THE HELLO PORTUGAL FESTIVAL TOOK PLACE MID SUMMER.
In collaboration with the High Commissioner for Migration, the Aga Khan Foundation, SPEAK and Associação Pão a Pão presented the Hello Portugal Festival on July 2, at Lisbon’s Ismaili Centre. The event gathered some of the most effective solutions from Portugal and abroad in the field of migration and integration, both from the public and the citizen sector, to work on scaling plans to spread them throughout Portugal. The Hello Portugal Festival was an opportunity for more than 150 people from all sectors to come together to collaborate in order to replicate in Portugal some of the most disruptive innovations in this field.
“Sharing the best solutions that have been tested and scaled is the best thing we can do when facing a new challenge. That’s why this event is so important. We are at the point of maturity of our public policies that allows us to take consistent steps. Together with you, I believe we can do it better.”
Participants were welcomed by the President of the Muslim Shia Ismaili Community in Portugal, Rahim Firozali and by the High Commissioner for Migration, Pedro Calado. The day then started with a stand out performance by Natasha Marjanovic, actress, on her experience as a refugee from ex-Yugoslavia in Portugal. Afterwards, Catarina Marques Rodrigues (Journalist and presenter for RTP) introduced the panel session “Lives on the move” with Natasha Marjanovic (actress), Moin Ahamed (Technical assistant for the National Center of migration support), Ines Mendonça (Portugues and Mandarin language teacher), and Hani Soufani, who shared their inspiring life-stories as migrants from and to Portugal.
Two global solutions - Welcoming International (from the U.S.) and Maldita.es (from Spain), represented by their founders (Ashoka Fellows) David Lubell and Clara Jiménez Cruz - as well as two local solutions - SPEAK (represented by the founder and Ashoka fellow Hugo Menino Aguiar) and Mezze represented by Francisca Gorjao Henriques - presented their during the morning. Also, three Portuguese municipalities pitched their innovative solutions.
In the afternoon, participants had the chance to spend more time with the four Hellopreneurs, to listen to a more detailed presentation of their solutions and to work with them on a strategy to scale their initiatives in Portugal.
