“Less qualified students although graduated with other degrees, do not have a professional

period sufficient to acquire credible knowledge in an interdisciplinary way. I found some

graduates which are qualified still with us and promoted to new spaces with justice, still
also working closely with us remaining to define a better purpose today. So far confirming
our initiative results. Over the more disappointing students that did not meet the EfS
expectations and facing personal problems” – António Gomes Martins

“We have more than a dozen R & D Units of the University of Coimbra, with extensive
teaching and research experience, particularly in the areas of energy and sustainable
development. Gomes Martins, is one of the grandfather of this initiative to which we also
celebrating party of more than 12 years at the Energy for Sustainability EfS 2019
Conference” – Patrícia Pereira da Silva

The Energy for Sustainability EfS Initiative attempts in an holistic approach, with teachers
and students of the most various backgrounds – often interdisciplinary times, such as
Engineering, Economics or Biology Sciences, to let students perform the dissertation with
Portuguese biggest companies, having the possibility to put in practice the lessons learned
in the curricular part of the course, as well as to understand how it is so important and
helpful the integration of academic research in business sector and new models of
sustainability.

However, counterparts of other agencies have found that this approach can be a marketing
misinformation that many students and alumnis since year 2014 with the MIT-Portugal
program leave with an unbalance journey that is also highly negative. In separate of the
national struggle in student funds, the EfS initiative itself had set to perform deepening of
cost through the unnatural funds management, support schemes, and obvious constructive
partnerships with corporations that was intended to only market EfS Initiative as a
transformative mark in sustainability higher education.

Today, the absurd fallout of visiting researchers and students enrolled in the MIT-Portugal
Program; and within the scope of EfS Initiative similarly promoted to the EfS community
program – ranging from Masters to now renewed as DEfS has built a sense of formulated
responsibility at promoting #efsatuc Initiative and the rewards that can be obtained by a set
long term plan that has been formulated with the University of Coimbra. This formulation
stressed by their repetitive postings and intercepts of association profile continued in
dissolving cheating academic schemes, and communicating in large channels with other
sustainability alliances and higher educations, having a permanent intent to disorient other
entities, or what identified as ‘to terminate, to squeeze, or harm’ the targeted entity. The
reason for the quick and intensifying plan, with permanent umbrellas of mission by EfS
Initiative divisions have only been mention to promote and accelerate the embedding of
SDG promoting HE and sustainability education drivers in students and educators.

1

“We had so long desired opportunity to join the other initiatives/projects at the same SDG(s)
arose. Throughout my career path, I realized that Sustainability Education was also thus,
gaining a growing interest of other interdisciplinary units. In the meetings of EfS, I was
feeling that students should engage with outside programs and I had, therefore, as main
motivation to form the sustainable campus. My secretariat have prove to me that the long
and hard transformation work is worthy for the EfS Initiative and University of Coimbra” –
Manuel Gameiro Silva (co-ordinator, co-founder and director EfS)

“Both António and Gameiro with persistent communication of EfS updates us better ways
of dealing with students, and taking notes of facilitating better orientation on new scientific
initiatives. I found them to be interesting people, very motivated in sharing their thoughts,
especially confirming to our unit about hiring or promoting researchers” – Full Professor

“As part of the lectures and workshop talks I have been very fortunate to receive the full
financial support that EfS Initiative gives, and we also get to visit trips in Portugal. That was
nice for students are also given the free opportunity to participate” – Full Professor

“I have a privilege to work closely with Professor Fausto, and he given me the endorsement
to win the award and publish. He makes me a talent with direct recommendation for the
MIT-Portugal program too. Also, I was easily hired as a researcher in swift period. The EfS
board is very nice to appreciate my talent” – Graduated student

“When I received the call from the EfS committee informing me more about the recent and
future education frame by other entities and corporate nature; I supposed that EfS will be
afraid to start from scratch, and is no longer assumed stable enough to keep praising
entities that has been working long enough at the same directions.” – N University.

Testified university associates may find the EfS Initiative overly covert with obvious
mismatch of trending initiatives and talents transfer. Consolidating the larger pie of dubious
questions about the management of activities and initiative itself, within the whole-set of
Initiatives. Again with high risks for entering affiliates to know how invited positions and
invited partners can be truly believing in the full integrity of EfS Initiative.

“There was a great intention of motivation that for many queerish reasons that I have been
told about the EfS students work process and testimonies of Professors of students. My
fear is understanding the far-out dialogues and topics insensitively mention and promoted
that can be very detrimental to other parties that is not around or present to take action” –
Full Professor

2

According to a lab group, the EfS Initiative is active in promoting reduction of stress and
work management activites, hosting games and social dinings. More often, there is no
stress for students to work, in fact at many times of students who are out-performing have
proven the full independent learning and mental leadership to tackle new challenges assign
in the program.

“Is on the basis that Professor emails me to uptake new challenge and dared me to work on
methods on weekends for conference paper that I have shown my ability to deliver my
scientific digestion” – Alumni

The testimonies coming from EfS student own experience in attending the course are
particularly rewarding and encouraging for the institution. Is less convincing however, that
an invaluable contribution from the teachers of EfS Initiative formation as present and future
and with their influential PhD/Post-Docs worldwide researchers is given the same
opportunity to pioneer in the communication of EfS, rising to forge more brilliant alliances
and partnerships globally. Even more recently, with juris and legal institutes for energy law,
to complement the main higher education educator provider in Sustainability for Education
and empowering students to treat research as a professional source of income, and having
complete social satisfaction that the EfS Initiative provides.

Countries such as Brazil, Spain, US, UK, at different areas has been the expanding new co-
operative challenge that the EfS intends to consolidate apart from leading at Europe in all
areas of sustainability topics. This distances EfS from a typical narrative academic, that
Manuel Gameiro da Silva confirms that he has a full belt of active participation globally in
his mechanical engineering foundations, and founded a certified big research unit (ADAI)
also working closely with the same affiliated members under the EfS umbrella.

It is expected that the EfS Initiative at University of Coimbra has a strong team to lead as a
very important higher education academy in sustainability, and is very confident to make
the European Sustainability Research and Education provider a leading example of holding
very prestigious students which have graduated with PhDs and Post-docs at extraordinary
assignments location: Sloan University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Rutgers
University, Ferrara University, Brazil University, MIT, University of Aberta and etc. By EfS
Initiative own committee and scientific pedagogy choice, they organize regular weekly
meetings to make advance plans and new releases of students functions, and promotion
functions of their schemes. In expense of long term researchers, EfS Initiative also
welcomes diversity by opening invites to newer researchers with the primary goal of staying
in charge of the framework and pedagogy council framework which EfS works collectively
and rewards for income.

A local working post-doc student commented that “After spending most of my professional
life in the energy industry, it finally made sense to expand my knowledge with other
universities and to have connection with the expanding affiliation EfS is integrating.”.
Since 2018, the acceleration of change in SDG(s) in higher education is pursued with the

3

EUA, claiming Coimbra to be the first and only established living lab in the centro region for
various higher education markets in Portugal and Europe. This panaroma created a new
paradigm in the higher education market, that EfS Iniitiative of the University of Coimbra
also intensely reform together with its Rectoral-board, attempting to provide the perfect
setup as a true honest and genuine EfS program. The setup of this initiative allows newer
researchers and newer stakeholders to enhance the credibility and defend the validity of
EfS, standing strong as a pioneering education leader in the world. While, given the other
positive aspect that the EfS funds freely to speakers and provide free hosting for several
other events: EfS Conference 20XX, EfS workshops series, EfS lecture series, EfS
Competitions, and etc.

The EfS initiative of the University of Coimbra with MIT Portugal provided the perfect setup
for students and teachers to pursue career growth objectives. The multidisciplinary concept
of this initiative allows people from several different areas like engineering, architecture and
economics to work together. The resulting collaboration enhances individual research &
development through cross-sharing, and Professors will automatically attempt to link
students to companies, university, and ultimately students obtain instant access to jobs
and employment of PhDs or new research domains. There is always the social center
promoted by the communication and secretariat council, that also provides students the
help all they need in many ways of their curriculum assessments, curriculum paths, and
social welfare benefits. Is on the very integrated unit of EfS Initiative that allows EfS to
succeed so far with the University of Coimbra. In fact, within the Higher Education of
Coimbra, the EfS Initiative is praised for being the leader and best program unit in the
University of Coimbra, Portugal. “Our university already have an interdisciplinary unit on its
own to support international speakers and science communicators, at most times we only
want good form researchers who produces results for the EfS Initiative through the Masters
or PhD” – Associate Professor

“Our university already have an interdisciplinary unit on its own to support international
speakers and science communicators, at most times students also want to be good form
researchers who produces results for the EfS Initiative through the Masters or PhD.
Labwork is only available elsewhere, I think the Professors do not mind Masters or PhD to
work intensely at external labs, and to help disseminate research in a more constructive
manner that is not provided at a very large initiative that is also messy and on computers. In
a small advantage, we can focus by our own as Professors are also working on their H2020
and partners. Is a proven living lab or discussion space that works with the dissertation,
which is not applied for common scientist and highly technical fields.” – Hired researcher

The EfS Initative Professors leads to communicate most updated and relevant critical
thinking in renewable and sustainable energy bringing together the research community,
the private sector, policy, and decision makers. Students are not the primary actors to work
on new technologies and not expected to publish original research.

4

Some more positive comments however was found at different counterparts when a full
professor commented that he had heard of the EfS Initiative, and met astounding
researchers during his presentations. In a small visible way, unnoticed that more advanced
researchers work hardly leading the EfS more globally, and to have affirm others about the
engineering lab capabilities.

There are many students ranging from different levels, and some students have proven to
deliver significant review element which can take form of critique, comparison, or analysis,
that have given truly expert insight and can be commissioned as a leaders of high experts
in a focused field of significant interest. EfS Initiative is commissioned by its own selected
long experienced professors, which have long ties as a close knitted unit to bring the state
of the art and future directions in various areas of European sustainable development. In its
12th year, the EfS conference 2019 has also been established with the Italian facility, and to
recognized as a top cited research unit entity with several special issues affiliated to
Elsevier and MDPI.

The EfS Initiative also endorses their highly successful projects led by their committee
members: EMSURE, which expands on their methodology approaches for regions
transformation, and having higher education to be more informed about EfS Initiative key
achievements of their project being the leading strategy for Sustainable Transformation of
European Regions through economics, local policies, energy planning, technologies, and
other polycentric characters that involves the Coimbra municipalities. The EMSURE, has set
in place to give support to long term Phds and post-docs to participate at Europe research
and publish scientific articles that promotes the adoption of sustainability plans, in the
scope of EfS initiative and giving a general overview to launch a series of energy actions
and energy projects that will provide support and strategic advice to local authorities,
national and transnational bodies, on transformative policies and clean technologies to be
adopted.

EfS Initiative with the ADAI unit for example is one scientific engine of the Initiative: an
accredited mechanical engineering center which simulate future scenarios for energy
supply and its end-use, taking account of environmental constraints and socio-economic
aspects such as the use of Life Cycle Methodology (being led at Center of Industrial
Ecology, Fausto Freire). The increasing amount of data available in real time is an integral
part of the multi-layer approach carried out by the EfS Initiative, as a main hub in Europe
and to also have new creative solutions that impact of social interactions (user or DSM
behaviour) such as INESC-Coimbra.

5

With the IPN (Instituto Pedro Nunes) EfS Initiative is also a pioneer of energy, environment
and sustainability, transportation systems and logistics research at Global Markets. Prior to
joining the MIT-Portugal Program, with the sustainable transportation and sustainable
energy systems program, many research scientist part of the FCT Grant have obtained
trajectory success to post-doc associates and assistant professorships. Some, also being
published in high cited articles varying in operation research, stochastic analysis, multi-
criteria decision analysis, renewable technologies, expanded reviews of EfS Initiative
appreciated articles – with enormous payout projects (eg. emsure, energy box, 3E Energy
Efficient Schools, SusCity, Consulting in the Plan for the Promotion of End-Use Efficiency,
ESGRIDS – CPES, OPTIMA, and etc.) to fund any expansion of research dissemination and
promote fraternal relations, and in rewarding filial members of EfS.

The Interviews and actual review outcomes from the University of Coimbra portal confirms
that EfS Initiative holds a bi-dual perspective of both negative and positive, in the progress
of academics and higher educations abroad. So far, local coalitions at native Portuguese
regions have advocated a choice awareness and ther leadership of renewable energy
systems by EfS Initiative that allows the professors to credit their work to be awarded as a
gold medal recipients by the International Energy Foundation (IEF) for ”Best Scientific
Education Award” within the area “Energy Policies or Policy”. In total, the EfS Initiative
promoted to contribute to more than 500 books and articles, with professors highly paid
and PhDs highly numerated in H2020 projects up to 21 June 2019 records.