This Summer, from 29 June to 1 July, the Centre for Intercultural Studies (CEI) of ISCAP–P.Porto organizes the “Collab Works Training School”, an intensive three‑day programme developed within the framework of COST Action SHiFT (CA21166 – Social Sciences and Humanities for Transformation and Climate Resilience). Designed for a interdisciplinary cohort of Master’s and doctoral students, the training targets early-career researchers seeking to engage beyond disciplinary boundaries and address complex societal challenges through collaborative practice.
Structured across six sessions, the programme combines conceptual grounding with immersive, place-based learning. It opens at CEI, where participants are introduced to transdisciplinary approaches, ethical collaboration, and critical perspectives on knowledge, power and positionality.
The core of the training lies in three field-based partner engagements across Greater Porto, each rooted in a distinct socio-institutional context:
- At the Serralves Park, gardens and museum, participants engage with sustainability and environmental governance challenges in a leading cultural and ecological institution.
- In public gardens across Porto and Matosinhos, trainees explore community-based and urban environmental issues through situated, participatory methods.
- At P.Porto’s Cultural Centre and Art Gallery, including the SHiFT Art & Science Exhibition, students examine the role of arts-based practices in addressing socio-environmental transitions.
Across these sites, trainees collaborate directly with partner organisations to:
- Conduct problem-framing exercises grounded in real challenges
- Develop co-created responses and actionable ideas
- Experiment with interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration.
By combining interdisciplinary teamwork, embedded fieldwork across key urban and cultural sites in Porto, and tangible outputs for societal partners, Collab Works offers a focused and practice-driven model of transdisciplinary training within COST Action SHiFT, preparing a new generation of researchers to co‑produce knowledge with real-world impact.