Presentation of the Municipio de Amarante and Universidade Sénior de Amarante made during the transnational meeting of the project SEAM in Logroño (M1) on the 09/04/2015 Good afternoon, my name is Nuno Queirós, I come from Amarante in the north of Portugal and I am the representative of the Sports Activities in the Municipality Amarante) I have an academic degree in Sports and a master’s degree in Sport Management. I was the founder of the Senior University of Amarante in two thousand and eight and I’m its President ever since– I have already edited two books related to physical education for elder people.

While I present the institution to you, you can watch a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6w0HavhjCI) about the senior university of Amarante. Enjoy!

The Senior University of Amarante, promoted by the Municipality of

Amarante, is the name of the project that was created in order to give a quality answer to our town’s senior citizens (older than fifty years old) who want to use their free time in a more (inter)active way. This institution does not grant, nor aims to achieve, any specific academic degree but aims, instead, to build an information and democratic participation nucleus which shall contribute to its participant’s personal and cultural development.

We have around 120(one hundred and twenty) students and 23 (twentythree) teachers who, together, develop a variety of activities through the academic year. As a matter of fact, our activities vary from those more interactive and practical ones like sports, drama, music, dance (…), to others more focused on a theoretical core like learning a new foreign language (.e.g.: Italian and English), history, health, law and psychology. We also aim to develop a group and dynamic feeling through group trips and visits to many of Portuguese historical, cultural and natural places.

Our town, Amarante, has about fifty-six thousand inhabitants and has evolved through time always trying to combine its strong natural roots and activities with its important and emblematic historical places and buildings. This is the reason why our University is such an active, important and dear project

both to its students and every other person who take an active part in this dynamic. Some questions can be asked on the organic and how these institutions work: 1. What is a Senior University? It is the social answer that aims to create and regularly boost sporting, social, cultural, educational and recreation activities. 2. What is the aim of the Senior University of Amarante? Sponsored by the town council of Amarante, it is a project that aims to satisfy the senior population’s demand for non-formal education in various fields and recreational activities, or others.

3. What are the objectives of this institution? To encourage the participation and organization of seniors in various activities; to disclose the history, traditions, arts of the municipality of Amarante; to be a center of information and dissemination of the services, duties and rights of the seniors. 4. Who do we want to achieve with this project? The entire population older than 50 years old or the retired ones.

The teachers do not necessarily need have a degree or training, and they provide their services on a voluntary basis. To find volunteer teachers, we advertise this project in the electronic site of the town and distribute leaflets and posters about the project in some schools and shops of Amarante.

Now, here are some regulatory points of our institution:

a) teachers, who voluntarily offer to collaborate with us, write down the curriculum and schedules; b) there must be a minimum of eight students enrolled in each subject; c) Each student must enroll himself in, at least, three subjects (two theoretical and a practical one); d) When enrolling, students must pay for the enrollment which includes, school objects and school insurance; e) At the beginning of each month, students must pay the monthly fee related to the same month.

In April two thousand and fourteen, we extended our activity to Vila Meã ( which is another urban area of Amarante) and where we opened a branch of our Senior University. In Vila Meã about forty-five students can choose among sixteen subjects at their disposal. Through the school year both Amarante and Vila Meã organize theatres, several activities and school trips together.