INESC Porto plays active role in the region’s development strategy

The themes
The 3rd Meeting “Porto Cidade Região” was divided into six themes: “Environment, Energy and Sustainability; Health; Education/Training; Sea; Contents and Manufacturing. Half of these themes was coordinated by members of INESC Porto’s Board, namely the institution’s president, José Manuel Mendonça, and directors Vladimiro Miranda and Artur Pimenta Alves.

According to Vladimiro Miranda, INESC Porto’s participation in this event means that this institution is acknowledged for its credibility and seriousness which, at the same time, increases its sense of responsibility. The director also adds that “It is important to mention that these sessions gathered an important set of people and provided the environment for an enlightened discussion that enabled an exchange of opinions. At the same time, INESC Porto had the opportunity to show its points of view to important personalities which are, in a way, trendsetters in the city and academia”.

Environment, Energy and Sustainability
The six themes of the “Porto Cidade Região” meeting included closed door meetings and the participation in this event was by invitation only. One of those themes was “Environment, Energy and Sustainability” co-coordinated by Vladimiro Miranda. According to the director, the participation of the main actors in the city working in the areas of Energy and Environment was remarkable and allowed participants to reach consensus in some decisions. These decisions are true messages for the political power, namely the municipal power, and the intention is to reach the ambitious goal of “Porto, exemplary City”.

The director also emphasises that the meeting also brought some “messages for the University of Porto. The most important one mentions that if the city of Porto intends to become a role model as far as energy and environment are concerned, the city has to start from within, and the city is not doing that right now. Look at what I say, and then look at what I do - this is the challenge that the University of Porto was asked to face“.

Contents
Other theme was dedicated to the area of “Contents” and it was co-coordinated by Artur Pimenta Alves. According to the director, the number of participants from companies and other entities outside the University was approximately equivalent to the number of representatives from the University. This meeting provided the grounds for the discussion of specific issues associated to the content industry. However, since this kind of broad meeting hadn’t been performed for a very long time, “we couldn’t expect concrete results right at the first session”.

The director added that “During the meeting, the point of view of the creative industries in the region was briefly characterised. At the same time, it was possible to discuss some international examples where this kind of strategy was successful, such as in Barcelona (Spain) and Austin (USA), and evaluate the possible measures and projects to be implemented. The most important aspect had to do with the need felt by most participants to establish an organisation that is capable of developing a strategy and monitoring its implementation”.

An advantage for INESC Porto
The intention with this meeting was to help the University understand how it can help companies and also to present the university to the politicians and entrepreneurs so that they can know how to make the university more competitive and capable of playing an important role in society.

INESC Porto, as an interface institution from the University of Porto, sees the definition of intervention strategies in its areas of activity for the university as an integrating part of its mission. At the 2008 edition of the “Porto Cidade Região” conference, several areas where INESC Porto has a significant intervention were discussed. Therefore, its role in this conference was important for the different discussions.

The balance
According do Vladimiro Miranda, the meeting was quite interesting in a sense that it was an exercise and a public demonstration that the University of Porto intends to stand out and to be acknowledged for its ability to globally intervene as a repository of some of the best intellectual resources in the region and in the country. The collaboration of the participants working in the economic activity demonstrated that today it is much easier to exchange ideas and agree on some of the most important goals. At the same time, it showed how the University of Porto can effectively establish the necessary bridges in order to better serve the country and the society’s interests in general.

Questioned about the balance of the meeting, Artur Pimenta Alves stated that this initiative managed to show that the University of Porto, together with its associate institutions, is motivated and available to welcome new ways of intervention, as well as to explore private and public partnerships with national companies and institutions. At the same time, the University compromised to promote a centralised organisational support in order to prepare the activities that are going to be developed. Thus, the final test of the meeting’s efficiency can only be assessed later.