Sonae increases the “most powerful social elevator” prize by 50% – Education

Belmiro de Azevedo (1938 – 2017) prioritized Education and training, promoting investment in people, aware that his own journey “was only possible due to the opportunities that his studies provided him to develop his potential”.

This legacy of his materialized over the years, going beyond Sonae’s borders, with the creation of a “think tank” dedicated to Education (EDULOG) and the emergence, in 2008, of Colégio Efanor, in Matosinhos, both of which belong to to the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation.

Meanwhile, in May last year, the group based in Maia launched the Sonae Educação Award to “promote innovation and inclusion in education in Portugal”, distinguishing projects that “contribute to improving access and quality of education in Portugal, in all the phases of the learning cycle”.

“After the success of the first edition, with more than 400 applications”, this year Sonae decided to increase the monetary value of the prize by 50%, from 100 thousand to 150 thousand euros, “aimed at stimulating the emergence of more innovative initiatives in the area of Education in Portugal and reinforce the number of supported projects”, explains the group led by Cláudia Azevedo, in a statement.

“The objective is to reward projects that promote innovative educational approaches and that, through education, qualification or requalification, contribute to mitigating factors of inequality or exclusion, fostering a more inclusive, capable and resilient society”, details Sonae.

“Education is the most powerful social elevator, fundamental to accelerating individual and societal development, and to combating inequalities”, considers João Günther Amaral, member of the jury and executive administrator of Sonae, stating that “the more than 400 applications from Sonae first edition showed us that the Sonae Education Award can really make a difference in the work of organizations essential for improving the quality of education in the country”.

Therefore, in this second edition, the promoter increased the value of the prize and opened the initiative to all entities, including public schools, recognizing the quality of the projects and their potential impact.

“In this way, we hope to continue reinforcing our contribution to the modernization of current teaching models and to increasing equal opportunities for all”, concludes João Günther Amaral.

NoCode Institute and EKUI won the first edition

Applications are open until June 30, 2024.

“Entities can apply with one or more projects, but only one can be awarded”, highlights Sonae, adding that the prize will be divided between three or more projects.

In the first edition, the Sonae Educação Award distinguished projects presented by NoCode Institute and EKUI.

The NoCode Institute competed with a digital platform whose mission is to requalify and relaunch the careers of professionals at risk due to the digital economy, whose objective is to democratize software construction skills through visual programming.

EKUI (acronym for Equity, Knowledge, Universality and Inclusion) is a project that aims to eliminate barriers in linguistic communication. “The objective is to allow children, young people and adults, regardless of their special needs, to universally understand each other”, explains Sonae, pointing out that “this communication is achieved through an inclusive literacy and rehabilitation methodology, which combines four forms of communication: graphics, Braille, sign language and the phonetic alphabet”.

The first edition also had as finalists projects developed by entities such as the Johnson Semedo Academy Association, the Association of Schools 20 (Second Opportunity), the Pontinclusiva Association, Brother in Arms, the Institute for Development and Social Inclusion – IDIS, Maker Toolbox, Lda, the Social Innovation Sportshub Association and the Portuguese Catholic University, the Braga Regional Center and the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences.

(News updated at 11:44)