The association Just a Change and SPOT project won the University Volunteer Award promoted by Santander Universities.

Santander Universities created the University Volunteer Award aiming to promote active citizenship through volunteering and to reward the effort of the young people involved. In this year’s edition, two projects developed at Técnico ranked 1st and 2nd among 10 finalists.

The association Just a Change, which ranked 1st, is a joint project between Técnico and Faculdade de Arquitetura (Universidade de Lisboa) that aims to housing rehabilitation. The project is carried out in Lisbon and in rural areas (Ferreira do Zêzere, Óbidos and Sever do Vouga). Currently, the project is expanding to Porto, in partnership with Porto City Hall and Fundação Manuel da Mota. The association Just a Chance has around 300 volunteers and 90 direct beneficiaries.

SPOT project, carried out at Instituto Superior Técnico and Universidade de Lisboa, ranked 2nd and aims to combat school drop-out of young people from 6 to 21 years old. The project is being implemented in Lisbon’s social neighbourhoods (Bairro Padre Cruz, 6 de Maio, Ameixoeira and Boavista), and covers nearly 100 young people. The project is mainly focused on vocational and civic mentoring through workshops on education and citizenship.