Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Honourable Minister for Labour and Social Solidarity,
Honourable Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,
Honourable Conference Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am particularly pleased to preside at the official opening of the first International Conference for Social Innovation. This is an area to which I have given special attention since the beginning of my mandate as President of the Republic.

When, following the challenge I put forward for a civic commitment for social inclusion, I carried out the campaigns of the Route dedicated to this theme, I assumed as a main concern the identification and the dissemination of good practices in what nowadays is known as the third sector, that of social economy.

One of the objectives was to assess how institutions of solidarity, civic associations and people in general were reacting to the challenges placed by the new patterns of social exclusion, and to the various moulds of poverty associated to the factors that identify Portugal as a society of deep social disparities.

I must confess that I was very impressed with some of the good practices that I had the opportunity to see, especially due to their inherent innovative characteristics.

I recall a small community, forgotten in the boundaries of the Alentejo, which was able to reverse the desertification and ageing process with which it was being targeted.

I equally recall what I then named “entrepreneurial organizations”, institutions which muster the fight against the social exclusion of handicapped people through the production and marketing of products, creating wealth and generating additional revenue.

I congregated with organizations of voluntary workers dedicated to the development of new management skills in private institutions of social solidarity, or to promote networks of mutual aid and cooperation, with the objective to share donated goods or food products received daily.

It was an unforgettable experience which I am certain contributed to call the attention of Portuguese society for the situations of poverty and social exclusion which are still rife in our country, and which should put us all to shame.

But it was equally an experience which helped to perceive the extraordinary impact that social innovation can have in the answer to the identified social needs, and to understand how a new generation of social responses is being developed that breaks away from the traditional means of intervention.

It is urgent, however, that this new generation of social responses is extended to the problems which are late in being overcome.

I point out, as an example, the problem of ageing associated to the pressure for early inactivity, especially that resulting from the recourse to early retirement or unemployment of thousands of workers who are too young to go into retirement, but already too old to resume a professional activity. The waste of human capital that this event represents is manifest, but the indignity and lack of respect for the human being which it reveals is intolerable.

Not very long ago, in this same room, I argued for the promotion of the principle of active ageing, with recourse to innovating remedies that provide flexibility to the transition from active life to retirement.

The knowledge and experience accumulated throughout their professional lives would thus be valued, with benefits accruing to society and to them.

This is a clear example of social innovation which should be urgently materialized.

It is time to become free from the old dichotomy of assistance and redistribution policies of revenue, almost exclusively centred in the action of the State.

For new issues and new challenges we need new remedies. Thus the need to provide incentives for the appearance of new forms of entrepreneurship and social intervention, as well as to devolve to society and to the people their civic responsibility and their solidarity for the building of a fairer and more cohesive future.

Recently disclosed results of research carried out by European institutions place Portugal among the member States where the inequalities in income distribution and the risk of poverty are greater. This is reality, a persistent reality which requires us to be more responsible in order to achieve greater solidarity.

In this perspective, it is particularly rewarding to watch the emergence of initiatives from groups of citizens aiming to materialize the principle of social responsibility. The setting up of the Forum for Social Innovation which will result from this first International Conference is a further contribution which I am pleased to note.

I have hopes that, through the congregation of efforts of the several social agencies, we shall be able to disseminate and promote social innovation more efficiently and with more sustainability. To convert the already identified good practices to generalized processes operating within the diverse institutions and social communities is a crucial task which we have ahead of us.

We know that technological and organizational innovation is catalyzed by the market, by competition, and many times by the challenges of survival and adversity, but social innovation is not ruled by the same logic neither by the same principles.

It is important to create platforms of assessment, dissemination and monitoring of the good practices of social innovation and, at the same time, develop a culture of cooperation, structure a network in which performers and organizations may share, and promote the new answers for the new social needs.

The remedy is not so much in the action on its own, even if wilful, but rather in the capability of jointly achieving the mustering of ideas and resources for the resolution of the identified problems.

The culture of conformism and relinquishment is detrimental to innovation. For this reason I want to impart my support, my stimulus and my conviction that your capacity for initiative and your unrest will help us to build a socially fairer and equitable Portugal, with greater solidarity and dynamism on the path to the future.

Thank you.