Joint project of ICS and the School of Engineering is the first degree in the area of Civil Protection and Territory Management to function in the public university education of continental Portugal and started this school year with 20 students.

The Inaugural Conference of the Degree in Civil Protection and Territory Management took place on November 28, at the Azurém campus in Guimarães.

The opening session was attended by the Rector of the University of Minho, Rui Vieira de Castro, the President of the Institute of Social Sciences, Helena Sousa, the Vice-President of the School of Engineering, Rosa Vasconcelos and the Course Coordinator, António Bento Gonçalves.

In his speech, the Rector of the University of Minho, said that the Academy is proud to host this course and that it is part of the policy of diversification of the offer of the University of Minho in Guimarães. In turn, the Vice-President of EEUM, stressed that this is “a course that meets the growing need for adequate higher education in civil protection and land management, training and enabling new professionals to work in these areas” and emphasized the relevance of degree at a time when we witness with increasing frequency and impact, disasters in Portugal, also indicating being “certain of the success of this project in terms of employability, which will serve numerous public and private entities.”

António Bento Gonçalves also mentioned the various catastrophes that have plagued the country and other nations, resulting from “climate change, soil changes, our way of life, which imply more and more risk situations”, pointing out the existence of a gap, at the level of education, that it was urgent to fill up and that this was “the role of the Universities: to investigate, to communicate research, is to take this investigation out of walls, but also to form. And the offer of this training has to be more and more proactive, increasingly creative, more innovative.”

This was followed by a conference with the participation of Domingos Xavier Viegas – Study Center Coordinator About Forest Fires, Francisco Castro Rego – Chairman of the Observatory Independent Technical and António Bento Gonçalves, in replacement of the President of the Portuguese Risks Association, Prevention and Safety, Luciano Lourenço, who could not be present. The conference was moderated by journalist Sandra Pereira (RTP).