The main objectives of the project are, firstly, to develop an in-depth diagnostic study of the municipality of Cascais (territorial, demographic and socio-economic projections) and its public and private education system (school network, school population, school performance, educational projects and partnerships); and, secondly, to draw up a technical proposal for an educational charter and a municipal educational strategic plan, a document that falls within the competence of the City Council, which responds to the current challenges facing schools and the needs of the municipality in the field of education, with the aim of promoting school success and the quality of learning, within a framework of strengthening the recursive role of local authorities in the educational system in conjunction with European, national and regional programs and projects; through a multi-method methodology with a strong component of promoting the participation of stakeholders and local actors in the diagnosis and design phases of local education policy and, subsequently, in the implementation/monitoring and final evaluation phases.  

The aim of this study is to create a system of indicators for the minimum income scheme in Portugal (Rendimento Social de Inserção), serving as a basis for the creation of a model for evaluating the service provision of this policy by local authorities. The research question that will guide our work is to what extent does the decentralisation of competences to the local level contribute to alleviating the causes of poverty and improving the quality of the services provided? The decentralisation of competences has been seen as a mechanism for combating poverty. Several international organisations, such as the World Bank, the OECD and the European Union, refer to the potential of decentralisation to enable local authorities to develop sustainable development processes. Several authors such as Von Braun and Groot (2000) and Crawford and Hartmann (2008) argue in favour of decentralisation, pointing out that local governments are better informed about the needs of their populations than the central state. Proximity makes it easier to monitor the citizen-beneficiary and can also allow for easier and more effective evaluation of social workers. However, some questions arise, namely the fact that these positive impacts of decentralisation depend on two factors, namely the resources that are made available to local authorities (Jütting e Corsi, 2005 and Harris and Posner, 2022) and also how local authorities themselves implement programmes (Harris and Posner, 2022). In the Netherlands, for example, during the process of decentralisation of competences (2003 and 2015), the problem that emerged was related to the way social workers acted in the execution and monitoring of social assistance recipients, who adopted a welfare philosophy. And it was through the initiative of the municipalities that they were open to changing the paradigm of the social intervention model (Oliveira, 2024). In Portugal, there were those who opposed decentralisation on the grounds that local authoriti...

Statistical information also shows that both in Portugal and on average in EU countries, the risk of poverty or social exclusion is higher in the socialgroup of people with disabilities, with greater intensity in households made up of women. According to Portugal et al.,2010:14: "People with disabilities are among the poorest of the poor in various societies, constituting(...)what is commonly known as the inner third world, that is, the world made up of socially excluded and economically unprotected population groups, even in developed countries."Given that the intensity of the social phenomenon described remains unmitigated, the main international and European bodies, such as the UN and the European Commission, have insistently urged countries, through various reference documents, to design statistical and social indicator tools that make it possible to assess and monitor the living conditions of people with disabilities, as well as the impact of public policies on the daily lives of these citizens. Although Portugal has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Articles 30º and 32º of which recommend that countries design and implement a system for observing public policies that have an impact on this area and how they affect the living conditionsof people with disabilities, this recommendation has not been implemented to this date. In addition to being scarce, the existing statistical information in this regard is dispersed across sectors and is not harmonized from a conceptual point of view, which makes it difficult to read. The project therefore aims to fill this gap, which is widely accepted as essential. The general aim of this pilot project is the collaborative design and operationalization of an "Observation System for Inclusion Policies in Portugal", through the design of a broad, cross-cutting set of social indicators, covering some of the main sectoral areas with an impact on the living conditions of people with disabilities an...

Com o presente trabalho pretende-se elaborar a Carta Educativa de Palmela preparando-a para o desenvolvimento de um planeamento estratégico educativo municipal com um alcance mais alargadosobre o sistema educativo local, e não apenas focado na gestão da rede de estabelecimentos, capaz de responder aos atuais desafios da escola e às necessidades do concelho no domínio da educação,tendo como vocação a promoção do sucesso escolar e da qualidade das aprendizagens e a redução do abandono escolar precoce, num quadro de reforço do papel recursivo das autarquias no sistemaeducativo.

WED PT – Elites in Portugal is a research project inscribed in the World Elite Database (https://worldelitedatabase.org/), which is a cooperative data and analysis project led by researchers on elite populations across the world. We are an international consortium of scholars from Argentina, Chile, China, Denmark, Italy, France, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the USA, but with the purpose of expanding to more countries worldwide. We work together to develop a new standardized data regime to study and share data about elites. Our aim is to solve the problem of comparability and heterogeneity in the study of national power structures, and to foster a cooperative community of scholars interested in studying elite populations systematically. Having in mind this international approach, “WED PT – Elites in Portugal” also has the objective of deepening the study of elites in Portugal, and for that will mobilize the theoretical and methodological instruments for historical and contemporary challenges that the study of elites entails for better understanding inequalities, class, values, democracy, economic growth, development, and social well-being.

‘Science for Everyone’ has been perceived as a motto to involve the general public, especially young students, with research activities and scientific knowledge that may answer to concerns related to sustainability, climate neutrality and social inclusion, major world and European challenges. This proposal intends to directly respond to Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) goals of the EU framework program by raising the public awareness, also among school communities, about the relevance of science to assure resources preservation, decarbonization and inclusion and by bridging the gap between scientists and society, giving researchers the opportunity to perceive the main concerns of citizens and how those see and understand their work. Schools and their students will be involved in activities during the whole project, in order to ensure the impact in such communities. Thus, by increasing public and students outreach, ‘SCIEVER’ will contribute simultaneously for two main objectives: (i) improving the understanding of the importance of scientific careers development and science investments; (ii) increasing researchers' understanding of the role of society as a whole for sustainable science policies development. The consortium of this project is coordinated by the University of Lisbon through the National Museum of Natural History and Science and combines efforts between researchers of major universities in Portugal, including four urban areas from north to south – the University of Minho, the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, the University of Évora, the University of Coimbra and the Lisbon University Institute for the impact assessment. Nova University in Lisbon will coordinate a special program targeting school communities and the Superior School for Tourism in Estoril will contribute to disseminate food security practices. The Lisbon municipality is a central partner for the engagement of diverse audiences and civil society stakeholders.

Digital society and AI are posing new challenges to cities through opportunities to improve the performance and democratization of local and regional public administrations in their relationship with citizens and companies. Digital and AI’s impacts on the structure of inequality have not yet been sufficiently studied within and between countries and at the city levels. We aim to analyse environmental data and inequalities, by simultaneously advancing the social science problem of sustainable development, and improving the digital tools for city problem-solving, together with social stakeholders and municipalities. Through data science and the application of machine learning, statistical data, and place-based knowledge concerning climate problems, the project intends to produce a digital toolkit of geographical-interactive maps of sustainable footprint, supported by a system of multidimensional indicators of environmental inequalities and urban lifestyles, mobility patterns and transport usage.    

The European Green Deal proposes the EU to be climate neutral by 2050 by promoting a series of initiatives that will protect the environment and boost the green economy, cutting pollution. This proposal uses the motto ""Science for Climate"" (SCICLI) as a point of departure to achieve two main goals: (i) raise Portuguese citizens' awareness, particularly young people, towards innovation and research being conducted in Europe to develop green technology, industry and transport and to preserve ecosystems and natural resources; and (ii) bring researchers closer to civil society, enabling meaningful opportunities for communities to express their concerns and expectations about research and, more generally, about science to face climate changes. This direct connection with people's concerns allows a simple contact among all social players, responding to Responsible, Research & Innovation (RRI) goals, and brings the public attention to the need of promoting social cohesion and inclusion while preserving cultural identity and responding to the European Green Deal. The SCICLI proposal for the European Researchers' Night (ERN) 2021 will therefore rely on the social, economic and environmental dimensions for sustainability, while promoting the relevance of science and research to contribute for climate neutrality in the future.SCICLI will involve large segments of the scientific community in public engagement and science communication/awareness activities during the ERN and build-up activities. It will go where citizens are: this project proposes to reach four regions/cities from North to South of Portugal, involving six universities, municipalities and new research institutions from different scientific areas. It will target all age groups, with special focus on young people who are being pressured to adapt to the consequences of global changes in the next decades, and encouraging them to actively contribute with solutions by choosing scientific careers.

Experts have continuously tried to raise public awareness of the relevance of science in a bid to assure quality of life in the future while achieving sustainability and bridging the gap between scientists and society. This gives researchers the opportunity to perceive the main concerns of society as well as how their work is seen and understood by the public; moreover, it gives them the chance to engage young people in science. The EU-funded SCINAT project is taking on this challenge, trying to involve the public with research activities organised across urban areas in Portugal. Its main aim is to answer societal concerns about how to face global challenges by preserving natural and cultural heritage, ecosystems and resources, atthe same time improving quality of life.

‘Science in the city’ will be the motto to involve the general public with research activities and scientific knowledge that are underway to help answering to major concerns of urban communities related to global changes, and to shape and improve quality of life for the next decades. This motto is highlighted given the increasing levels of concern perceived in urban society, in particular among young people, on how to overcome global changes, while preserving natural and cultural heritage in the attempt to reach sustainability. By adopting this vision for the European Researchers' Night, this proposal intends to respond to Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and societal goals of the EU framework program. It aims therefore to raise public awareness on the relevance of science to assure quality of life in the future and to bridge the gap between scientists and society, giving researchers the opportunity to perceive the main concerns of citizens and how they see and understand their work, while engaging young people with science. The project will reflect on this problematic in the context of cultural heritage preservation. The consortium of this project, coordinated by the University of Lisbon through the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC-ULisboa), combines efforts between researchers of major universities in Portugal – University of Minho, University of Lisbon, Nova University in Lisbon, University of Évora and the Lisbon University Institute. The Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies in Estoril will contribute to the cultural heritage preservation approach while disseminating food security practices and the Lisbon municipality will be a central partner for the engagement of diverse audiences and civil society stakeholders. The project will cover urban areas in Portugal from north to south, bridging the gap between researchers and society and contributing to bring societal actors together for the research and innovation process.

The main goals of the Sustainable Workforce project are: a) to analyze the causes of organizational investments: Why do some organizations invest in a sustainable workforce while others do not? b) to explore which employees are actually going to make use of these investments; c) to investigate the returns of these investments for individual employees, organizations and countries, in terms of, for example, increased job satisfaction, better performance and a flourishing economy. The project will be exploring the causes and consequences of investments made for organizations and its employees in human and social capital; new ways of working. The Sustainable Workforce Survey collected information from organizations, managers and employees in Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.