Lisbon’s Faculty of Architecture has received a record €8.1 million from the European Union to invest in three investigation projects on sustainable urbanism.
The financing is considered a national record and follows three applications from the Lisbon faculty, which was competing for funds alongside hundreds of other universities in the EU.
In a report in Sol newspaper, the projects – named ‘Tempo’, ‘Infinity’ and ‘Rethink’ – have been selected by the EU’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) for their focus in bringing together countries from the European Union and the former Soviet Union, “an objective in line with the EU’s external policies and which has been made possible through education and investigation”, said Professor António Castelbranco from the Faculty of Architecture.
Through ‘Tempo’, 212 students will be able to apply for scholarships that will offer them the chance to study in Portugal, Spain and Italy or in the Ukraine, Moldavia, Belarus, Armenia and Georgia.
Projects developed by the students will centre round subjects related to sustainable architecture and urban planning.
Project ‘Infinity’ will allow 181 students from 20 universities in both the ‘West and East regions’ to work on subjects that link architecture with agriculture and the environment.
Castelbranco says the ‘Rethink’ project is all about “rethinking” academic curricula in order to integrate sustainability and the environment in the study of architecture, urban planning and design by creating a series of innovate Masters courses.
António Castelbranco has confirmed that 16 students from Azerbaijan and the Ukraine are already taking advantage of the programmes at the Lisbon faculty, each receiving €1,000 a month, with all university fees, travel expenses and visas paid for. “The programme has, of course, been much sought-after by students,” he said.
