23/09/2024

The Consul of Portugal will participate in a chat at IMPA Tech.

Cônsul-Geral de Portugal no Rio de Janeiro Gabriela Soares de Albergaria

The Consul-General of Portugal in Rio de Janeiro, Ambassador Gabriela Soares de Albergaria, will participate in a round table discussion at IMPA Tech, next Thursday (26), at 1:30 pm. The activity, proposed by the professor of “Linguistic skills: textual narratives” Cilene Rodrigues, will address diplomatic practices and problem solving.

“We are holding this conversation considering the main issues raised by the UN [United Nations]. We thought of bringing a diplomat into the discussion, such as Ambassador Gabriela de Albergaria, who is linked to our worldview, the Lusophone worldview. We invited the Consul to have a moment of reflection,” the professor said.

Gabriela de Albergaria has been a diplomat since 1990 and has represented Portugal in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the United States, and was a counselor in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. She has also served in Brasília and Bogotá, Colombia. The Consul is the first woman to hold the position in Rio de Janeiro.

The roundtable discussion with the diplomat was designed with the content of the Language Skills course in mind. Among its objectives is teaching students how to handle formal discussion and problem-solving situations, especially from a collective perspective.

Cilene further emphasizes the relevance of discussing current issues within academia and how scientific engagement can be useful in resolving various conflicts. In this context, the priority of some 'Global Issues' stipulated by the UN will be discussed.

“It is important that we, as an academic institution and academic collective, consider the relevance of discussing current problems. This conversation gives us the opportunity to have a broader view of these problems, while at the same time we are training the student's performance in a formal context.”

Divided into four blocks, the discussion will also prioritize the role of mathematics in solving 'Global Issues'. The goal is to consider how the discipline can be an ally in solving emerging challenges, such as food insecurity, instability of peace, and the other 23 cited by the UN.

“We need to know how mathematics and related fields can contribute to mitigating these problems. We need to think about how mathematics and data science can help at this time, how they can be useful,” said Cilene.

Another proposal is to consider the role of a Diplomatic Corps in representing the country and the importance of collaborative practices among Portuguese-speaking countries in the current scenario.

“The idea is to think about how we, Portuguese-speaking peoples, collectively—Europe, South America, Africa, Asia—can act in solving these problems. This is very important because the academic world, in a way, is held accountable for interaction and practical application in solving these problems,” the professor concluded.