Changes in research and society and in our cities – the case of Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

This poster, in line with the motto of the ECSA 2024 conference – CHANGE, presents the case of the Vila Nova de Gaia city (Portugal) and some specific changes that have occurred there with active participation of citizens. One of the most significant initiatives promoted by the city authorities, together with other institutions and researchers is called “Meu Bairro, Minha Rua” (My neighbourhood, my street), from which result further projects, and local actions (leading to changes), either directly initiated by citizens or with their strong engagement (e.g. implementation of «Kiss&Go» zones and changes towards more sustainable behaviour of local population). Overall, the initiative “Meu Bairro, Minha Rua” is not purely a citizen science project, but Making and Celebrating Change is its major focus, and it certainly involves participatory research. The poster presents some society changes based on the example from Vila Nova de Gaia, but also touches upon initial findings from a doctoral research project at the Department of Sociology at the University of Porto, that focuses on studying the topic of Citizen Science and its potential to support better evidence-based policy making in Portuguese cities, enhance social inclusion, as well as its added value to monitoring SDGs in urban context (with a focus on SDG.11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.).