INDUSTRIES

Contact person: Jorge Pereira

This group aligns primarily with Cluster 4 of the EU’s R&I future priorities 2025-2027, particularly in regards to the Industry front and associated range of impacts, as well as Cluster 6 in its environmental component. Crossing these strategic priorities with ID+ researchers’ areas of specialisation, the group focuses on the industrial fabric of Northern Portugal and associated scalability, regional and global markets, circular and creative economies, and branding as symbolic value.

The Group currently fosters the following strategic fronts:
- the national hub of the DESIS international network, dedicated to promoting social innovation and sustainability among the Portuguese and international design communities;
- the Communication, Art, Object and Synergies lab, most directly fulfilling the Polytechnic mission in relation to regional markets, industrial sectors, and product design;
- the Critical Design Lab for Growth and Prosperity, proposing to increase the efficiency between research and design practice, as well as promoting an industrialisation driven by social and environmental knowledge;
- the Design Lab for Ecosystemic Spaces, focusing on Ecotechnology in close collaboration with entrepreneurial sectors. Its mission includes designing sustainable future scenarios, generating a more critical attitude towards consumerism, cultivating a holistic perception regarding the ‘designed complex world’, and contributing to reducing pressure on ecosystems.