PrintThe Blue Design Alliance (BDA) is a consortium of higher education institutions whose mission is to contribute to the valorization of water, ocean and river resources and social and environmental sustainability through design, focusing on the production of knowledge, research and skills training linked to the blue economy.
The institutions of the Alliance - Escola Superior de Artes e Design (ESAD), Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC), o Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB) e a Escola Superior de Biotecnologia da Universidade Católica Portuguesa (ESB.UCP) - ensure, through BDA, training linked to Blue Design and the circular, inclusive and sustainable economy, with the purpose of accelerating the requalification of the territory, making it more resilient through the creation of new blue jobs and professions.
The training and research paths to be developed by the BDA are part of the “Impulso Jovens STEAM” and “Impulso Jovens” of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) which aims to “promote the training of young people and adults in the next 5 years in the face of emerging challenges”. Within the scope of Impulso Jovem STEAM, it was designed in a training offer that includes Higher Professional Technical Courses (CTePS), summer courses and actions to promote literacy and blue knowledge, aimed at students from secondary schools, artistic schools and professional schools.
Within the scope of “Impulso Adultos” is presented an innovative offer of postgraduate courses, short-term courses (micro-credentials) and a cycle of conferences and pedagogical workshops - Water Design Views.
The promoting institutions ensure prospects for the attribution of scholarships and merit, inclusive reception of students, employability and a solid capacity to intervene in the territory of the North region.
With an attention dedicated to the oceanic strip and the river dimension of the North region, the BDA responds to the challenge presented by the United Nations Agenda 2030 for the sustainable development of water, so that the next decade includes the efficient use of water from the seas, rivers and of lake systems and others. The BDA training programs also take into account the National Strategy for the Sea 2021-2030, with the aim of stimulating education and culture for the oceans, as well as the National Water Plan and the relevance of the Portuguese Sea Cluster.
The Alliance made up of the four higher education institutions and their partners also responds in an innovative, creative and effective way to the challenge launched by the European Union in the area of design through the New European Bauhaus, assuming that the processes of co-design, design participatory and inclusive are called upon to play a central role in social and economic development and in improving the quality of life.
