Campolide Campus Day was celebrated today with the inauguration of two Centers for the Valorization and Transfer of Technology: the Center for Social Innovation (INNO) and the NOVA Smart Campus Living Lab. In the event, the Rector of NOVA University Lisbon, João Sàágua, also announced the creation of a new building for the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities (NOVA FCSH) and another for the NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS).
"Campolide, thanks to NOVA, will be a place of convergence of decisive areas of knowledge for society, a modern and technologically advanced space and an international reference center in Social Innovation", underlined the Rector during the opening speech of the event. “It will be like a university campus should be: modern, open, a platform for multiple initiatives, placing knowledge and innovation at the service of the city and its various communities - without internal borders between different schools and disciplinary areas, and without external borders between itself and the surrounding communities.”
The ceremony, which was streamed online, was attended by several speakers, among them the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, the Mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina, the President of the Commission for the Coordination and Regional Development of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Teresa Almeida and NOVA Vice-Rector, José Ferreira Machado.
With Lisbon preparing to host a new sustainable, intelligent and open university campus, with a focus on social innovation, the Vice-Rector of NOVA stated that the Campolide campus was developed based on “a concept of urbanism”, aiming to be “a new city gate”. José Ferreira Machado also shared the conviction that the “future of the 21st century is in the cities”, challenging the guests to reflect on this theme.
The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, reiterated that the relationship between university campi and cities “is a current topic” and drew attention to the need for “a double digital and ecological transition” to go through the development of university campi where people experience “living in a decarbonized way”.
Fernando Medina also acknowledged that “the relationship between the city and universities is absolutely constitutive and of a future”, and Teresa Almeida stressed that “cities are now a factor of competitiveness”, as they are the ones that “have the capacity to enhance knowledge”.
Adapted to meet the challenges of the city, the country and the world and inspired by the best examples in Europe, the new Campolide Campus will be equipped with the most innovative technology and infrastructure and will also function as an experimentation laboratory at the service of society. The objective is to contribute, with the smallest possible ecological footprint, to the creation of value with an impact on socio-economic development, reinforcing NOVA's commitment to the community, the corporate universe and the country.
This commitment was, moreover, underlined by the Vice-Rector of the NOVA University Lisbon, Luís Vicente Baptista, who was responsible for the presentation, in more detail, of INNO - Social Innovation Center. José Alferes, Pro-Rector of NOVA University Lisbon, highlighted the ambition of NOVA Smart Campus Living Lab to assert itself as a “modern” and “hybrid” space, where the “digital world and the physical world live side by side”. “What we have to offer is a space for people who like knowledge and technologies.”
During the event, it was also recalled NOVA's commitment to the challenge of sustainability, which was followed by the signing of a protocol with Águas do Tejo Atlântico. This company will develop innovative sustainable initiatives with the University, such as the use of recycled water for irrigation of the various university campi.
The closing of Campolide Campus Day was the responsibility of NOVA FCSH Dean, Francisco Caramelo: “The path is definetely a University without walls, without borders”, asserting itself through “an intense and creative dialogue with the city and the country”.
The Campolide Campus, where the NOVA Rectory, the NOVA School of Law and NOVA IMS are now functioning, is another step in the fulfillment of the University's mission: to serve society through knowledge.