Abstract:

In the context of Education for Sustainability, Higher Education Institutions face the challenge of training professionals capable of performing rigorous and holistic sustainability assessments. Beyond simple qualitative indicators, there is a critical need for quantitative tools that can objectively measure environmental performance. To address that challenge, Exergy and Emergy Analysis appear as powerful methodologies. While Exergy measures the total amount of useful work that can perform based on the Thermodynamics principles, Emergy evaluate the total environmental effort directly and indirectly required to generate a product or service. However, introducing those advanced thermodynamic frameworks into curricula presents a significant pedagogical challenge due to their high level of abstraction.

This study presents an educational innovation experience implemented in the Master in Environmental Hydraulics at the University of Granada, specifically within the specialization of Integrated Management of Ports and Coasts. The intervention was carried out in the subject "Integrated Management of Coastal Zones and Port Areas". The student group presented a highly multidisciplinary profile, consisting of engineers, biologists and environmental scientists. This diversity posed the challenge of finding a common pedagogical language to explain these advanced thermodynamic assessments.

To bridge the gap between theory and practice, the teaching strategy adopted a Research-Based Learning (RBL) approach. Instead of using simplified textbook examples, the session utilized data from a research case study: the extension of a breakwater and the implementation of an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) energy generation system in a port environment.

The methodology was structured in three stages. First, a theoretical framework was introduced to clarify the distinction between useful work (Exergy) and environmental cost (Emergy). Second, students were provided with a dataset via spreadsheets containing real number of inputs, and transformities derived from the aforementioned research case study. Their task was to identify and categorize each input (renewable resources, non-renewable resources, and fluxes from society) and perform the necessary calculations to determine the total emergy and indexes of the process.

Results showed that the use of tangible research data helped to bring them closer to the research methodology in a relatively simple way. Furthermore, knowing that the data belonged to a real study increased engagement and sparked a debate on the scalability of thermodynamic indicators to their respective fields of interest.

In conclusion, using real infrastructure case studies proves to be an effective strategy for teaching complex sustainability metrics in multidisciplinary postgraduate courses. This approach not only validates theoretical knowledge but also demonstrates the practical application of research in professional coastal management.

Keywords:

Renewability, sustainability, research, education.