It was a very special NOVA Day 2022 for the whole NOVA community due to the reaffirmation of objectives and strategy, at a time when 49 years have passed since its foundation.
After the Academic Parade, with which the festive act began, Rector João Sàágua took the floor, whose chosen topic for this year was, precisely, Sustainability.
"NOVA assumed, and I have repeated it several times throughout my mandates, the UN agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals and the European Ecological Pact as its great agenda with society. That is the commitment that underpins our strategic vision of being a global and civic university. And it is also our most ambitious commitment", he said.
The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, highlighted how "on our way to 50 years, NOVA has reached the maturity that characterises us in middle age: we know what we want and what we should do to achieve it". And she added: "I am, therefore, counting on you to walk together the path that we have defined for the area that I govern: we want to increase the higher qualifications among the Portuguese population, we want to deepen the offer of Higher Education to a more diverse potential recruitment base, both in terms of social composition and in terms of qualification and requalification of the active population, as well as in its lifelong training, and we want a less bureaucratic scientific system".
The session also included an address by the President of the General Council, Luísa Ferreira, arguing that "universities have the duty to lead change" and "the opportunity and responsibility to train the next generation of change agents - in government, in social organisations, in companies and in society in general".
In line with the theme of sustainability, Pedro Matos, Emergency Coordinator of the World Food Programme, presented "From emergency response to creating resilience to shocks", underlining that, second on the list of Sustainable Development Goals, is Zero Hunger.
In addition to the tribute paid to the NOVA athletes for their achievements this year in international sports competitions, the Rectory also welcomed the new PhD graduates, who were presented with their respective insignia.
