A team from Escola Secundária Públia Hortênsia de Castro, in Vila Viçosa, will represent Alentejo at the national final of the 12th edition of Apps for Good, which takes place on September 18 at Pavilhão do Conhecimento, in Lisbon. The project Smart Eco-Horta (Saberes com Raízes), selected in the Secondary Education category, is based on an application that supports the management of an intergenerational garden, combining a greenhouse automated through Internet of Things, composting and solar energy, seeking to create a meeting space between generations.
The proposal aims for students and elderly people to share knowledge and practices related to agriculture and sustainability, associating traditional knowledge with technological tools, and is framed within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, dedicated to Climate Action. The team secured access to the national phase after standing out at the South-Central Regional Meeting, where 46 projects developed by more than a hundred students, from 26 schools in 16 municipalities, participated.
At the national final, there will be 30 projects created by students from basic education, secondary education, and for the first time in this edition, also higher education. Promoted in Portugal by CDI Portugal, Apps for Good has already involved more than 35,000 students, 1,800 teachers and more than 800 schools throughout its 12 editions. The program seeks to lead students to identify concrete problems in their communities and to develop technological solutions to address them.
The institutional moment is scheduled for 5:30 PM and will feature the presence of João Baracho, executive director of CDI Portugal, James Garnett, president of Apps for Good UK, and Erin Chemery, from UNESCO. The closing will be done by Alexandre Homem-Cristo, Secretary of State for Education.
