Within the scope of the Institutional Collaboration Protocol signed between Terras de Sicó – Development Association and the University of Coimbra, through the Department of Architecture, an action project entitled Back to the rural or how to reinforce the cohesion of the regional city is being developed? with a team made up of final year students from the Integrated Master's in Architecture and the Master's in Integrated Urban Rehabilitation, and teachers from the Department of Architecture and researchers from CEARQ-TD.
In scientific terms, this action project is dedicated to the valorization of low-density territories, based on the promotion of territorial governance, the discussion and creation of proposals to reinforce regional polycentrism, in defense of a development model based on capabilities of the territory, and having as partners and key actors the Local Authorities, Local Development Associations and the University of Coimbra, through teachers and researchers from different Organic Units and R&D Units.
The main objective is to contribute to the development of these territories through their valorization. A development that we know must be (redundantly) sustainable and an appreciation that must be innovative. Innovative to reinforce the attractiveness of these regions, both from the point of view of visitation and taking advantage of the strengths installed in them, namely their cultural and natural heritage, and from the point of view of retaining people, through employment and residence.
Therefore, with this objective in mind, the knowledge that competes in Back to the Rural... is necessarily diverse. They are diverse and concern, from the outset, the physical support of the territory, thus implying Geology, Geomorphology or Speleology, for example. But they also concern the natural and cultural landscape, which implies different knowledge such as Biology, History or Archeology, as well as the traditional know-how installed there.
They also concern the uses of the territory, which implies a great diversity of knowledge, from those related to the installation of urban centers – such as Geography, Urbanism, Architecture or Civil Engineering, for example – to those related with the installation of different types of activities, from Economics and Management to Law, for example.
Finally, the knowledge involved also concerns territorial planning as a public policy and all types of instruments aimed at its implementation.
The specific objectives of the action project include developing research that contributes to:
- The mapping and projection of the landscape values of the Sicó lands;
- The definition of programs and strategies for valuing endogenous resources and cultural and natural heritage;
- Planning the requalification of physical, social, economic and cultural spaces in urban areas in rural areas;
- And the empowerment of local communities for/in inclusive, healthy and (redundantly) sustainable development;
As a major objective, Back to the rural... aims to create the necessary foundations, at an organizational and knowledge production level, for the definition and creation of a Collaborative Laboratory for the lands of Sicó. This Lab should be one of the main results of this project and is intended to constitute a transdisciplinary platform for the production of knowledge, about and with Sicó.