Maria Helena Marques Enes Guimarães

Maria Helena Marques Enes Guimarães

Landscape Dynamics and Management, Integrated in MED
Landscape Dynamics and Management
Integrated in MED

About

Biodiversity loss is one of the biggest societal challenges humans face. The simplification of ecosystems decreases the provision of goods and services that humankind depends upon (e.g. water, food, air quality). Increasing ecosystems diversity and heterogeneity are therefore critical societal goals that require integrated solutions that exist scattered across different disciplines, theories and methodologies in social sciences, political science and environmental economics, as well as from outside the scientific community. A transdisciplinary facilitator is a person (working in a team) whose role is to purposefully create the conditions that allow representatives of different disciplines, of the private and the public sectors, and of the civil society, to co-produce knowledge.for the definition of actions that transform social-ecological systems. To be  leading edge, the research of a transdisciplinary facilitator develops along two trajectories: (1) a specific theme (e.g. biodiversity loss, climate change, sustainability) and (2) research on transdisciplinary theory building itself.

I combine theory and practice to develop transformative solutions and uncover vital missing knowledge through transdisciplinary facilitation. My specific focus is on sustainability at local and global scale. Building on my background in biology I make use of concepts such as carrying capacity, non-linear relationships, and resilience in structuring collaborative dialogue between scientific and tacit knowledge.

In the process I also explore the critical role, skill sets and value of transdisciplinary facilitators. Such facilitation models and roles are already well utilized in the field of urban development with the implementation of co-design processes in planning projects. Yet, this role in not well recognized and explicit in the field of natural resource management. 

My work divides into two mainstreams: (1) systems thinking and participatory approaches in the development of decision support systems to the analysis of management options and (2) development of methodological approaches, principals and conditions to advance the field of transdiciplinarity. I also have a dedicated set of work and expertise in the field of sustainable transitions and natural resource management.

In my CV, you will find 38 publications, 47% as the first author, and 82% working in teams of more than three authors. The scientific journals I target are recognized internationally, so 29% of my publications are published, for example in Tourism Management, Journal of Cleaner Production, Sustainability Science, Ecosystem Services. All of them with impact factors higher than 6. I also attempt to contribute as a reviewer at least once every two months, so in my Web of Science record, there are 5 Verified Peer Reviews (in the last 12 months).In total I have published 28 articles in the First Quartile and 8 in the Second Quartile. 

Present Research
  • natural resource management
  • participatory approaches
  • sustainability
  • systems thinking
  • social-ecological systems
  • transdisciplinarity
Research Interests
  • socio-ecological systems
  • deliberation and decision making
  • governance
  • systems thinking
  • policy
  • transdisciplinarity

Personal Information

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Thematic lines to which I contribute:
Agro-silvo-pastoral System - Montado
Rural Dynamics & Governance
Biodiversity & Ecosystem Functioning

Publications & Patents

Publication

Projects

Project Funding Lead Institution Role Start End Scope
DIVERCROP - Land system dynamics in the Mediterranean basin across scales as relevant indicator for species diversity and local food systems European Commission - ARIMNET 2 Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique ; France MED Representative 2017-03-23 2021-06-30 Internacional
CHANGE - Instituto para as Alterações Globais e Sustentabilidade FCT - Concurso para Atribuição do Estatuto e Financiamento de Laboratórios Associados (LA) Universidade de Évora Participant 2021-01-01 2025-12-31 Nacional
RESCHEDULE - RESilient to Climate CHange Extremes MeDiterranean AgricUltural Systems: LEveraging the Power of Soil Health and Associated Microbiota European Commission - PRIMA Tecnhnical University of Crete(Grécia) Participant 2021-06-01 2024-05-31 Internacional
SOLO - Soils for Europe European Commission - Horizon Europe Universität Leipzig(Alemanha) MED Representative 2022-12-01 2027-11-30 Internacional
LIFE ScrubNet - Regeneração e melhoria dos montados através da gestão adequada das áreas de mato/arbustos. European Commission - LIFE Program INNOGESTIONA AMBIENTAL(Espanha) Participant 2021-12-01 2026-08-31 Internacional
FUEL-SAT - Integração de dados de diferentes satelites para mapear combustiveis florestais: o papel da detecção remota para uma efectiva gestão dos combustiveis florestais Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Universidade de Évora Participant 2021-03-21 2025-03-20 Nacional
12_CALL#5_ Programa territorial “+SOLO + VIDA” EEA Grants Associação de Defesa do Património de Mértola Participant 2022-07-01 2023-12-31 Internacional