PROVISEU promoted a session “Viseu, an even more attractive city”: Gazeta Rural

The importance of building concerted strategies in the city and the region, with it being preferable to “concert points of diversity and not redundant points”, was one of the ideas defended in the session “Viseu, an even more attractive city” that took place last Saturday, at the Clube from Viseu.

It is worth remembering that this session, which had around three dozen participants, is part of the “Largo da Se” initiative and is promoted by PROVISEU and supported by the Parish Council of Viseu within the framework of the support program for local associations.

The session was attended by José Costa, President of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Paulo Alves, President of the Viseu University Campus of the Piaget Institute and Fernando Mateus, Director of AIRV – Business Association of the Viseu Region.

During the meeting, important and diverse initiatives underway in the city and region were highlighted, namely participation in national and international cooperation networks with different objectives, such as, for example, the creation of the STAR Institute, a technology and innovation center, and the Eunice European University, the creation of the professional training course for aircraft maintenance technicians presented by commander João Santos or the inclusion of people with disabilities in the business fabric, among many others.

Some problems were identified, such as the low number of residents with higher education, including employers, but also the unsatisfactory progress of political decentralization or the poor functioning of fundamental services, as, for example, occurred in some health services.

On the other hand, paths that need to be developed were highlighted, such as, for example, a greater connection between training institutions and companies that could result from a concerted strategy of professional internships, the continuation of the railway’s demand to not leave this region backwards or even the transformation of the “old” IP3 and Viseu’s even older demand for the creation of the Public University, which is expected to become a reality with the transformation of the IPV into a Polytechnic University, a demand that is important to be assumed by everyone. Equally important is the path of institutional partnerships for the establishment and creation of technological companies and the retention of
talent.

Given the importance of this issue for the city and the region, the debate should be extended to other partners and other issues that were either not addressed in the approximately three hours that the meeting lasted or were addressed insufficiently. The issue relating to the relationship between companies and training and research entities remained to be explored further, tourism was only briefly touched on, as well as the potential of Viseu as a center for promoting and valuing endogenous products from this vast interior region or the issues of mobility in the city and intraregionally, a fundamental factor for internal cohesion. Viseu, an even more attractive city guaranteeing the high quality of life that characterizes it.

The testimony of a family living in Viseu originally from Brazil marked the end of the meeting and highlighted the attractive nature of the city that is capable of welcoming anyone who seeks it. This intervention also served to show the importance of Viseu continuing this citizenship work capable of bringing together more and more partners and different perspectives for the necessary debates on the development of our city and our region.