Conference Agenda

Water scarcity represents an increasingly worldwide concern. Policies designed to address water scarcity either focus on the water supply or on consumers’ demand. This paper proposes to analyse the relevance that water price plays in regulating households’ demand and, the role it could play if set differently, to induce a more sustainable water use. In particular, in Portugal, the quantity of water can represent less than 50% of the water bill, since several other components are included. The hypothesis tested, and corroborated, is that most consumers are not aware of specific amount they pay for water and, consequently, the price does not play a moderating effect in the consumer. Following an exploratory survey to a sample of the Portuguese population, it was observed that water price is not deemed relevant to condition water consumption, even though water issues such as pollution and scarcity are identified by respondents as relevant problems.

Wildfires severely disrupt ecosystem services, generating long-lasting environmental and socio-economic impacts that require effective post-fire restoration strategies. Understanding societal preferences for ecosystem services restoration is therefore essential to design policies that align restoration efforts with public values. This study investigates preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for post-wildfire ecosystem services restoration actions in Spain, France, and Portugal using a standardized online survey incorporating a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE).

Results reveal significant cross-country differences in preferences and WTP, with respondents from countries more affected by wildfires (Portugal and Spain) expressing higher WTP for restoration and post-fire risk prevention measures, suggesting a potential role of local fire exposure and context in shaping public support for ecosystem services restoration policies.

Given the reliance on online surveys, particular attention is paid to data quality as a secondary but critical methodological aspect. Multiple strategies—including paradata monitoring, device control, an oath of careful participation, and the exclusion of inattentive or speeding respondents—were applied to ensure robust estimation. A conservative data-cleaning approach shows that low-quality data tend to inflate mean WTP estimates and increase their variance, while cleaned datasets provide more precise and comparable estimates across countries, reducing confidence interval widths by approximately 10–20.

The increasing environmental impact of agriculture, particularly in the Mediterranean region, has heightened the interest in analysing the adequacy of land use practices. In particular, the need to foster a balance between the location of resource intensive economic activities and the availability of the resources. This, in turn, as raised the interest in sustainable food production and consumption. This study investigates consumer willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for olive oil produced with sustainable water management practices in Portugal and Spain—two of Europe’s leading olive oil producers and consumers. Utilizing the contingent valuation method, the research employs a structured survey to assess WTP for both conventional and organic olive oils produced with water-efficient processes. The survey, administered in both countries, incorporates an experimental design where half of the respondents receive additional information about drought challenges to evaluate the effect of environmental awareness on purchasing decisions. The questionnaire also collects data on consumption habits, environmental attitudes, and sociodemographic characteristics. Findings indicate that consumers are aware of the environmental implications of their food choices and are willing to pay more for products with lower water footprints, especially when informed about resource scarcity. The results of this study provide valuable insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders aiming to promote sustainable agricultural practices towards increasing the resilience of the territories to increasing shortages of water and soil nutrients.

Portugal’s recurrent extreme wildfire seasons highlight the need to rebalance from suppression toward prevention and integrated landscape management. We design and implement a discrete choice experiment (DCE) in Portugal to elicit willingness to pay for attributes and co-benefits of a forest fire prevention program. A mixed-logit model shows significant preferences for all attributes, with the highest value attributed to preserving fauna and flora, followed by promoting the local forest economy and recreation and leisure. Although respondents rank firefighting as the most urgent priority in forest policy, ahead of prevention and restoration, our model results support prevention bundles that deliver biodiversity and socioeconomic co-benefits. Results are indicative due to the small, non-probabilistic sample, but provide actionable signals for prevention program design.

Considering the pressing challenges posed by climate change and the commitments outlined in the Paris Agreement, nations have pledged to enhance their greenhouse gas emissions targets, pressing for increased electrification and a greater reliance on renewable energy sources. The demand for lithium extraction has, consequently, surged to meet the growing need for battery production. The detrimental environmental impacts of lithium extraction are well-documented, prompting discussions around the establishment and quantification of compensatory measures. This study examines the case of the Barroso region in Portugal, which has been designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) and is currently subject to a lithium mining operation. Generalized Linear Model (GLM)to estimate the premium effect for the GIAHS classification on the local rural estate market is proposed.The analysis employs hedonic pricing methods in the rural land market using a difference-in-differences approach, comparing property prices prior to and subsequent to the GIAHS classification. The findings indicate that the GIAHS premium effect for the Barroso Region is estimated at 0.4139 ± 0.1430 €/m². When juxtaposed with the financial compensation proposed for the mine installation—calculated as 3% of the international lithium market value of the extracted quantity—it is revealed that this compensation corresponds to only 20% of the GIAHS premium effect. This significant disparity suggests that the majority of external costs are being socialized among the affected local populations.