In recent years, topics such as social innovation, sustainability and social investment have been gaining prominence and are increasingly included on international agendas. However, academic training available on these themes has not accompanied the demand of organisations and the labour market.

At the same time, third sector organisations, which are largely responsible for implementing responses to the needs of our communities, often have informal governance and leadership models, with gaps in the planning, management and monitoring of the projects they promote.

To this end, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has decided to create and support a series of initiatives aiming to:

• Promote the education and training of a future generation of leaders by encouraging the inclusion of sustainability, innovation and social investment in university curricula, and by encouraging research and knowledge production in these fields;
• Attract and retain talent for the social and environmental sector;
• Foster a more aware and responsible workforce geared towards developing a sustainable society that uses resources efficiently;
• Build up the green skills of architects, consultants and designers;
• Promote the empowerment of organisations to ensure greater effectiveness of their work;
• Implement programmes that encourage mentoring by “peer leaders,” people who are looked up to in the communities of which they are a part, in order to enhance their capacity for mediation and dialogue in the community.

Projects