Our visit to the Portuguese town of Vila Nova de Famalicão last November was highly instructive in terms of social innovation and local development strategy. 

The first study visit, on the 28th of November, 2017, took us to the Department of Strategic Planning and Entrepreneurship of the Vila Nova de Famalicão town council. Several initiatives were presented by the council in the field of social innovation, with emphasis on the methodology of social participation and community commitment in the design and monitoring of Famalicão Visão 25, a Local Development Strategy covering the period up to 2025.

Within the strategy document, two dynamics of social innovation were noted:

Vision 2025. The main objective of the project in the Municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão was integration and participation of the population in the strategic planning of a future vision for the city - Vision 2025. A continuing construction plan was adopted by the Municipality based on the dynamics of the region. This is a plan with Agendas that can improve the area’s capacity to generate a strategic perspective (Vision 25) in its own dynamics and where partners (including all citizens, companies, organizations, institutions) can set their own goals, ideas and perspectives. The present project views the region as an entity under construction, seen as unique and shared. Members of the population are called on and encouraged to participate. All the citizens can be included in this "construction" programme, taking into account their own life projects, goals and aspirations for the future. 

Famalicão Made In: The primary objective of the project is the economic and commercial promotion and development of the Municipality. It intends to mobilise and boost the area’s entrepreneurial character. ”Famalicão Made In" can be considered a facilitating agent of initiatives to create and establish new companies, make small and medium-sized enterprises more competitive and promote innovation and internationalisation. 

A second study visit was conducted to the Social and Cultural Center of São Pedro de Bairro - a Private Institution of Social Solidarity, created in 1983 on the initiative of an organised group of Vila Nova de Famalicão citizens, in response to social needs felt by the local community. Currently serving about 600 clients, it offers eleven services: nursery, kindergarten, leisure activities, day centre, social centre, occupational activity centre, parental support centre, residential structure for the elderly, home service support, vocational training, care and social support services. 

This centre has several projects with a vital social impact. The Pedagogical Farm, for example, is a Social Innovation project which has enabled the social integration of people with disabilities and contact between users of different generations. A tree was planted during the visit to the Center to symbolise the Atlantic Social Lab Project, an initiative that results from a social ambition supported by this IPSS - the reforestation of the municipality with 25,000 trees of native species.