The Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH) at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FEP-UCP) has secured approval for two innovative projects within the scope of the “Transform4Europe (T4EU) Seed Funding” programme, reinforcing its commitment to applied research, pedagogical innovation, and international collaboration.
Inclusive Education: a collaborative pathway for european higher education
One of the projects, entitled “Collaborative Pathways to Inclusive Education”, is coordinated by CEDH/FEP-UCP through the Católica Learning Innovation Lab (CLIL) - one of the four Research and Community Outreach Units of CEDH. The initiative is structured in two complementary phases.
The first phase consists of an online micro-credential on diversity and inclusive education, with 25 hours (1 ECTS), based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This training aims to equip lecturers and researchers to identify and remove curricular barriers, creating more equitable and accessible learning environments.
The second phase foresees the creation of Communities of Learning and Practice, collaborative online spaces that promote the sharing of experiences and the co-creation of inclusive pedagogical strategies. The project involves three partner universities from the T4EU alliance: Saarland University (Germany), University of Alicante (Spain), and Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania).
According to Inês Monteiro, PhD candidate in Educational Sciences at FEP-UCP and project lead, “this funding is essential to create resources, engage international partners, and offer accessible training to lecturers and researchers from partner universities.” The initiative will also enable the collection of comparative data on inclusion concepts across different European contexts, contributing to joint scientific publications and continuous improvement of the model, designed to be scalable and replicable.
Design and Well-being: public spaces designed for people
The second project, titled “WELL-BEING by DESIGN: Where Public Spaces Designed with Empathy Become Possibilities”, results from a partnership between the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (HNL) - one of the four Research and Community Outreach Units of CEDH - and the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), in collaboration with Ionel Lehari and Marleen Soosaar.
The initiative proposes an interdisciplinary pedagogical model that brings together Psychology and Design students to develop prototypes of inclusive public spaces capable of promoting emotional self-regulation, psychological safety, and mental well-being.
According to Patrícia Oliveira-Silva, project lead at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), director of HNL and lecturer at FEP-UCP, the idea emerged spontaneously during an informal conversation at a T4EU event. “We quickly realised that, despite coming from different fields, we shared an interest in understanding how the spaces we inhabit affect us,” she explains. From this reflection, a project was born that integrates concepts such as emotional regulation, cognitive load, environmental stress, and sensory inclusion, demonstrating that it is possible to design based on scientific evidence. “More than designing spaces, the project proposes designing experiences. It shows that these concepts are not abstract and can guide real choices in how we design and inhabit spaces,” she adds.
The project includes the creation of public space prototypes in Portugal and Estonia, as well as the implementation of two Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs), promoting interdisciplinary and international learning. In parallel, joint scientific publications will be produced on environmental psychology, evidence-informed design, and pedagogical innovation. Internally, the initiative strengthens collaboration between three UCP research centres: CEDH, CIIS (Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Health, represented by Maria Vânia Nunes), and CITAR (Research Centre for Science and Technology of the Arts, represented by José Alberto Gomes), expanding the University’s collaborative ecosystem.
Beyond formal outcomes, these initiatives are expected to generate informal networks of collaboration among students, lecturers, and researchers, paving the way for new partnerships, micro-credentials, and innovative pedagogical practices across Europe.