What is your Ecological Footprint?

What do you know about these two concepts?

Ecological Footprint

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Biocapacity

How did the expression ‘Ecological Footprint’ was born

• The term "footprint" became popular in the 1990s and entered our daily vocabulary as a metaphor for the impacts of human activities on the environment.

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• It originated from the dissemination of a specific methodology called the "Ecological Footprint”, proposed by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel.

Ecological Footprint – What is it?

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• The "Ecological Footprint" is an environmental accounting tool that measures the sustainability of the planet, a region, a country, a city, or an individual.

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• It is one of the most widely used environmental sustainability indicators in the world.

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• It allows for the comparison of different consumption patterns and verifies whether they fall within the planet's ecological capacity.

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What does it measure?

• The quantity of natural resources that are needed annually for:
• Producing goods and services;
• Absorving all CO₂ emissions_.

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• Unit of measurement: Gha (Global hectares)

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Biocapacity – What is it?

• The quantity of natural resources that are renewed annually by Nature.

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• Unit of measurement: Gha (Global hectares)

Ecological�Footprint

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Biocapacity

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(Gha- global hectares/person)

6 Ecological Footprint components

Cálculo da Pegada Ecológica

Humanity’s Ecological Footprint (1961 – 2030)

Fonte: GFN, 2016

Challenge:��Sort these human activities regarding their ecological footprint in Guimarães

Results

Group Dinamic

My ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT – I decide what I leave in the planet.

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Objective: Raising awareness and encouraging reflection on individual behaviors and their impact on the ecological footprint.

Group Exercise:

Objectives: Reduce Guimarães’ Ecological Footprint

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Decisions to take:

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• Choose 3 main areas of acting;

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• Define the main actions to be applied in each area;

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• Define a goal to achieve for each area.

Individual Exercise:�“Calculate your Ecological Footprint”

2016 Results