Former dean of the University of Algarve (UAlg) João Guerreiro, was appointed coordinator of the working group whose object is to design the internationalization strategy of Portuguese higher education. The appointment was decreed by the deputy minister for Regional Development Luís Miguel Poiares Maduro and by the minister of Education and Science Nuno Crato.
The still university professor, held functions as dean of UAlg until the end of last year, after having served two terms, one of which was incomplete due to the restructuring of the university's organic structure, which led to the creation of the General Council, a governing body that became have the competence to choose the rectory team.
In the opinion of João Guerreiro, according to a note from the University of Algarve, this nomination «translates the interest that the Government places in the clarification of mechanisms that will facilitate the internationalization of universities and polytechnic institutes, and responds to a set of reflections that those institutions have , through CRUP, CCISP and APESP, have presented in recent years».
«Higher education will not only be able to expand its participation in the flow of services that are exportable, but it should also value the recent unique performance in the area of science production, the growing external relationship, the affirmation of a multiculturalism and also, within the scope of CPLP, the reinforcement of the global importance of the Portuguese language», believes the former dean of UAlg
The working group coordinated by João Guerreiro is also composed of José Manuel Trindade Neves Adelino, professor at Universidade Nova de Lisboa; Nuno Ribeiro de Matos Venade, advisor to Minister Miguel Poiares Maduro, Ricardo Jorge Morgado da Costa, advisor to the Secretary of State for Higher Education; Ana Isabel Saiote Furtado Mateus, from the General Directorate of Higher Education.
In the Government Program, the objective, in the context of higher education, was the need to proceed with "the rationalization of the network of institutions and its internationalization", which is linked to the quality and competitiveness of Portugal, having been identified as an area Mobility must be a priority, particularly with regard to «maintaining mobility programmes, encouraging the internationalization of students and teachers, especially in areas where it is more incipient».
A purpose also defended by the European Union, which has already stated that «developing a global internationalization strategy means, above all, positioning Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), their students, researchers and staff, and national systems, linked to various relevant activities related to research, innovation and higher education, on a global level, according to their individual profile, the needs of the labor market and the country's economic strategy».
The nomination order, published in Diário da República, 2nd series, of 12 March, states that “it is important, therefore, to outline a strategy for the internationalization of Portuguese higher education, which, supporting the decisions that the Government intends to take in this matter, namely, with regard to the use for this purpose of European Structural and Investment Funds within the scope of the future 'Portugal 2020' Programme, which requires careful and rigorous preparation, especially regarding its contextualization, optimization and updating, as well as its coordination with other sources of funding in the national, European and international framework”.
Brief Curriculum of João Guerreiro:
João Pinto Guerreiro has a degree in Geography from the University of Lisbon, Master of Science in Rural Planning and Environment, PhD in Economic Sciences and Aggregate in Regional Economics from the University of Algarve. In addition to having been dean of UAlg, he has already held several functions within the scope of university management, including President of the Board of Directors of the Economic and Business Sciences Unit, current Faculty of Economics, Pro-Rector for technology transfer and innovation and those of Coordinator of the Regional Center for Innovation in the Algarve. He was also president of the then Algarve Region Coordination Committee, currently the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Committee.
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