Fator CIdade Celebrates First Graduation Day in Coimbra
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Fator C’Idade certified 16 projects at its first Graduation Day, held on January 16, at the Fundação Bissaya Barreto. Participants, families, social investors, and partner organizations came together to celebrate months of fearless collaboration, authentic experimentation, and collective learning — an unmissable opportunity to mark the end of this transformative journey and to create connections that will drive the future of the projects and the people involved.
Right at the opening session, Lúcia Santos (Fundação Bissaya Barreto), Joana Pires Araújo (Associação Coimbra Coletiva), and João Gabriel Silva (Instituto Pedro Nunes) engaged the audience with powerful messages, guided by Jorge Pimenta and Vilma Reis.
Lúcia Santos emphasized “the generosity of giving back to others what we know — a lived story that empowers us to intervene in the community.” João Gabriel Silva, recalling his activism, stated that the program proves “that older people still learn and create, against those who discard experience.” Joana Pires Araújo celebrated “the vision of a community that makes dreams come true, even with frustrations — we are in the right place.”
This energy took shape in an interactive dynamic via Mentimeter, created by Joana Pires Araújo, which brought participants and the team together around essential questions: “Summarize Fator C’Idade in one word,” “What was the greatest difficulty?”, “A message to the next participants?”. These confessions revealed what remains after months of work — shared stumbles, small victories, and the trust built among everyone.
To lift the spirit even further, the ceremony embraced cinema. João Pais, from the Caminhos do Cinema Português Festival, presented the short film O Homem do Lixo, by Laura Gonçalves, which moved the audience. The director sent a congratulatory video message to the participants; Pais recalled Manoel de Oliveira — creative at 106 years old — proving that “creativity has no expiration date.”
Then came the highlight: the 16 projects received their certificates from Brígida Mateus (Câmara Municipal de Coimbra) and Luísa Bernardes (Portugal Inovação Social). Representing all participants, Maria Ávila and Assunção Ataíde spoke about the journey taken and presented roses to the Fator C’Idade team, in a gesture of gratitude worth more than words.
Miguel Antunes, Vice-President of Câmara Municipal de Coimbra, closed with a heartfelt toast: “I feel at home among entrepreneurs. The process transforms lives more than any result. These connections you created here last forever and will change your vision of the future. We are always learning, and these networks born today will take you far. Congratulations on the journey that now begins.”
Fator C’Idade is a project of Instituto Pedro Nunes, Fundação Bissaya Barreto, and Coimbra Coolectiva. The project’s social investors are Câmara Municipal de Coimbra, Climacer, Black Monster Media, and GEHC – Global Elderly Health Care. The Fator C’Idade – Senior and Impact Entrepreneurship in Coimbra operation is supported by Portugal Inovação Social, Centro 2030, Portugal 2030, and the União Europeia. The European Funds Closer to You.
Fator C’Idade certified 16 projects at its first Graduation Day, held on January 16, at the Fundação Bissaya Barreto. Participants, families, social investors, and partner organizations came together to celebrate months of fearless collaboration, authentic experimentation, and collective learning — an unmissable opportunity to mark the end of this transformative journey and to create connections that will drive the future of the projects and the people involved.
Right at the opening session, Lúcia Santos (Fundação Bissaya Barreto), Joana Pires Araújo (Associação Coimbra Coletiva), and João Gabriel Silva (Instituto Pedro Nunes) engaged the audience with powerful messages, guided by Jorge Pimenta and Vilma Reis.
Lúcia Santos emphasized “the generosity of giving back to others what we know — a lived story that empowers us to intervene in the community.” João Gabriel Silva, recalling his activism, stated that the program proves “that older people still learn and create, against those who discard experience.” Joana Pires Araújo celebrated “the vision of a community that makes dreams come true, even with frustrations — we are in the right place.”
This energy took shape in an interactive dynamic via Mentimeter, created by Joana Pires Araújo, which brought participants and the team together around essential questions: “Summarize Fator C’Idade in one word,” “What was the greatest difficulty?”, “A message to the next participants?”. These confessions revealed what remains after months of work — shared stumbles, small victories, and the trust built among everyone.
To lift the spirit even further, the ceremony embraced cinema. João Pais, from the Caminhos do Cinema Português Festival, presented the short film O Homem do Lixo, by Laura Gonçalves, which moved the audience. The director sent a congratulatory video message to the participants; Pais recalled Manoel de Oliveira — creative at 106 years old — proving that “creativity has no expiration date.”
Then came the highlight: the 16 projects received their certificates from Brígida Mateus (Câmara Municipal de Coimbra) and Luísa Bernardes (Portugal Inovação Social). Representing all participants, Maria Ávila and Assunção Ataíde spoke about the journey taken and presented roses to the Fator C’Idade team, in a gesture of gratitude worth more than words.
Miguel Antunes, Vice-President of Câmara Municipal de Coimbra, closed with a heartfelt toast: “I feel at home among entrepreneurs. The process transforms lives more than any result. These connections you created here last forever and will change your vision of the future. We are always learning, and these networks born today will take you far. Congratulations on the journey that now begins.”
