A different kind of challenge, designed to discover that it is possible to change things in the world right on our doorstep. Based on one of the SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals – selected each year and rooted in the area of Citizenship Education, teams of secondary school students are formed to identify a problem and develop an action plan. All the work is documented through photographs and/or video. The groups with the most interesting projects are selected for the final forum where, in addition to interacting with a panel of judges and competing for prizes, a collective summary of pathways towards sustainability will be produced and presented to the Environment and Energy Committee of the Portuguese Parliament.

The 2026/2027 theme

For the second edition of the Forum, the theme to be explored falls under SDG 6, concerning clean water and sanitation. More specifically, it addresses Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.

To contribute to this goal, participating groups will naturally focus on the local scale while pushing the boundaries of their ability to reflect, plan and intervene in the real world.

The context

Citizenship Education aims to equip young people for «active civic participation and to face the challenges of today’s societies», and the Science and Society Forum seeks to contribute directly to this aspiration, particularly by creating the «experiential dimension» valued by the Essential Learning guidelines.

The SDGs are explicitly integrated into the Sustainable Development dimension which, at secondary school level, involves addressing ecological challenges and considering the form of citizenship that can make our shared future possible through actions that steer us back towards environmental balance, without which today’s society would be doomed. Without the ambition of changing the world, the Science and Society Forum has been designed to encourage the discovery that it is possible to live differently, for the better, and perhaps even to be personally transformed through this interactive process.

Rules and deadlines

This activity is open to students from all scientific-humanities courses at secondary schools in Portugal, as well as schools around the world that teach in Portuguese.

Teams consist of one supervising teacher (who may involve other colleagues) and 2 to 5 students, who do not have to belong to the same class or year group, or even to the same scientific-humanities course.

The challenge is divided into three parts:

1. Identify and characterise a specific problem related to water quality that is experienced by a particular local community: at school, in a company, in one of the civil parishes within the municipality, etc.

2. Devise a plan for that community to overcome the problem. The proposed solution must include a technological component (digital or physical) and a human component (which people should be involved? How will they react? How can they be mobilised?) and must be systematised following interaction with relevant people and institutions.

3. Begin implementing the plan. It would not be easy to completely solve the problem within a few months. However, it is possible to make a start, explore how far it can go and determine what kind of momentum can be created. In the best-case scenario, the plan will continue to be implemented by others even after the group has completed its involvement.

These are the stages:

• By February 5th, 2027, the coordinating teacher must register their group(s) using the registration form, indicating in a paragraph what each group intends to do.
• By April 7th, 2027, the materials produced must be submitted using the selection form.
• A panel of judges made up of experts from Católica will assess the projects and select the most interesting ones. The selection will be announced on April 13th.
• The selected groups must confirm their attendance by April 30, 2027.
• The Forum will take place on May 7th, 2027 at the Faculty of Biotechnology, in Porto. It will feature distinguished guests, who will award the prizes, and will include debates, presentations and opportunities for socialising.

There are two pieces of work to be produced throughout the project and submitted by April 7th for each group:

• a 3 to 5-page report (excluding the cover and appendices);
• a video of no more than 3 minutes OR a photograph of a collage (also known by the French term collage).

The report

The report must cover, at least, the following points:

• the specific problem and how it was identified;
• the main characteristics of the problem, including technical and social aspects;
• the efforts made to gather input and consider solutions to the problem (people consulted, resources used, experiences gathered, etc.);
• the proposed solution plan (including both the human and scientific-technological components), together with considerations regarding its sustainability, feasibility and resilience;
• implementation work, if already started.

The video

The video can be recorded using a mobile phone and should contain footage documenting the different stages of the work. It must be uploaded to YouTube and must be public, although it may be set to Unlisted. All group members must be visible and audible at different points throughout the story.

Groups choosing to create a collage are free to be as creative as they wish, but it must include at least some photographs documenting the work, alongside any other optional elements. The collage must be transportable, as it will be displayed at the Forum if the group is selected. A photograph of the collage, to be submitted by 7 April, must be included as an appendix to the report and must be of good quality.

The groups selected to attend the Forum may bring additional information with them, including material produced after the project submission.

The two panels of judges will consider criteria including the clarity and adequacy of the information, creativity in the approach and plan developed, care taken to address both required dimensions (technical and human), the practicality of the proposed solution and its potential impact.

For any questions, please contact biotecnologia@ucp.pt – we promise to be brief.

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