The Trinomial Food-Heritage-Education for Climate Emergency as a Tool for Territorial Innovation in the Euroregion of Eixo Atlântico

This chapter is dedicated to the food-heritage-education for climate emergency trinomial (FoHECE). It disseminates a study in the Euroregion of Eixo Atlântico. This Euroregion (Galicia, Spain and Northern Portugal) has been a victim of climate change (CC) due to drought. The project consisted of a participatory-action-research (PAR) with a set of environmental education facilities (EEF) that promote the connection local heritage-global reality. The main objective of the study was to help re-signifying activities in education for climate emergency based on dietary styles. Thus, a pedagogical activity was created with each facility, according to the PAR methodology, to sub-themes of the diet-CC binomial (e.g,. types of food consumed, origin, type of production, presentation) and to food aspects of each EEF surrounding. In addition to the state-of-the-art review on FoHECE, results are discussed, and recommendations are suggested for future approaches and adaptations of this methodology to other contexts.

Literary Tourism as a Good Practice to Promote Inland Tourism

This study is carried out within the scope of the topic “innovative projects and good practices in inland tourism,” and it will present the case of the Portuguese project Eça de Queiroz Foundation. The Eça de Queiroz Foundation was founded in 1990 on some of the properties left by the 19th-century Portuguese writer, Eça de Queiroz: the Vila Nova farm and house in Santa Cruz do Douro (Tormes/Baião/Portugal), a small inland village in the Douro, a Portuguese region whose landscape is classified as World Heritage. Currently, the organization has several areas of activity, such as cultural, agricultural, and commercial intervention. The foundation also offers numerous products and services that enhance the promotion of Tourism in the Northern Portugal Inland Region.

Methodological Approaches for Monitoring Five Major Food Safety Hazards Affecting Food Production in the Galicia–Northern Portugal Euroregion

The agri-food industry has historically determined the socioeconomic characteristics of Galicia and Northern Portugal, and it was recently identified as an area for collaboration in the Euroregion. In particular, there is a need for action to help to ensure the provision of safe and healthy foods by taking advantage of key enabling technologies. The goals of the FOODSENS project are aligned with this major objective, specifically with the development of biosensors able to monitor hazards relevant to the safety of food produced in the Euroregion. The present review addresses the state of the art of analytical methodologies and techniques—whether commercially available or in various stages of development—for monitoring food hazards, such as harmful algal blooms, mycotoxins, Listeria monocytogenes, allergens, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We discuss the pros and cons of these methodologies and techniques and address lines of research for point-of-care detection. Accordingly, the development of miniaturized automated monitoring strategies is considered a priority in terms of health and economic interest, with a significant impact in several areas, such as food safety, water quality, pollution control, and public health. Finally, we present potential market opportunities that could result from the availability of rapid and reliable commercial methodologies.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Knowledge on Ownership, Zoonoses and Practices among Pet Owners in Northern Portugal

Pet ownership is common in modern society. In Portugal, 38% and 31% of all households own at least one dog or cat, respectively. Few studies have ascertained the knowledge of pet owners on pet ownership and zoonoses, and none have been carried out in Portugal. The aim of the present study was to assess household knowledge and practices related to pet ownership and zoonoses in northern Portugal. A face-to-face questionnaire was completed by 424 pet owners, from November 2019 to February 2020. Most respondents (97.2%) considered pets as an important part of the family, especially women (p = 0.036); 73.1% allowed their pets to live an indoor/outdoor life; 41.3% denied sharing the bed with their pets while 29% assumed they did it daily; 20.3% reported never kissing their pets/pets licking their faces. Furthermore, 73.6% considered animals as potential sources of human diseases, but only 25.9% reported knowing the definition of zoonoses; 96.9% considered the role of veterinarians important in protecting public health. The low level of knowledge of pet owners and the occurrence of high-risk behaviors indicates a need to strengthen communication between veterinarians, physicians, pet owners, and the general public towards reduce the risk of acquisition and transmission of zoonoses.

Geological Mapping of Rates and São Félix of Laúndos Region (Northern Portugal)

The Rates and São Félix of Laúndos region is located in the NW extension of the Valongo Anticline (Northern Portugal), comprising Palaeozoic formations with ages ranging from the Cambrian to the Carboniferous, locally overlaid by Plio-Pleistocene beach deposits and dunes. Detailed geological mapping was developed. The fieldwork allowed distinguishing different lithostratigraphic units, some of them fossiliferous. The study under optical microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) allowed noting the presence of volcanic rocks along the Palaeozoic succession. A rhyolite in the Cambrian - Ordovician transition, a likely ignimbrite in the Upper Ordovician, and the existence of a porphyry in the Carboniferous, were for the first time identified in this region. The palaeontological study focuses on the samples collected in the field, essentially belonging to the Middle Ordovician (Valongo Formation), but also to Silurian and Carboniferous. The Devonian formations are largely covered by agricultural fields and by urbanization, not allowing the collect of fossils, so the Devonian fossils studied belong to the Stratigraphical and Palaeontological Collection of the Department of Geosciences, Environment and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto. The geological mapping previously developed in this region goes back to the XX century. In the present work a detailed geological mapping at a scale of 1:15 000 was developed, with reinterpretation of the stratigraphic succession.