Universidade de Coimbra

The University of Coimbra (UC) is a Portuguese public higher education institution with more than 700 years of experience in education, training, and research. The first and the only Portuguese-speaking university until the early 20th century, UC has affirmed its position over the years with a unique mix of tradition, modernity, and innovation. UC was classified as World Heritage by UNESCO in 2013 for its central role in producing knowledge and disseminating culture in the Portuguese language, as well as for the universal value of its campus, which dates to the 16th century. It is a comprehensive university offering education and research in all study levels and nearly all study fields. The Department of Architecture graduates every year qualified professionals employed by the best offices and architectural agencies in Portugal, Europe, and all over the world. Also, its research of high academic standing is recognized by its peers. Likewise, we can find some of our former students teaching and researching in the most prestigious international academic circles. The learning by doing in architecture and urbanism, the history and theory of architecture and the city, the construction sciences, and design all generate among themselves intersections and developments in healthy and indistinct respect for all scales and for all values - from the classics to the contemporaries, from the local to the global, from the social and human to the scientific and technological. Based on the experience acquired in other similar academic projects, the Polytechnic of Milan with the University of Coimbra will reflect environment improvement at a global level and will study solutions for this specific case study, exploring new solutions for urban living in a rural territory affected by depopulation, immigration, land degradation and the severe consequences of climate change. UC and POLIMI will coordinate actions dedicated to university students developing a methodology applied in the investigation that will involve local management entities, citizens, and the academic community.