With 2024 starting to peek through, we are invaded by the need to weigh the ending year and outline what is about to come. With that in mind, on November 10th, the Agora Aveiro team headed to Forte da Barra to catch the ferry to the place where they would stay for that weekend – the Surf High-Performance Center (CAR Surf) in São Jacinto. Dedicated to surfing and other water sports, this space has an accommodation area with several adjoining rooms that proved perfect for the team's objective - conducting the 2nd edition of CapacitAÇÃO and creating an environment conducive to designing the projects that will shape next year's activities.

Infected by an entrepreneurial spirit, the Human Resources Department of Agora Aveiro promoted a set of activities embracing this theme. They started with a preview presentation of the ideas developed during the year - from the most complex, such as giving new life to already completed projects, to those that are a blank canvas waiting to be painted. The ideas were then worked on in the main dynamic, the "Idea Market," and the product was voted on, selecting the most popular ones. Finally, they were structured into the preliminary version of project sheets. The "Idea Market", a dynamic also developed by the Department to work on next year's project ideas, brought an immersive simulation of a stock market. Starting from ideas that emerged and aroused the team's interest throughout the year, a catalog was built so these ideas could be bought and sold by our volunteers, divided into groups. After this investment, the groups had to work on the ideas so that they could return to the market, but with increased value. Thus, they could be purchased again by anyone who wanted to suggest improvements, adding value to the idea and the project. In the end, the team that had made the most money and consequently had positively developed more projects would win. The real winners? The entire Agora Aveiro team - in record time, we had outlined the projects that we would most like to see hit the streets in 2024. The clever gamification aspect of the initiative had the desired effect, creating fertile ground for motivation and creativity, with a touch of healthy competition, to flourish.

CapacitAÇÃO is integrated into the Become the Change project, Agora Aveiro's project whose main objective is to train our volunteers in various skills. We value not only their knowledge but also their abilities, enhancing the quality of their intervention and their impact on the community and the world. And what better way than by giving a platform for volunteers to share their knowledge? These days also featured a Photography workshop and a Communication workshop, organized by team members.

And as the spirit of this team thrives not only on training and creativity, these were two days rich in energizers, team-building activities, leisure moments, sharing, and socializing. The result is evident - a cohesive team motivated to face the challenges that the new projects will present to us!

CapacitAÇÃO was a project organized by Agora Aveiro under the Programa de Apoio Juvenil of Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude I.P., the Portuguese Institute for Sports and Youth. It also had the support of the Aveiro City Council.