Católica offers an “enriching experience in every respect” and a global perspective to the T4EU community

“Experiences like this are a reminder that learning doesn’t happen only inside classrooms or universities, it also happens through meeting people with different perspectives, sharing experiences across cultures and being part of conversations that connect us beyond our own countries and backgrounds”, shared Mahsa Farrokhi, PhD student and Student Council Representative.

This was the message from Mahsa Farrokhi, a PhD student at Católica, to the Transform4Europe students who embarked on the adventure of the T4EU Week “Community, Communities: Engage to Transform”, hosted by the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, in Lisbon from 25 to 29 May.

As the Student Council Representative pointed out, “transformation doesn’t happen individually, it happens when people collaborate, listen to different perspectives and create spaces where ideas and experiences can be shared openly.”

“For a week, this is your university, this is your shared community,” it was with this promise that Isabel Cardoso Lopes, T4EU Project Manager at Católica, welcomed the nearly 500 participants from 36 different countries. “We have people from so many different backgrounds, so many different beliefs, so many different aspirations in this world.”

United by a common purpose: Engage to Transform, on a digital, societal and environmental level.

At the opening session of one of the Entrepreneurial Talks at this event, the President of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Isabel Capeloa Gil, challenged participants to view the university as a space for discovery, collaboration and experimentation. “A studio is not a warehouse of finished products. It is a space of experimentation where both success and failure are possible,” emphasised, adding that learning takes place when there is the courage to test ideas and take risks.

For Catarina Pimenta Sousa, Communication Student at Católica, who chose the Digital Transformation course, T4EU Week was her gateway to the European project: “I was sure it would be fun, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into, so I came along to find out.”

After the experience, she is certain she will return: “It has been a real surprise, and I just want more – it is breaking my heart that it is going to end and that it went by so quickly, but it was so much fun that I cannot stop thinking about the next one.”

An experience the student describes as “enriching in every way”, which offered “a much broader view of the world and the issues that are relevant today, particularly in the digital transformation.”

The week kicked off with an entrepreneurship challenge that took the students to explore and reflect on iconic Lisbon landmarks such as Terreiro do Paço and Rossio, ending at the S. Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint.

A memorable start to an unforgettable week. With views over the city, the shared expectation was high: “I hope this week is filled with gaining insights and different perspectives, meeting new people, and just having a great time,” said Luisa Kerkhoff, a student at Saarland University.

Among the week’s cultural activities, participants highlighted the Biodanza session, as well as the “Community Party – Festa de Santo António”, where international students and staff were able to experience an authentic Portuguese village festival first-hand.

Visiting Portugal for the first time, Gerasim Gerasimov, a staff member at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, remarked, “It is a really nice surprise to experience the sense of community, the sense of diversity and the sense of hospitality that I have felt over the last couple of days, enjoying the hospitality of Católica.”

One of the most inspiring moments of the week was the talk given by the Iron Brothers, Pedro and Miguel Ferreira Pinto, who shared their life story, marked by perseverance and a determination to turn obstacles into opportunities, recounting their sporting journey through their participation in triathlon and Ironman events. In recounting the challenges they faced together, they left a particularly inspiring message: “When you fail, you have two options: you either say ‘this is not for me’ and you go and do something else, or you say ‘this is not going to happen to me anymore, this won’t define me, this is not me’ and next time you’re going to do better”. Through their example, the Iron Brothers showed that failure need not be the end, but can become the starting point for something much greater.

Organising this event was equally transformative, yet challenging, and involved a team of volunteers, students from Universidade Católica. “It was an amazing experience making this T4EU Week happen,” sums up student volunteer Madalena Mendonça.

In addition to the classes and Entrepreneurial Talks, the programme also included an exhibition organised by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Universidade Católica, marking the 40th anniversary of Portugal’s membership of the European Communities, and the launch of the book “Community, Communities: Engage to Transform”, published by UCP Press and featuring 55 authors.

In her review of T4EU Week, Isabel Cardoso Lopes highlighted the experience as an opportunity to transform the concept of community into something tangible and real, emphasising the impact of the encounters between students and participants from different countries, disciplines and backgrounds. “Community is not just a reality we inherit, but a skill we cultivate,” she said, reinforcing the idea that Europe is built through dialogue and shared responsibility. For the T4EU Project Manager at Católica, it is not so much structures or policies, but rather the small spaces for meeting that allow meaningful connections to be forged and reinforce the sense of “Belonging” – the word that, for her, best defines the whole week.

The week ended on a high note, with a performance by the Católica Big Band, the presentation of awards to the winning teams, and the handover of the tree to Saarland University, the next host of the event.