{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,27]],"date-time":"2026-03-27T23:45:20Z","timestamp":1774655120053,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,7]],"date-time":"2023-02-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1675728000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the forthcoming years Portugal expects to be an increasingly hot and dry country dealing with the risk of water scarcity. According to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere data, annual precipitation values have decreased 20 mm\/decade. On the other hand, it is also verified that the periods of rain occur in a shorter interval, although more intensively. Water scarcity is one of the major challenges reflected in the UN 6th Sustainable Development Goal. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), as places of responsibility in preparing future leaders, must have strong sustainability policies, namely through the implementation of water efficiency measures on their campi. The main aim of this work was to evaluate water consumption and the good practices that the different HEIs have implemented on their campi to improve and promote green and sustainable behaviors, and to calculate water efficiency indicators associated with each HEI. The data were collected through a survey completed by eight HEIs distributed throughout the country. The results show that some institutions have already been implementing measures for water efficiency and have developed some activities with the academic and surrounding community. The range of values calculated for the indicators is large and there is not a strong correlation between them. Per capita consumption values vary between 1.8 and 23.5 L\/(person\u00b7day), the differences being explained mostly by campus characteristics, namely: green areas; water sources for irrigation; age of buildings; and the existence of facilities on campus such as residences and sports facilities. Nevertheless, the consumption per capita values are generally lower than those found in the literature for equivalent institutions. Given the growing concern with water scarcity, sharing this kind of information among institutions may contribute to improving water efficiency.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su15043035","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,8]],"date-time":"2023-02-08T02:29:08Z","timestamp":1675823348000},"page":"3035","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Analyzing Green Behavior and the Rational Use of Water in Portuguese Higher Education Campi"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4343-6798","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana M.","family":"Barreiros","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Lisboa, Rua Conselheiro Em\u00eddio Navarro 1, 1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9069-2554","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anabela","family":"Dur\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Polytechnic Institute of Beja, Campus do IPBeja, Rua Pedro Soares, 7800-295 Beja, Portugal"},{"name":"Associate Laboratory, MARE\u2014Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ARNET\u2014Aquatic Research Network, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1513-4522","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Galv\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CERIS\u2014Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0553-0361","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina","family":"Matos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola de Ci\u00eancias e Tecnologia, Universidade de Tr\u00e1s-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"CIIMAR\u2014Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leix\u00f5es Avenida General Norton de Matos, S\/N, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8374-3384","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dina","family":"Mateus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Techn&Art\u2014Centre for Technology, Restoration and Art Enhancement, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Tomar, Estrada da Serra, 2300-313 Tomar, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0425-8514","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivo","family":"Ara\u00fajo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"proMetheus, Unidade de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Materiais, Energia e Ambiente para a Sustentabilidade, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua da Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun\u2019Alvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Neves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"INESC Coimbra\u2014Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers at Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2068-4150","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M\u00e1rio","family":"Matos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9545-2584","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandra","family":"Mourato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"MED\u2014Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Universidade de \u00c9vora, Polo da Mitra, 7006-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Report of the Secretary-General","volume":"2017","author":"Guterres","year":"2022","journal-title":"Econ. Soc. Counc. U. N."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pinho, H.J.O., and Mateus, D.M.R. (2021). 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