Summary

The Popular University Commitment and Art is an initiative that seeks to democratise relevant knowledges and information to strengthen active citizenship and encourage the will to strive for a better society by making it more effective. This democratisation must be thought of in several dimensions: on the one hand, in the way knowledges are produced and consumed; and, on the other, in the expansion of the range of knowledges that intertwine and dialogue. We intend to connect knowledges made of study and knowledges made of practical and everyday experience, of the street and of life; knowledges that conveyed by words, gestures and sounds; academic, artistic, social intervention, cultural knowledges. In short, UPEA aims to promote dialogues of knowledges and actions committed to the struggle for dignity for all, for a more just society, for social transformation, for the valorisation of progressive alternatives.

The founding organizations of UPEA are the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, Chapitô, D. Manuel Martins Parish Centre, the Campo de Ourique Parish Council, the Saramago Foundation, Moinho da Juventude Association, and the Pantalassa Association.

Speakers of this session: Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Sara Araújo and Teresa Cunha (CES)