2nd International Conference on Resilience and Sustainable Regions

2-4 July 2025

Setúbal, Portugal

The International Conference on Resilience and Sustainable Regions is an international conference organized by Polytechnic University of Setúbal (IPS) with the participation of several international and national institutions. Institutions from Portugal, as well from E³UDRES² Alliance, Businet and International Business Week Network, joined efforts to reflect, discuss, and share advances and trends on different scientific areas that contribute to the resilience and sustainability of the regions.

The conference focuses on exploring and reinforcing the relationship between management and the different areas of technology and engineering to stimulate the development and sustainability of the regions.

With a multidisciplinary approach it is expected that this conference will be attend by participants from more than 15 countries and attracts an interesting public combining academic scholars, practitioners and individuals who are engaged in the topics of:

Keynotes

Climate Modelling and AI for a Resilient Earth in the Context of Climate Change

Speaker: Pedro Matos Soares

2/7/2025 @ 10:30

Hannes Raffaseder Portrait

Pedro Matos Soares is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geographical Engineering, Geophysics and Energy and Principal Researcher at the Instituto Dom Luiz (IDL), both at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. His PhD in Physics focused on turbulence and clouds in atmospheric models.

Over the last 3 decades he has focused his research efforts on climate modeling, climate change, and energy and sustainability, leading from 2018 to 2022, the IDL research group on Climate change, atmosphere-land-ocean processes and extremes.

He was an active member in 13 international (PI of 1) and 13 national (PI of 5) projects and coordinates the Portuguese CORDEX team endorsed by WRCP. He was the scientific coordinator of the EEA grants project “National Roadmap for Adaptation 2100 – Assessment of the vulnerability of the Portuguese territory to climate change in the 21st century (RNA 2100)”, and led the “Regional Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Alentejo” and the “Municipal Climate Action Plan of Barcelos”.

Recently, he was appointed to the Portuguese Council for Climate Action, and is a member of the Scientific Committee of the PhD Program in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies and of the Scientific Commitee of the Portuguese Council for Health and Environment. In the context of climate change and its impacts, it has strong collaboration with institutions such as the Lisbon City Council (Lisbon-Enova), the Health authorities, the Portuguese Environment Agency, E-REDES, CCDRs, and many others.

He has published more than 130 scientific articles in refereed international journals and carried out hundreds of international communications and outreach presentations; and, is a science communicator with a constant presence in the media. In 2020 he received the University of Lisbon/Caixa Geral Depósitos award for scientific production in the last 5 years in Earth Sciences, and in 2022 the Prize from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon in Earth Sciences.

Antje Disterheft

2/7/2025 @ 11:30

Hannes Raffaseder Portrait

Antje Disterheft (PhD) is a researcher and integrated member at Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research (CENSE), from NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon. She is enthusiastic about exploring transformative processes that can support keeping human-nature systems in balance.

Her research focuses on capacity building and new approaches to collaboration and co-creation for sustainability in Higher Education Institutions. In the past years, she started to engage deeper with the lens of care when thinking about sustainability and founded The CareLab for People & Planet at her faculty. The CareLab is a new space of collaboration, co-creation and transformative learning where the interlinkages of inner and outer sustainability are explored.

She holds a PhD in Social Sustainability (Universidade Aberta) and is an alumni of the Postdoc Academy for Transformational Leadership. German by nationality, but living in Portugal for more than 17 years, she enjoys being in nature, biking and cooking.

More to be announced

Special Sessions

Collaborative Innovation and Digital Co-creation for Sustainable Tourism Futures

2/7/2025 @ 13:30

The transformation of the tourism industry in the face of climate change, digitalization, and shifting societal values requires new paradigms of governance, strategic thinking, and stakeholder coordination. At the core of these challenges lies the imperative for more effective and forward‐looking tourism management. This special session, anchored in the SHIFT research project (Sustainability-oriented, Highly interactive, and Innovation-based Framework for Tourism Marketing), highlights how management practices can integrate collaboration, technology, and co‐creation to foster sustainable and resilient tourism ecosystems.

Tourism management must evolve from traditional models towards approaches that embrace systemic complexity, participatory governance, and cross-sector innovation. The papers included in this session address precisely this need by examining the design and implementation of collaborative marketing strategies, stakeholder engagement through co‐creation platforms, and scenario planning as a strategic management tool. In doing so, they provide critical insights into how destination management organizations, policy makers, and tourism enterprises can anticipate global trends and co‐develop inclusive and adaptive responses.

In a context marked by environmental, technological, and social transitions, this session—composed of five presentations (the first introducing the project and the remaining four presenting its core results)—is highly relevant for scholars and practitioners seeking to reimagine tourism management as a discipline that not only responds to change but actively shapes sustainable futures through innovation, interactivity, and stakeholder synergy.

You can find more details about the special session by following this link.

Value Creation in the Socio-Bioeconomy in the Amazon Region: Integrating Tradition, Innovation and Environmental Services

This session aims to provide experiences and knowledge exchange on value creation for businesses of traditional peoples and communities (TPCs), usually cooperatives, through the sustainable exploration of the socio-bioeconomy in the Amazon region. TPCs are keepers of traditional knowledge and practices and should be valued not only as guardians of the forest but also as disseminators of knowledge that can help mitigate climate change and environmental destruction. In this context, we propose to discuss factors that not only add value to their community businesses but also ensure that this value remains within the territory. To achieve this, we will address three key issues:

  • Alliances for innovation
  • Payment for environmental services
  • Sustainable productive chains

You can find more details about the special session by following this link.