We celebrate 50 years of April! We celebrate 50 years of changes in Geography!

April brought freedom and change in politics, geopolitics, society, economy, territory, culture, and mentalities. Later, taking advantage of the democratic context and the path of change, Portugal joined the European Economic Community (now European Union), and with it came the community programs and support for development. As a result, over the last 50 years, the country has progressed and transformed profoundly and durably.

April also brought changes to higher education and Portuguese Geography. Almost immediately, changes occurred at the university (universal access, democratization of management, course reform, emergence of new research topics, new experiences,…). Subsequently, successive internalizations of new paradigms, methods, techniques, and scientific themes of Geography, already under development in European and American universities, were also leveraged.

And, just as the country has changed over the last 50 years, Geography has also changed, becoming more applied, more technological, and more attentive to the current problems and challenges of society, development, planning, and territorial sustainability. In this process, the former Department of Geography of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon and the IGOT have always played a proactive and leading role in Portuguese Geography.

José Manuel Simões

Sandra Domingues