The ’Plantar o Futuro’ (Planting the Future) is the biggest project of Agora Aveiro, not only because it reunites several partner enterprises with one major part of the academic community of Aveiro, but also because it’s an initiative of remarkable and ambitious objectives which aim to preserve the environment and raise awareness of its protection. In this respect, it’s a great joy to announce that the preparations for the sixth edition of the project have already begun!

At the end of June and in the very first days of July this year, more than 1,000 trees were transplanted in a space provided by the Municipality of Estarreja, at Quinta do Marinheiro in Avanca. The trees are of different native species of our region, like the strawberry tree (Arbetus unedo), the cork oak (Quercus suber), the english oak (Quercus robur), the common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and the common holly (Ilex aquifolium). All these plants came from a local certified producer and the volunteers of Agora Aveiro carried out the transplant. This first phase of the project was only possible thanks to the donation of 2,000L of substrate by our partners from SIRO.

Over the next few months, the trees will be taken care of by the technicians from the Municipality of Estarreja. In October, the community of the University of Aveiro will have the opportunity to adopt and take care of a tree, until planting actions are carried out during the spring of 2025. Meanwhile, the arrangements for other activities of this same project continue. This edition also hopes to bring with it new initiatives, like an action to control the invasive species sour fig (Carpobrotus edulis) in São Jacinto and another action that pretends to highlight the role of trees in the urban environment of Aveiro. Also, very soon we will have a little more artistic activity, integrated in ESTAU, the Festival of Urban Art of the Municipality of Estarreja.

We warmly invite those who are interested to follow our progress through our social media channels on Instagram and Facebook. And we extend a spirited invitation to the entire academic community: as October arrives, consider adopting a native tree. In a reality where our planet and our ecosystems desperately need our contribution, we believe that all together we are capable of generating a positive change in the environment, collaborating in this notable cause of preserving the green areas of our charming region, and in this way, ‘make this idea grow’!

Plantar o Futuro is organized by Agora Aveiro in collaboration with the University of Aveiro and the Municipality of Estarreja. It has Glicínias Plaza as its ‘Main Partner’, RODI Industries and Caetano Auto as ‘Golden Partners’, as well as SIRO - Substratos Profissionais and Casa Martelo as ‘Silver Partner’. Collaboration extends to our ‘Partners’ Comissão de Faina de Biologia, the Department of Biology of the University of Aveiro, the Biology Students Association, Associação Académica da Universidade de Aveiro and Faina Académica. It also has the support of the Municipality of Aveiro, the European Solidarity Corps and the Portuguese Institute for Sports and Youth - IPD, I.P..