Católica participates in conference on Volunteering as a Model of Collaborative Work
The 1st Impact Ecosystems Conference - Volunteering as a Collaborative Work Model took place on 17 October, and Rita Paiva e Pona, the Rector's Advisor for Social Responsibility, took part in the Round Table ‘Voluntariado como Modelo de Trabalho Colaborativo: Ampliar o Alcance e o Impacto’, representing Católica.
The Coordinator of UCP's Social Responsibility Office emphasised the university's strong commitment to volunteering as an integral part of the 2021-2025 Strategic Development Plan, stressing the role of Católica in the integral formation of its students and the positive impact it has on the surrounding communities.
‘Volunteering is undoubtedly one of the ways of awakening a careful and attentive look at the world around us. It's a bet on integral human development and on the experience that students can have of putting on other people's shoes and getting to know realities that are sometimes so close, but so far from their own,’ he said.
During the conference, examples of collaborative social projects were presented, such as Just a Change, a partner of the Catholic University's volunteer programmes. This project ‘emphasised the importance of UCP volunteers in the fight against housing poverty in Portugal', she said, highlighting the social impact of the actions.
Rita Paiva e Pona also emphasised that networking is fundamental to amplifying the impact of volunteering. ‘We want to be a complement and work horizontally with social organisations, which do remarkable work, from a perspective of learning and working from what the organisations really need and not from what the university thinks the organisations need,’ she shared.
This meeting, which brought together various organisations to reflect on how networking and collaboration can maximise social impact, was organised by Ethical – Doing Well by Doing Good and AstraZeneca, with the support of Leroy Merlin and the Oeiras Community Valley.
The Universidade Católica Portuguesa's participation in this conference reinforces its view that volunteering is not just an extracurricular activity, but a real opportunity for personal and social transformation.
Through collaboration with community partners and the creation of impact networks, the University continues to foster social responsibility and civic engagement among its students, preparing them to be active agents of change in the world.