Research Group
Website: www.aca-ct.pt
Presentation:
The ACA Project (Academy for Cohesion in the Azores) (www.aca-ct.pt) concerns experimenting with ‘Knowledge Alliances’ in developing transdisciplinary research with ‘Cohesion Agents’ organized in ‘Communities of Practice’. The MASIS Report emphasized potential limits of conventional research and claimed for research aiming at problem solving. Building ‘Knowledge Alliances’ was already introduced by Europe 2020.
The unprecedented complexity of the problems of our time shows the limits of more current practices aiming at problem-solving. Planning related action for social innovation and resilience requires both excellent and relevant scientific knowledge. Research is required aiming at clarifying the conditions to be met in order social innovation to become possible (‘conditions of possibility’) and transdisciplinary research aiming at its usefulness in contributing to societal capacity building for resilience in times of uncertainty and structural change.
Taking stock of accumulated past experience based on European Experimental Programmes aiming at innovation in public policies (Poverty III, URBAN, LEADER, EQUAL, etc.), the Academy for Cohesion in the Azores (ACA) was created in the framework of the Agency for the Territorial Cohesion of Azores (AGECTA). The ISCTE-IUL and DINÂMIA'CET-IUL are involved in a first experimental project aiming at capacity building of ‘Cohesion Agents’ belonging to diverse organizations and being in charge of developing ‘territorial animation’ efforts in ‘fragile’ areas. ACA facilitates their autonomous organizing on a territorial basis (‘Local Centres for Territorial Animation’) (CLAT) as well as their interacting within and among the CLAT eventually belonging to different islands. The development of the work is supported by web based tools as it is the case of the CIARIS Platform (www.ciaris-ct.pt) early developed by the International Labour Office (ILO) and now being managed by AGECTA following a specific agreement.
Period: 2013 - 2015
Funding Institution: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian | Programa Cidadania Ativa
Coordination: José Manuel Henriques (DINÂMIA'CET-IUL)
Team: Pedro Miguel da Luz Gouveia
Resources:
Updated: 31/01/2018