"Our mission is to serve society through education and knowledge, combined with a strong commitment to sustainability. We want to be a civic and global university".
It was with these words that the Rector, João Sàágua, welcomed the delegation from EUTOPIA, who visited NOVA on 23 and 24 May.
EUTOPIA is the happy acronym of European Universities Transforming to an Open Inclusive Academy for 2050, an alliance of ten European like-minded universities, which NOVA joined at the end of last year.
A commitment that, before a full audience in the rectory auditorium, at the Campolide campus, in Lisbon, also received the congratulations of Elvira Fortunato, the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education. "EUTOPIA will help us build a new model for Academia”.
That is, to create a European campus in ten different locations -
University of Babeș-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca (Romania)
Pompeu Fabra University-Barcelona (Spain)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
CY Cergy Paris University (France)
Technische Universität Dresden (Germany)
University of Gothenburg (Sweden)
University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Ca'Foscari University of Venice (Italy)
University of Warwick (United Kingdom)
and University NOVA of Lisbon (Portugal);
All to facilitate the mobility of students, but also researchers and other staff.
With that in mind, the EUTOPIA delegation could also get to know the NOVA Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology António Xavier, in Oeiras - an interdisciplinary research and advanced training institute of the university. And, last, but not least, the campus of NOVA SBE - School of Business and Economics, where one could see how an open space allows not only taking advantage of the sun but also encourages the application of new teaching approaches.
After all, growing in three clusters - Central, West and South Lisbon - NOVA increasingly assumes itself as a place to live, work and enjoy. All in a sustainable way, with impact and providing a service to the community.
In the end, the students who were able to question the EUTOPIA responsibles about this academia under construction summed it up very well: "it's all about people".
