Official Press Release

by

Carolina Sousa

ESEC, University of Algarve

President of the Congress

Since education is one of the most important factors in the development of societies, especially since a deeper understanding of it is a fundamental requirement for understanding social expectations and, likewise, an important contribution to defining new objectives, activities and good professional practices, both nationally and internationally, it is our understanding that the international congress to be held on 20 and 21 January 2025 in Faro, Portugal, at the School of Education and Communication (ESEC) of the University of the Algarve (UALG), as a Multiplier Event, part of the project KA220-Erasmus+ "RESUPERES: Intervention proposal for the Resilience development in Higher Education. Overcoming Adversity",  is extremely important, as it could contribute to the promotion and sharing of a broader educational experience with more flexible learning models and, perhaps, the incorporation of Resilience training in education, specifically in the syllabuses of national and international curricula, not only in Higher Education, but possibly at all levels of education. 

The RESUPERES project, ‘"Intervention proposal for the Resilience development in Higher Education. Overcoming adversities", came about with the aim of creating an intervention programme and tools in the higher education context that improve and develop Resilience constructs such as coping, self-concept, self-esteem, leadership, teamwork/networking, etc., and based on competences within the areas of physical activity, the digital world and communication, the performing and visual arts and culture, which generate resilient behavior patterns, areas considered to be priorities in the development of this construct, and which can be extrapolated to the different stages of training for both teachers and students.

According to recent studies, higher education can be a time of vulnerability for both students and teachers, which is why this scientific event aims to present, debate, publicize and promote the importance of developing Resilience, extending to all levels of education beyond university. 

At a time when students are facing unprecedented challenges, Resilience is an essential skill for life and academic success in higher education (as well as other levels of education). 

This congress on Resilience aims to promote a holistic and multifaceted approach to education, which integrates the value of supporting students not only academically, but also in terms of their personal, social, emotional, motivational and mental health well-being, given the crisis that many students face, with increasing levels of stress, anxiety, isolation, depression, burnout, dropping out, difficulties in overcoming failure and adversity, among others.

The first day of the congress, will start with the presentation of the project and the plenary conferences of the tree keynote speakers:  

RUI VIEIRA NERY, who stood out as the eminent chairman of the Scientific Committee for Fado's application to become Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO);

JOAQUIM DE AZEVEDO, who runs the highly relevant socio-educational project Arco Maior, which is aimed at young people who are marginalized and drop out of school;

and the eminent neuro-psychiatrist BORIS CYRULNIK, who has written several books of popular science on psychology and lots of clinical articles that won some literature prizes. He is known in France for developing and explaining to the public the concept of Psychological Resilience. He was awarded the 2008 Prix Renaudot de l'essai and the Commander of the Légion d'honneur in 2020.

In addition, in the afternoon, the dissemination of the results will be in the format of theoretical-practical workshops that will develop the modules of the interactive platform, and the itineraries of the RESUPERES App.

The second day will be dedicated to the dissemination of the RESUPERES Project's Results, Manual, Interactive Platform Web, App and RESUPERES Subject. To this end, different formats have been created to transmit the knowledge created in its three years of experience in RESUPERES, such as conferences, Round tables, workshops and communications.

The best communications in the field of physical activity will be selected at the proposal of the scientific committee, and will be published in the journals "SPORTK" & "JHSE". The link to information about the journals is attached:

• JHSE: Journal of Human Sport and Exercise. https://www.jhse.es/index.php/jhse/index

• SPORT TK - Revista Euro Americana de Ciencias del Deporte. http://revistas.um.es/sportk

Participation is free, but subject to registration on the congress website (https://sites.google.com/view/resuperescongresportugal/).

In the recognition that it is essential to promote the development of Resilience - as a fundamental part of the learning process, the I International Congress “Resilience in Higher Education” is being held to draw attention to the urgency of national and international educational policies that consider Resilience as a key factor for the success and sustainability of teaching and education. 

Carolina Sousa 

President of the Congress