The Figueira da Foz City Council today inaugurated a research center to study ocean currents, sand movements, and climate change, which aims to become a national reference.
“Figueira da Foz is known as the queen of beaches, and I hope it will also become known as the queen of research and innovation,” said the mayor, Pedro Santana Lopes, at the opening ceremony this morning.
Housed in the former Serra da Boa Viagem Mountain Shelter, the Research Center for Ocean Currents, Sand Movements, and Climate Change initially has three researchers, one for each area, but the municipality's goal is to reach 14.
“We have a lot of material to study, in which we want to involve researchers and also university students. By combining all these areas, we want to make Figueira da Foz a top municipality, in first place in research and innovation in Portugal,” Santana Lopes emphasized.
This is the first municipal research center created in Portugal to study sea currents and sand movements, which greatly affect the municipality of Figueira da Foz, especially the seaport and the beaches to the south of the municipality, which suffer from a serious erosion problem.
The mayor of Figueira da Foz emphasized that the research center also seeks to “demonstrate that the municipality is strongly committed, together with the University of Coimbra campus, to the field of research.”
The mayor intends to establish a strong link with the economic fabric and social institutions so that research and innovation are useful and make the municipality more competitive and give it “a brand and identity”.
Part of a partnership with the University of Coimbra, the Research Center for Sea Currents, Sand Movements, and Climate Change represented an investment of almost half a million euros, with about 70% coming from EU funds.
Source: https://ofigueirense.com