The Municipality of Vila Nova de Poiares

The Municipality of Vila Nova de Poiares is one of the 19 counties of Coimbra Intermunicipality region, the biggest one of Portugal.. This is a land with 84,5km2, countign with a population of 7700. Its a periurban area (according to the distance and access to a big city - Coimbra, and the district capital), with characteristics of rural area (land use and number of persons by km2), and a large area of forest and with 2 rivers in its borders. The distance to Lisbon (Country capital) is about 220km, regarding to 2h20 travelling by car. To Porto (another city with airport) its 140km and 1h30 of travel. The municipality activities are aimed on: environment, youth, sport, social action, education, health, culture, tourism, entrepreunership, forest, civil protection, mobility and public works. Some examples of the services according to the action area: Environment - educational activities to prevent environmental problems, promoting recycling, monitoring the environment (e.g., air and water quality, noise) , implement strategies for waste management. Youth and sport - promote youth associations work, volunteering and work context experiences. Also contribute for interchange programs at national or international levels, youth programs (e.g., parties, holidays, autarch). Promote sport programs and physical activity, considering the relavance of sport and physical activity in prevention of diseases and improve social capital. Social action, education and health - educational activities to promote positive behaviors, volunteer, citizenship, social inclusion and integration. For that it is developed a network with local institutions (e.g., schools, solidarity institutions, others) to implement the programs and actions with the different target groups (e.g., childrens - in risk or not; families; technicians; disabled people; elder people) Culture and tourism - there is a network of libraries (school and municipal) providing books and magazines. And a cultural center, that provide several events related to art exhibitions, literary, handicraft, theater, music shows and workshops for children, youth, adults and older people. The local network include institutions like Experimental Theater Company, Philharmonic and others. Entrepreneurship - educational activities to promote Forest and Civil protection - educational activites and regulation actions to improve the forest bussiness and value, pediastrian and bicycle tracks, fishing management. Development risk management plans and action to prevent accidents and fires, mostly, forest fires. Mobility and public works - studies and development of public constructions for the community use, such as, buildings, parks, roads. The Municipality make part of a vast group of associations, such as, Tourism of Center of Portugal, Portuguesa Association of Cities and Villages of Ceramic, QUALIFICA (Association for valorization and qualification of Portuguese Traditional Products), Intermunicipal Network of Cooperation for Development (RICD), and others.