Portugal MA
🇵🇹 Mid-Term Activities Report – Portugal (Municipality of Valongo & Associação Nó Górdio)
Project: SUCOMINNO – Sustainable Communities and Eco-Innovation
Timeframe: March 2025
Partners: Municipality of Valongo & Associação Nó Górdio
Related to: Follow-up of PDA1 (Poland) | Local Environmental Engagement
In March 2025, the Portuguese partners of the SUCOMINNO project—Municipality of Valongo and Associação Nó Górdio—organized two distinct but thematically aligned local activities that aimed to continue the project's environmental momentum after the first PDA in Poland. Both actions targeted youth and the wider community, reinforcing SUCOMINNO's core pillars: sustainability, eco-innovation, and community participation.
On 13 March 2025, the Municipality of Valongo hosted a dual-purpose event near the Casa da Juventude in Ermesinde. This activity began as a dissemination session designed to introduce the SUCOMINNO project to young people while also promoting the broader Erasmus+ programme. Fourteen participants joined the session, engaging in an interactive discussion on topics such as green entrepreneurship, circular economy, and the role of international mobility in youth development. The second part of the event featured a hands-on environmental action, where participants conducted a cigarette butt cleanup in the surrounding neighborhood. The simplicity of the action allowed for deep reflection on the environmental damage caused by everyday waste. Participants were surprised by the volume of litter found and actively discussed practical solutions, such as awareness campaigns and proper disposal facilities. The event concluded with an informal community moment where food and ideas were shared, leaving participants energized and motivated to take similar action in their own local contexts.
In parallel, Associação Nó Górdio implemented a local environmental activity called "Plogging for the Planet" (P4P)—a creative fusion of jogging and trash collection. The event took place in the natural surroundings of Valongo and brought together youth volunteers, local residents, and environmental enthusiasts. The objective of the activity was twofold: to promote healthy lifestyles while actively contributing to waste reduction. Participants not only cleaned up their environment but were also introduced to the SUCOMINNO project's objectives, creating an opportunity for informal education on eco-consciousness and circular practices. During the plogging activity, the discussion naturally flowed toward the need for community-driven sustainability efforts, particularly the importance of small, consistent actions that build toward larger environmental change. Nó Górdio's initiative highlighted how SUCOMINNO's values can resonate deeply at a local level, even outside structured training events.
Both the Municipality of Valongo and Associação Nó Górdio demonstrated strong alignment with SUCOMINNO's mission through their mid-phase efforts. Their actions exemplified how environmental responsibility and youth empowerment can be effectively combined through local outreach, creative activism, and practical solutions. These events not only enriched local communities but also kept the spirit of international cooperation and eco-innovation alive between the two PDAs.
