CIES

In the past decades, many European cities have implemented culture development strategies as a way to respond to economic challenges, but also social, environmental and cultural requirements. Following a relational approach, we focus on the initiatives carry out in four small and medium-sized cities, located in intermediate and rural regions, in distinct European countries (Finland, Portugal, Czech Republic, France and England). Despite their special role and preponderance in European spatial territory, the increase mobility and connectivity of goods, services and people, these small urban these areas are often overlooked.

O presente e-working paper visa refletir acerca dos principais desafios metodológicos levantados na análise comparativa de estudos de caso enquanto estratégia metodológica para o estudo das políticas de desenvolvimento e de cultura em pequenas e médias cidades europeias. Partindo dos contributos teórico-metodológicos debatidos no âmbito da sociologia e dos estudos urbanos, procura-se apresentar o quadro teórico-prático que orientará a pesquisa empírica de modo a proceder a comparações significativas em contextos distintos e consequentemente contribuir para revelar aspetos únicos ou regularidades sobre os processos políticos onde a cultura tem assumido um papel preponderante decorrente da agenda urbana europeia.

Thesis specially presented for the fulfilment of the degree of
Doctor in Sociology at IUL School of Sociology and Public Policy

In a changing world, the role of culture in promoting development has become widely recognised as a means and resource for revitalising places, strengthening the identity and communities’ sense of belonging, boosting the culture economy, and legitimising the action of cultural and political elites and the implementation of new forms of governance. Alongside, the intrinsic value of culture has been discussed, associated with subjective and aesthetic experience and the improvement of individual and collective well-being.
The vast literature, on this subject, focuses mainly on the processes that take place in large metropolises due to the concentration and diversity of resources, neglecting the initiatives undertaken in smaller cities. However, the interest in understanding the challenges of these urban centres has increased in the pursuit of a more sustainable and cohesive development in the European context, where they have a significant expression and a central role in urban-rural and centre-periphery relations.
This research reflects on the values and roles attributed to culture in the urban planning strategies and development policies of four European small and medium-sized urban centres, situated in intermediate and rural regions, namely, Český Krumlov (Czech Republic); Jyväskylä (Finland); Óbidos (Portugal) and York (England).
Given the complex nature of these processes, this study examined through a comparative and relational approach the dominant political discourses and practices, observing the structural conditions and developmental trajectories that shape and are shaped by the actors' agency. This should allow broader conclusions about the political action and cultural processes, and even about how we perceive the transformations that we are living.

The advent of nanotechnology research and industrial development in the past years provided an opportunity for the growth of national and international networks and connections.
The purpose of this poster is to present the results of the associations between institutional and international networks in Portugal using social network analysis. The study seeks to identify the key institutional players that compose these networks, and understand the social dynamics of the network structures that exist among universities, companies and research centers. The analysis will focus on the main funding mechanisms – Portuguese and European – in 2010 and 2011. The networks are analyzed through various dimensions of density, centrality and performance, allowing a characterization of the relationships between the various institutional players and the possible diffusion of innovation. The methodology in Social Network Analysis (SNA) provides empirical support for questioning the nanotechnology research and innovation within a regional innovation system.

KITAB 2014 - Knowledge, Innovation and Technology Across Borders: An Emerging Research Agenda

A new industrial revolution is on its way, and with it emerge a new societal challenge. This revolution has nanotechnology like a pillar of scientific, technological policies of developed and emerging societies . Nanotechnology is a global , multidisciplinary and controversial (Allhoff, Lin, Moor, Weckert, & Roco, 2007). Being a multidisciplinary scientific and technological area with applications in wide socioeconomic sectors, requires from the scientific community and economic actors, new forms of organization and cooperation. The aim of this study is to understand the relationship among scientific, technological and political institutions of nanoscience and nanotechnology sector in Portugal. From the data on the projects of the European 7th Framework on Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies (FP7 - NMP), and application of social network analysis, it was possible to characterize the networks of international scientific and technological collaboration in which Portugal participates

NanoPT2013, International Conference, Porto, 13-15th Feb

The advent of nanotechnology research and industrial development in the past years provided an opportunity for the growth of national and international networks and connections.  The purpose of this poster is to present the results of the associations between institutional and international networks in Portugal using social network analysis. The study seeks to identify the key institutional players that compose these networks, and understand the social dynamics of the network structures that exist among universities, companies and research centers. The analysis will focus on the main funding mechanisms_Portuguese and European.

ABSTRACT
This dissertation is a study about a relocation process which took place at Quinta da Vitória (Portela, Municipality of Loures), focusing mainly in its Hindu dwellers. Ethnography shows how not only inhabitants of the slum neighborhood these are also city dwellers in the enlarged city. The study begins with a theoretical overview that will be at the background of all reading. Main approaches are driven from urban Anthropology, Post-colonial studies and urban Sociology. After presenting one of the slum neighbourhoods at Lisbon's outskirts, it explains how the Relocation Special Program (PER-Programa Especial de Realojamento) occurred in that urban space. The PER is firstly exposed as a social housing policy and how it was regarded by social workers and social scientists. then, the history of the neighborhood is presented in concordance with the PER history. The territory in which Quinta da Vitória grew shifted while the PER was being accomplished. The neighbourhood dwellers hesitate between upholding expectations about the relocation process and finding out housing alternatives themselves. Special attention will be given to the housing files in which each family is considered. These files are the key bureaucratic tool of the Program and they hold important information about the institutional encounter, or, in other words, about the relationship between social workers and Quinta da Vitória's Hindu inhabitants. The Hindu population adapts and resists to the never ending relocation process. Situational analysis will give a view from insight, in order to understand better all these dynamics.

Key-words: hindu-gujarati community, clustering, relocation, social housing, slums.

In Portugal, South Asians are a well-settled community in general, although some still live in deprived conditions. In the context of the Hindu families living in Portugal, a relatively large number of them live in a so-called shanty town on Lisbon’s outskirts which was until recently subject to a resettlement process. Though informal economy is not restricted to deprived housing dwellers, some families living in these conditions are seduced by the informal sector in an attempt to boost their incomes. Following recent ethnographic evidence, this paper explores specific types of informal income of Hindu Portuguese families, namely samosas and saris made at home for retail sale.
Outside the control of the formal system, the informal labour market is not clearly understood by the local authorities who managed the neighbourhood resettlement process. Issues concerning the Hindu community's informal economy at Quinta da Vitória are discussed in the paper in the light of Laguerre's (1994) conceptualization of the ‘informal city’, among other more recent approaches.