“Biogrow is an environmental sustainability education project that uses organic, biodegradable materials produced in the region. In this case, we are using biodegradable pots made from vineyard and winemaking by-products; these pots give us the opportunity to educate and convey the concept of sustainability in schools,” said Pedro Mendes, speaking on behalf of the winning project.

Douriis, an Impact Entrepreneurship Centre operating in the Alijó, Sabrosa, and Vila Real areas, launched an ideas competition to develop innovative solutions to address the region's challenges and opportunities.

The winners were announced today in Vila Real.

For Pedro Mendes, the €750 prize will serve as a springboard to launch the initiative, which is set to get underway in September.

In Vilar de Maçada (Alijó), the plan is to create a temporary care centre for elderly individuals and others discharged from the hospital who still require medical assistance, serving as a transitional facility.

“There are people in the hospital waiting for discharge, and we are promoting the idea of ​​a facility to accommodate six to eight people in the house we intend to set up through this project,” said Alexandra Magalhães. She explained that the initiative addresses both social and healthcare needs, noting that the Vilar de Maçada Social, Recreational, and Cultural Centre already has a multidisciplinary team available to assist.

This project, which took second place and received €500, will also be the subject of an application for EU funding.

The project “Voice, Body and Meaning”, by the Portuguese Association of Parents and Friends of the Mentally Disabled Citizen of Sabrosa, came in third place, received 250 euros, and aims to combat the social exclusion of people with disabilities; it is intergenerational.

“This amount will serve to kickstart this project,” stated Susana Santos, head of APPACDM, who explained that, with this project, users will have the opportunity to express what they feel, particularly their voice, through emotion intervention workshops.

Afterwards, they will publicly present to the community what they have been building throughout the project.

“So that the community understands that, despite our users having a disability or multiple disabilities, they can do something that is also very valuable and that is usually thought to be only capable of being done by those considered 'normal,” she said, noting that the project starts in October.

Ricardo Narciso, community manager of Douriis, stated that the 15 projects submitted to the competition are related to environmental, sustainability, and social areas.

“We managed to fill this room with good ideas and motivated people who want to change the place where they live, even just a little,” he emphasised.

Ricardo Narciso said that all candidates can still join the program of… Incubation is essential for the idea to progress.

This competition was a fundamental step in the capacity-building and social entrepreneurship program promoted by Douriis, encouraging the creation of ideas with the potential to generate a positive impact on local communities and contribute to the enhancement of the Douro Interior region.

It is part of Douriis' strategy to promote impact entrepreneurship as an instrument for social innovation, local development, and the enhancement of the territory's human and community resources, thereby stimulating the emergence of innovative solutions to address the region's social, economic, and demographic challenges.