offered in the second semester of 2022/2023, along with a second edition of the SDG 13 – Climate Action course.
SDG Week
Promoted by Católica Lisbon’s Center for Responsible Business & Leadership, SDG Week involved the development throughout the month of September of several sessions on sustainable development and business, SDG-related challenges, and how companies can strategically incorporate the SDGs.
Sustainability Challenge
In this challenge, students were asked to design a business model to solve an SDG-related challenge. A jury including the special participation of the event’s sponsor, AGEAS Portugal, was responsible for choosing the winning group. At the invitation of Dr. Pierre Landolt, the winning team was offered the opportunity to travel to Brazil to practically experience various sustainable projects that are contributing positively to the socio-economic and environmental development of the region. Among other activities, the trip included.
a visit to a factory recycling building materials and a discussion of its business model, challenges and opportunities,
- A visit to a sustainable gold mine.
- A visit to Estrela Microcrédito, a microcredit institute that has been a key player in supporting microentrepreneurs in the region, especially women, for more than 17 years.
- Getting to know biodynamic processes and the integration of animals with the environment.
- Getting to know the organic spirulina, honey, and mango production processes and discussing water conservation, environmental protection, and other sustainable practices
- An SDG 17 case study, based on a partnership between the farm, the federal environmental policy, and the veterinary course of Patos University (UNIFIP) to create a treatment center for animals rescued on the farm.
The Católica4Future initiative aims to create positive awareness for a more sustainable environment. The club promotes events such as summits, conferences, and beach cleanups to engage students and enable more sustainable practices. The club includes 33 student members.
Supply chain engagement – engaging with our suppliers to help them understand the sustainability challenges of the 2030 agenda; developing a sustainable procurement policy for suppliers.
- Equipment installation: solar panels, construction of rainwater retention basins, rainwater treatment and reintroduction into the hydraulic network, outdoor lighting using wind energy generation, installation of more efficient heat pumps, analysis of waste streams.
Water efficiency and reuse
- Implementation of efficiency and reuse initiatives, including the reuse of groundwater for gardening. Water consumption reduction of 3% in one year.
- Replacement of equipment by more efficient systems, flowmeters, pressure reducers, and flow regulators; rainwater collection system (Porto and Lisbon campuses) for use in green spaces.
Energy efficiency
Optimization of lighting and air conditioning energy efficiency. Being more energy efficient.
Use of more efficient windows with greater thermal resistance, progressive replacement with led lamps, adjustment of HVAC system summer/winter setpoint temperatures, blinds placement to decrease/modify sun exposure, budget entries for equipment change measures (e.g., replacement of window frames with guaranteed energy efficiency improvements).
Tree planting
Tree planting around buildings in order to improve environment/comfort of green spaces and for better temperature management; increase green area on our campus so we can become more ‘carbon smart’ and contribute with regenerative ecosystems.
Carbon Footprint