Coordinator

WHO ARE WE?

The Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra (IPC) is a public higher education institution established in 1979, located in the Centre Coast of Portugal, in what has been known for centuries as the ’city of students’. It is one of the ten largest Portuguese higher education institutions, comprising six teaching facilities covering a range of fields of study: from agriculture and environment, education, communication, tourism, arts, management, and accounting and marketing, to health and engineering. The Polytechnic of Coimbra offers professional higher technical courses and undergraduate, postgraduate and masters programmes through these schools. It is an asset to the city, playing a considerable role in developing both the region and the country. Teaching quality—where the focus on practical training is backed by sound theoretical training, and there is a concern to adapt it to the labour market’s needs—close ties with businesses, entrepreneurship incentives, and internationalisation are the backbone of training. These are to ensure graduates have successful careers and high employment rates.

The Coimbra Agriculture School (ESAC), integrated since 1985 into the Polytechnic of Coimbra, has a history of more than 130 years. The School is proud of its centuries-old past, valuing and promoting it. However, it has never stopped adapting to new technologies and changes in the sectors for which it is dedicated. Teaches Higher Professional Technical Courses (CTeSP), Bachelor’s Degrees and Master’s Degrees in the areas of organic farming, farming, environment, biotechnology, ecotourism, veterinary nursing, forestry, gastronomy and food technology, characterized by a strong professional component and a very close connection to the fabric business, associations and cooperatives. On the left bank of the Mondego River, approximately 140 hectares (ha), are home to what is the oldest agricultural school in the country. In addition to extensive areas dedicated to agricultural production (83.8ha, 12 of which are certified for organic production) and forestry (23.0ha), ESAC has modern facilities, technological workshops and quality laboratories, which allow it to assert itself as a a school of national reference in terms of teaching and applied agricultural research. There are almost fifty national and international research projects in which the School is involved and which support teaching activities and are interconnected with the activity of CERNAS – Center for the Study of Natural Resources, Environment and Society, based at ESAC and recently classified as Very Good by FCT. All this, added to a highly qualified teaching staff. In recent years, this School has also invested in the internationalization of its training offer and in promoting its work within the external community. To this end, it carries out a series of initiatives that aim to “open ESAC to the community”, complementing the more scientific and technological work with seminars and lectures, as well as other types of more general initiatives. ESAC is also characterized by being a “sustainable campus”. In addition to holding the EcoCampus Award, it has invested in energy efficiency projects and the adoption of behavioral practices, which make the space an example of environmental sustainability.

António José Dinis Ferreira – Scientific Coordinator of CERNAS & ECOLUTION’s Project Coordinator