http://documenta.ciemat.es/handle/123456789/25 2026-03-13T08:17:13Z http://documenta.ciemat.es/handle/123456789/5749 Title: Social inequalities in the making sense of climate change narratives. Authors: Espluga, Josep; Prades, Ana Abstract: n this viewpoint we intend to argue two things. First, that any attempt at effective communication must consider not only the causes and effects of climate change, but also the political measures proposed to address those causes and effects, since both influence public perceptions and behaviours. Second, that it is necessary to better understand the processes by which citizens make sense of climate change, as well as the role that their position in the social structure plays in shaping such perceptions. According to our recent research, the most sceptical or denialist people ignore the problem due to their (perceived) difficulties to change ways of life, and this implies that any attempt to modify this perception should go beyond climate change policies in the strict sense, considering other political measures to compensate these (perceived) deficits and help people to be able to consider a change of ways of life. 2026-02-11T00:00:00Z http://documenta.ciemat.es/handle/123456789/5748 Title: Transdisciplinarity from principles to practice: insights from EU Horizon research projects on sustainability Authors: Vañó, Carles; Prades, Ana; Espluga, Josep; Lehtonen, Markku Abstract: Transdisciplinary research (TD) is widely invoked to tackle complex sustainable-development challenges by integrating scientific and societal knowledge and fostering collaboration among researchers, decision-makers, practitioners and affected publics. Yet we still lack a refined understanding of the conditions that enable TD to succeed in EU research settings. We address this gap by analysing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Horizon project coordinators working on sustainability topics. Our results reaffirm established enablers—broad and inclusive participation, robust knowledge integration, and balanced, adaptive governance—and surface additional, actionable levers: structured feedback and iterative learning, methodological flexibility, pathways for post-project continuity, and effective use of digital collaboration tools. We synthesise these insights into a practice-proximate framework that prioritises power-sharing, equitable dialogue and shared decision-making, thereby strengthening the credibility, salience and legitimacy of TD outputs. The article refines existing TD and joint-knowledge-production perspectives and offers concrete guidance for researchers, funders and policymakers seeking to design and steward more successful TD processes in future Horizon programmes. 2026-02-11T00:00:00Z http://documenta.ciemat.es/handle/123456789/5681 Title: Gold(III) biosorption and bioreduction with the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus Authors: Mata, Yasmina N.; Torres, Elena; Blázquez, María L.; Ballester, Antonio; González, Felisa; Muñoz, Jesús A. Abstract: In this paper, the bioreduction of Au(III) to Au(0) using biomass of the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus was investigated. The recovery and reduction process took place in two stages with an optimum pH range of 4–9 with a maximum uptake obtained at pH 7. In the first stage, an induction period previous to gold reduction, the variation of pH, redox potential and gold concentration in solution was practically negligible and no color change was observed. In the second stage, the gold reduction was followed by a sharp decrease of gold concentration, pH and redox potential of solution and a color change from yellow to reddish purple. Hydroxyl groups present in the algal polysaccharides were involved in the gold bioreduction. Metallic gold was detected as microprecipitates on the biomass surface and in colloidal form as nanoparticles in the solution. Bioreduction with F. vesiculosus could be an alternative and environmentally friendly process that can be used for recovering gold from dilute hydrometallurgical solutions and leachates of electronic scraps, and for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles of different size and shape. 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://documenta.ciemat.es/handle/123456789/5680 Title: Lead and Gold Removal Using Sugar-Beet Pectin Gels with and without immobilized Fucus vesiculosus Authors: Mata, Yasmina N.; Torres, Elena; Blázquez, María Luisa; Ballester, Antonio; González, Felisa; Muñoz, Jesús A. Abstract: Sugar-beet pectin gels are a novel material with applications in heavy and precious metal removal and biomass immobilization which are similar to those of alginate. This paper presents the experimental results of the kinetics of Pb(II) and Au(III) batch removal with these gels, with and without immobilized biomass of the brown algae Fucus vesiculosus. The evolution of the metal concentration, solution pH and Ca2+ liberation was determined. The biomass was characterized before and after the metal removal using SEM-EDX, FESEM, FETEM, XRD and FTIR techniques. The Pb(II) removal followed a typical biosorption kinetics with a final equilibrium metal concentration. The immobilized algae had different biosorptive behaviour than both the original sugar-beet pectin gels and the free biomass. There was no Au(III) removal with the pectin gels without algae. In the case of the immobilized biomass, the Au(III) recovery occurred in two stages, where the biosorption was followed by the reduction of the Au(III) to Au(0) due to the presence of the own algae. The Au(0) precipitated preferably on the surface of the algal biomass and in the form of colloidal gold in the solution and entrapped within the pectin gel matrix. 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z