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Social Responsibility FEUP considers itself responsible for advocating and practising a set of principles and values through its core functions of teaching, research and community engagement and institutional management. We believe that only conscious choices lead to bright students following bright careers. The information programme carried out with high school students and educators goes far beyond any recruitment ambitions. Its main purpose is to better inform people about the different engineering areas and to make students aware of the environmental and social impacts of the engineering profession. At FEUP students have the possibility of participating in voluntary projects of a national or international character, such as EpDAH - Engineering for Development and Humanitarian Assistance. The main objective is to instill in students an understanding of cultures and to help make the world a better place to live in. In order to ensure equity of access and success for minority groups such as the physically challenged, FEUP also has at its disposal a specialized office offering support to disabled students or others with special educational needs. Given the present economic crisis, there is also the “Project for support to students”, whose main goal is to help students in financial difficulties who cannot afford to pay their tuition fees. FEUP’s commitment to social responsibility also extends to the promotion of sustainable development practices in the management of the campus. The report on sustainability issued every year gives a good overview of the institution’s performance in the several dimensions of sustainability. As a public institution which practises transparent and accountable management of its resources, FEUP produces an annual financial report which shows all Faculty expenditures and revenues in detail. Positive ecological and environmental effects are likely to result, not only at the level of energy saving obtained by the intelligent management of buildings, but also from the stimulus to non-polluting means of transport, or the
FEUP HIGHLIGHTS 2012 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING - UNIVERSITY OF PORTO
Photo: Anabela Trindade
recycling of waste products, not to mention initiatives such as the transplanting of 36 olive trees condemned to disappear below the waters of the Alqueva dam, but which now enrich the approximately 23,000 m2 of green space at FEUP. Concerns regarding sustainable development are indeed not confined within the boundaries of the Faculty. The engineering projects that are geared to the outside world have a markedly ecological aspect, and the role they play in urban renewal and in the construction of the cities of the future makes FEUP a force of benign intervention in society. This same society can freely benefit from the several debates, concerts, theatre and cinema organized at FEUP. Music and painting courses are also available with the aim of awakening the artistic talents of our students. After all, FEUP does not just train engineers; it educates citizens for the world.