The Student Commission of the Social Work course ‘Ser Social’ at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) - Braga, is marking World Social Work Day (#WSWD2025), which is celebrated every year on the third Tuesday in March.
The opening session will be led by Catarina Vieira da Silva, a lecturer and member of the Board of the FFCS of UCP - Braga; Paulo Dias, Pro-Rector of UCP - Braga; Bruno Nobre, Director of the FFCS of UCP - Braga; and Francisco Branco, a member of the Board of the Order of Social Workers.
This will be followed by a short documentary about the Ser Cuida(I)doso Project, winner of the Universitate Award 2024, led by Catarina Vieira da Silva.
The first panel, entitled ‘Learning to Intervene: Service Learning in Social Work Training’ - The view of students and professionals, will be led by Diana Silva and Carolina Santos, social workers who graduated from UCP - Braga; Diana Loureiro, social worker and master's student in Applied Social Gerontology; and Célia Dinis, technical coordinator at the Irmandade de S. Torcato Social Centre, in a round table format.
In the second, the Senior Reception Manager, Isaque Dias; the General Director of the ‘Valoriza’ Association, Elisabete Teixeira; and the Head of the Social Cohesion and Solidarity Division of the Municipality of Braga, António Soares Direito will debate ‘Active and Solidary Ageing: Challenges and Opportunities’.
Then Francisco Branco, a member of the Board of the Order of Social Workers, will talk about ‘The role of Social Workers in promoting Intergenerationality’.
Finally, the student committee of the Social Work course ‘Ser Social’ will present and publicise the SerSocial Recognition Award.
The closing speech will be given by Jorge Barbosa, a lecturer in Social Work at UCP - Braga.
We highlight World Social Work Day as an opportunity for social workers, social work students and the community in general to reflect on the importance of the work carried out by these professionals in favour of society, namely in the search for and strengthening of fairer and more egalitarian public policies that promote respect for diversity, equality, social justice and the well-being of all citizens.
