ISMAT professors mentored young students who, during a 24-hour marathon, designed strategic and sustainable proposals for Albufeira's future.
A group of secondary school students swapped their usual Friday night for a 24-hour work marathon dedicated to thinking about the future of Albufeira.
Over the course of the initiative, the students took part in Albuhera RAW, a project that challenged them to develop strategic proposals for the municipality.
The activity took place at the Town Hall, from Friday to Saturday, and resulted from a partnership between JuvAlbuhera, the Albufeira Poente School Group, ISMAT – Instituto Superior Manuel Teixeira Gomes, part of Grupo Lusófona – and the Student Associations of ESA and EBSA.
Throughout the session, participants worked in teams, discussed real challenges affecting the territory, and explored solutions in areas such as housing, culture, mobility, technology, the environment, tourism, sport, and social action. Using co-creation, design thinking, and urban planning methodologies, the students were guided in transforming their concerns and ideas into more structured and applicable proposals.
The initiative was mentored by a team of ISMAT lecturers and specialists, led by Professor Américo Mateus, Director of the Master’s Degree in Design for the Circular Economy. The team also included Professor Susana Leonor, Director of the Degree in Communication Design, Professor Vítor Mascarenhas, in the field of Regenerative Design, and Professor João Espírito Santo, in the field of Design Technologies.
More than a creative marathon, Albuhera RAW functioned as an exercise in civic participation, showing that young people want to have an active voice in decisions about the territory where they live and study.
The work developed by the teams will now be further developed and organised into a set of proposals, which may later be presented to the relevant authorities following a phase of assessment and community consultation.
The initiative demonstrated that, when supported by appropriate methodologies, secondary school students are able to produce critical, strategic thinking focused on concrete problems affecting the municipality.
