The 1st Meeting of the Braga Social Practice Community took place on October 27th, at the Auditorium of the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa – Braga Campus, under the theme “Sharing to Transform”.
Established in January 2024, the Community brings together coordinators from the Social Assistance and Support Services (SAAS) and Local Insertion Units (NLI) of the 14 municipalities in the district of Braga, facilitated by technicians Armanda Maia and Fátima Araújo from the District Center for Social Security of Braga.
Throughout 29 collaborative work meetings, representatives from entities such as the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG) and CLAIM of Guimarães also participated, fostering knowledge sharing and joint reflection on the challenges of social intervention.
This work resulted in the development of the Manual of Procedures and Best Practices for Social Action in the District of Braga, presented at this meeting. The document aims to harmonize procedures, support professionals, and promote faster and more effective social responses.
The innovative nature of this cooperation model was recognized by the ANMP, which presented a certificate of recognition to each participating municipality. This distinction values collaborative work and cooperation among municipalities.
The Councilor for Social Action of the Municipality of Celorico de Basto, José Sousa, highlighted the importance of this pioneering model, which will ensure “a standardization in the operation of social services, prioritizing a faster, closer, and more efficient response to the population”.
The mayor also praised the work developed by the Social Action professionals of Celorico de Basto, who contributed with “fundamental contributions derived from years of experience and knowledge in direct contact with our populations”. José Sousa emphasized that “this manual will serve to assist our populations with actions that will improve social intervention”.
