Portugal is a deeply aging country, with examples that emphasize dependent and poor quality aging. However, this portrait is progressively changing, in an unequal territory, particularly through the leading role of new generations of ‘older people’. The goal of the proposed paper is to provide data from an empirical work developed within the PhD in Sociology (CIES/ISCTE-IUL). It is based on an active aging approach that highlights the university social role towards inclusive practices of individuals in later life cycles, avoiding complex age stereotypical perceptions. It will be presented some data of a specific empirical study in the School of Arts and Humanities of Lisbon University. In a wider sense, the space of University focuses a set of activities that generate positive dynamics in surrounding territory, including the possibility for older citizens to be mobilized towards education activities in a privileged intergenerational context. The theoretical approach is not oriented to a geriatric-care model study of aging. On the contrary, is based on the assumption according to it is important to enable older people to continue to contribute with significant intervention in society. It is important for the integration of older students avoiding ageism situations, overcoming gaps between individual choices concerning education (formal and non-formal) and responses from the social system.

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Active aging,university social role,case study,Lisbon University