The active participation of citizens in science related issues has significantly increased in the past decades and citizen science is top-priority in many institutions and governments across Europe. Portugal, however, is still lagging a little behind. This proposal for the European Researcher’s Night 2014 and 2015 in Portugal – CITSCI – has two broad aims. First, CITSCI aims at addressing this national insufficiency, through i) the active mobilisation of university researchers, science museum professionals, municipal authorities and the civil society (associations, NGOs) and ii) the compilation and broader dissemination of what is already being done in terms of citizenship-based research activities in Portugal. It is hoped that these activities become more mainstream in Portugal after CITSCI. Secondly, in Portugal the relations between contemporary science, socio-economic development, environmental sustainability, and employment, are not yet clearly perceived by the public. Through a broad range of scientific activities, CITSCI aims at raising awareness of the role of research in the citizens daily lives and encourage their direct and active participation in the construction of scientific knowledge. Special attention will be given to the engagement of minorities, citizens with special needs and women. The University of Lisbon (ULisboa), through its National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC), coordinates CITSCI. It will mobilise, together with the University of Coimbra, the research community, science centres, NGOs, and local authorities to act as associated partners in their respective regions. The proposal will also have the Municipality of Lisbon as partner, which will play an important role in mobilizing the participation of citizens, local companies and associations, as well as the regional and national media. The Municipality of Lisbon and the NGOs will have a very important role in the co-organization of the build-up and outdoor activities.

The ALHTOUR project aims to strengthen and stimulate scientific excellence, and innovation capacity in technologies for independent living, applied to the health tourism at UL (Portugal) , by preparing for the set-up of a “Health Tourism Living Lab”, identified as a key driver for territorial development. The Twinning action will activate a process of knowledge transfer which leverages on academic excellence of KUL (Belgium), UM (Netherlands) and UNIMC (Italy), as well as on complementarities and synergies among Smart Specialization Strategies (SSS) of the 4 regions involved. In this way, ALHTOUR will help strengthening the triple helix cooperation skills of UL and supports SSS implementation in the UL region. As a result, this twinning could become an example of territorial development for other regions and knowledge organisations in Europe. To achieve these objectives, ALHTOUR is developed in two action phases characterised by: - a multidisciplinary approach, supported by social science and humanities disciplines; - a constant and active involvement of different stakeholders and the business community; - a mutual learning and cooperation process, to benefit all partnering institutions. The plan of collaborative activities includes: staff exchanges, academic symposiums, Job shadowing and cross functional mentoring, joint business seminars, lunch & learn events, summer school, Venture Lab on health tourism. With regards to the Work Programme, ALTHOURT makes a contribution to the priority given to ‘personalising health and care’ as a form of responding to the ‘Health, demographic change and well-being’ societal challenge. Synergies are relevant also within Smart cities and communities. Finally, ALTHOUR is in line with the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, the objectives of the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme and the attention devoted by the EC to the opportunities offered by Silver Economy.

SCILIFE – Science in Everyday Life – is a European Researchers’ Night (ERN) proposal. It builds on previous experience of successful editions to bring ERN’s aims to a different level in the Portuguese context. Using the theme of Science in Everyday Life as a point of departure, SCILIFE will address ‘traditional’ science and society issues – e.g. citizens’ engagement with sustainable and inclusive research, scientific careers, society’s involvement in science policy, decision-making and collective deliberation – but it will do so by bringing Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) strategically into the public debate. Activities in a wide range of media during build-up and main event will be structured in order to highlight and raise awareness towards the main aims of contemporary RRI – responsibility, transparency and openness – in the sciences, arts and humanities, as well as their alignment with European culture and values. This approach has never been done before in Portugal in such a large scale. The SCILIFE consortium is coordinated by the University of Lisbon through its National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC). It combines major universities in Portugal – Porto, Minho, Nova University of Lisbon, the University Institute of Lisbon – and Municipality of Lisbon, together with more than 50 associated partners from the academic sector, industry, NGOs and civil society. It covers the most populated regions of Portugal, with direct and indirect impacts expected to reach thousands of people, particularly the youth.

‘Science in the city’ will be the motto to involve the general public with research activities and scientific knowledge that are underway to help answering to major concerns of urban communities related to global changes, and to shape and improve quality of life for the next decades. This motto is highlighted given the increasing levels of concern perceived in urban society, in particular among young people, on how to overcome global changes, while preserving natural and cultural heritage in the attempt to reach sustainability. By adopting this vision for the European Researchers' Night, this proposal intends to respond to Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and societal goals of the EU framework program. It aims therefore to raise public awareness on the relevance of science to assure quality of life in the future and to bridge the gap between scientists and society, giving researchers the opportunity to perceive the main concerns of citizens and how they see and understand their work, while engaging young people with science. The project will reflect on this problematic in the context of cultural heritage preservation. The consortium of this project, coordinated by the University of Lisbon through the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC-ULisboa), combines efforts between researchers of major universities in Portugal – University of Minho, University of Lisbon, Nova University in Lisbon, University of Évora and the Lisbon University Institute. The Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies in Estoril will contribute to the cultural heritage preservation approach while disseminating food security practices and the Lisbon municipality will be a central partner for the engagement of diverse audiences and civil society stakeholders. The project will cover urban areas in Portugal from north to south, bridging the gap between researchers and society and contributing to bring societal actors together for the research and innovation process.

UNITE! is one of the first 17 European University Alliances. Back in 2019, our 7 universities decided to take institutional cooperation to the next level by developing a long-term joint strategy for education addressing societal challenges offering inter-university ‘campus’ curricula where students, doctoral candidates, faculty and staff are mobile at all levels. Through this UNITE!H2020 project, our Alliance looks even further and takes up the challenge launched by the EC to develop, in synergy with its education dimension, a shared, integrated, long-term research and innovation (R&I) strategy, while developing, during the 3-year of the project, several pilot initiatives in the field of Energy - with special reference to the Green Deal - and Industry 4.0. UNITE! universities are highly ranked in their shared focus areas - STEM, architecture and design, and all belong to the CLUSTER university network, which boasts three decades of close cooperation among its members. This gives us a position of strength in assuring tangible progress towards our institutional transformation and the identification of successful models for the modernization of R&I. To do so, UNITE!H2020 will: a) develop a common R&I 2030 agenda, emphasizing our common DNA and shared vocation to address major societal challenges; b) develop policies to strengthen our R&I human capital by, e.g., new career development initiatives; c) develop policies to share our research infrastructures (RIs) supported by, e.g., experimental tests of previously developed guidelines on a selection of Energy RIs; d) reinforce cooperation with non-academic R&I players by, e.g., developing a network of Grant Offices & TTOs; e) mainstream our comprehensive Open Science practices based on, e.g., a detailed experimental analysis on the approach of our R&I groups to OS; f) involve citizens, civil society and public authorities in R&I; g) develop relations with other Alliances for joint synergies/complementarities.