Under these “Scholarships - Porto Knowledge 2019” (“Bolsas de Estudo - Porto Conhecimento 2019”), Universidade Portucalense gives promising young people, who would otherwise hardly be able to attend this University, the opportunity to pursue an academic degree and create a professional path.

By signing this protocol, Universidade Portucalense reaffirms its mission to contribute to the social and economic development of the country, particularly the North.

These scholarships join others from the UPT, such as “School Merit” (awarded to students with the highest final grades), “Service Provision” (reduction of the monthly fee through participation in university activities), and “Quality Promotion” (for students who enrol in the 1st year of the Bachelor’s degree with a final high school average of no less than 16 points out of 20).

These initiatives are a reflection of Universidade Portucalense’s culture of excellence and its commitment to find solutions so that everyone can study and successfully complete their academic career.

Comunica UPT: RES-UPT is an organizational structure for the coordination and implementation of UPT's social responsibility policies, strategies and actions. How has this work been developed?

Paula Morais: Social Responsibility encompasses the three vectors of a university's mission, which are education, research and interaction with society. RES-UPT's activity has focused mainly on the vectors of education, with the all-round development of students, and interaction with society. RES-UPT has concerns about social responsibility and sustainability, and this year the focus was on Social Responsibility issues.

Do you highlight any particular initiative/action for its relevance or symbolism?

I would like to highlight the active participation in the preparation of the Green Paper on Social Responsibility in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the organization of the seminar “Building a better world”, in parallel with a volunteer fair, which marked the extension of volunteer initiatives to the entire UPT community, since volunteer work was previously only encouraged for students. At the moment we already have teaching and non-teaching staff members in volunteering initiatives. I would also like to highlight the celebration of Happiness Day, with a free Laughter Yoga session, integrated into a project to develop the well-being of the community, with Biodanza, Mindfulness, and Yoga sessions. Finally, I must mention the volunteer projects that involved a total of 64 students - 47 at the national level and 17 at the international level.

What news does RES-UPT have for next academic year?

In the next academic year we will focus on activities related to sustainability, with the motto “Green UPT”. During the welcome week for new students, in September, we will present the “Socially Responsible Campus” program. We will also have a “Book Bank,” based on the exchange of books with the goal of lending and exchanging books, enabling students to access books they need or are interested in, free of charge. This project, besides solidarity, aims to save paper. Next year, we also hope to make available the UPT’s “Manual of Good Practices of University Social Responsibility (USR)” and a “Practical Guide to Volunteering”.

What are the short and medium term projects?

In the short term, within the ORSIES (Observatory of Social Responsibility of Higher Education Institutions), we will participate in two projects: “Learning and Service Network” and “Definition of Indicators of Social Responsibility of HEIs”. In the latter, a pilot project is foreseen by the end of 2019, which will enable the UPT to make a diagnosis and assess the level of maturity of its USR practices. In the medium term, we intend to increase our involvement with the surrounding community, namely with the Paranhos Parish Council, where the UPT is located, in order to contribute to improving the lives of those who need it most. In this sense, last month, we were at the Paranhos Parish Council presenting RES-UPT and getting to know the needs. We believe that this relationship will enhance the development of real learning and service projects, which will allow our students to learn while providing a service to the community.

What are the reasons that should motivate students to participate in volunteer activities?

The main reason is to contribute to a better world. Involving students in social projects and volunteering actions in a disinterested and responsible way will enable them to acquire greater social awareness, citizenship skills, and enrich their life experiences. Volunteer experiences allow students to access different and unknown contexts, also stimulating their ability to adapt. It will enable them to wake up to the reality of the world, which is often very different from their own.

For students who do not yet know RES-UPT, what activities can they find?

In addition to national and international volunteering, they can be involved in social projects with a learning and service perspective. They can participate in trainings, aimed at their well-being, in “Green UPT” initiatives, with the goal of creating a socially sustainable campus, and to join the “Books Bank” project, helping to create a true USR culture, committing Universidade Portucalense to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular those related to “Quality Education” and “Climate Action”.

For Rui Marques, the logic of individualization prevents the creation of value, and he gives examples: “We consume natural resources without measure, resources that do not belong to us, forgetting the importance of legacy and becoming slaves of the present. In previous generations, there was a huge commitment to the future; nowadays, that commitment no longer exists”.

He proposes “new paths that open horizons of change” and he points to a new paradigm of education, inspired by the Ubuntu philosophy, in which “everyone knows they are dependent and responsible”.

Ubuntu is the expression - I am because you are - that inspired Nelson Mandela in his policy of national reconciliation and peace building in South Africa. Ubuntu is not the expression of waiving the individual, rather the appreciation of self-knowledge, trust and resilience, creating empathy with others. The application of this philosophy in education could “result in the replacement of walls by bridges”, says Rui Marques.

The seminar “Ubuntu: a new paradigm of education for interdependence” took place on June 28th, in the context of the seminars cycle “The Paths of Humanity”.

For Eduardo Gonçalves, a student of the Bachelor’s degree in Management and Information Systems, this course “was important, as it allowed me to know a technology that allows to speed up the development process of web and mobile applications, consolidate some concepts learned throughout the semester, and try out a promising low-code platform, which has become another option for a possible professional career”.

José Rodrigues, a student of the Bachelor’s degree in Informatics, was surprised by “the high capacity of the OutSystems platform, which allows the creation of several complex functions with simple clicks, achieving a huge advantage over conventional programming” and its “usefulness for the creation of prototypes”.

For André Silva, a student of the Bachelor’s degree in Management, the Summer school was an opportunity to “understand how to enhance the efficiency of business and production and sales processes”. “In a world in exponential growth, where success is made through accuracy and speed, I believe that the skills acquired will help me add more speed to my approaches in e-commerce and web management”.

From July 15th to July 17th, 45 international speakers from Europe and Latin America debated issues related to the right to work, trade union freedom, the right to family protection and assistance, and copyright protection, among others.

It was concluded that “the evolution of social rights has been very significant in these 100 years, but there are still many dangerous problems, such as violence and human rights violations, and it is important to fight for social rights in the world of work to build a better world".

From August 3rd to 16th, Maria Francisca will be in Semarang, Indonesia, teaching English and carrying out activities with the local children. One of her objectives will be to raise the community’s awareness for the importance of a more efficient and environmentally friendly waste management.

The reason why she embraced volunteering is clear: “I believe in the sum of small achievements to make change possible. What saves me from believing that a better future is a utopia is knowing that I will do my best and not waste any chances”.

As for Rita Barbosa, she will be in Maio Island, in Cape Verde, from August 16th to 30th, working to preserve female turtles, and their young and nests, while raising the local community’s awareness for this.

Rita brings a “great amount of initiative” to this new experience, so that it becomes an “added value” to her life. “I believe that volunteering will help me improve my skills and broaden my vision of the world I live in, which, as an International Relations student, is fundamental”.

The three students believe that this experience is important to “improve their English” and get to know a “concept of university different from what exists in Portugal and in Europe”.

The three students will embrace this challenge after their internships in hotels, as part of their study plan, which allowed them to “feel real life” and understand the “difficulties” and “challenges” of hotel management.

Both are law graduates, live in Rio de Janeiro and met for the first time at Universidade Portucalense. At the suggestion of friends, who also attended UPT, they decided learn about the Master's degree in Law and enrolled. Peter, 39, arrived a year ago; Paulo, 49, a month ago.

“I had never travelled abroad before. The first time I left Brazil was to take this master's degree at Universidade Portucalense. And I have already seized the chance to visit two countries - Spain and France - at a low cost. The possibility of getting to know new cultures and ways of living is very important for our training and is one of the added values of studying here,” says Peter. His ambition with this course is “to be able to teach Law at a university in Brazil”.

Paulo Almeida Filho sees in this training the possibility of living and working in Portugal. “Safety and tranquillity” are factors he admires in the country and would like to offer his 10-year-old son. Both took part in the Jean Monnet module “The EU and its policies in favour of democracy and fundamental rights”, a training they considered essential to understand the creation and history of the European Union and to deepen their knowledge in the European legal area.

Several specialists discussed the physical, information, communication and virtual accessibility in Heritage and Tourism. Among them were João Cottim Oliveira, former chairman of Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral (Cerebral Palsy Association of Porto); Ana Braga, member of the board of Associação Acesso Cultura (Culture Access Association); Nuno Cunha Leal, of Accessible Portugal - Tur4allcentro; Catarina Oliveira, of Associação Salvador (Salvador Association); Elvira Rebelo, service manager of cultural resources of the Northern Regional Directorate of Culture; Maria José Guerreiro, Councillor of the City Council of Viana do Castelo; and Luís Pedro Martins, President of Tourism of Porto and Northern Portugal, who closed the debate.

It was concluded that the significant increase of tourists with mobility, hearing, vision, cognitive, intellectual or psychosocial limitations requires answers and solutions in order to improve accessibility and make Tourism and Heritage accessible to all.

“On-The-Road” is an exclusive program of this Master's degree, promoting a privileged contact between students and companies. Companies challenge students with practical issues, which are worked, in a cross-cutting way, in several curricular units. The aim is to develop a proposal that answers the questions, based on the tools studied and the guidance of the teachers. This is a unique, innovative and differentiating project among the national Master's degrees.