FROM TERRITORIALIZATION TO SMART EDUCATION: THE EMERGENCE OF THE 3RD GENERATION EDUCATIONAL CHARTER IN PORTUGAL

Main Article Content

Luis Lobo
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3194-5150
Ana Nápoles
Hugo Carvalho
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3274-5571
Ricardo Pocinho
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1307-5434
Francisco Peñalvo
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9987-5584

Abstract

The article traces the historical evolution of educational planning in Portugal, from post-April 25, 1974 massification of schooling to the emergence of the 3rd-generation Educational Charter, anchored in the Smart Education paradigm. The 1974 revolution democratized access to education, supported by infrastructural investments like the Centenaries Plan (1941–1960), which built thousands of schools under centralized, uniform logics. Massification intensified territorial challenges—interior depopulation, emerging urban centers, and quality demands leading to the creation of the School Map (replaced by the Educational Charter in 2003, Decree-Law No. 7/2003). The 1st generation (2003) marked a shift toward territorialization, linking the school network to municipal planning via Municipal Education Councils and five-year reviews. However, it remained overly focused on physical rationalization and infrastructure, inheriting past edificatory logic with limited participation. The 2nd generation (2019, Decree-Law No. 21/2019) expanded diagnostics to socio-educational, demographic, and mobility variables, supported by tools like SACE and the DGEstE/IGeFE Guide (2021). Despite progress, it fails to capture real-time dynamics (digitalization, migrations, connectivity, teacher resilience) or fully enable collaborative, inter-municipal governance. The 3rd generation, proposed as a systemic, digital, and predictive platform, transcends the physical and municipal: it integrates learning ecosystems, interoperable data, AI, and multi-level participation. It aligns with international agendas (Smart Education, Learning Cities, Education 5.0) and models like ZEP (France), ZER (Spain), and Neighbourhood Learning Centres (Canada), emphasizing equity, collaborative networks, and community integration. The methodology combines normative analysis, literature review, and comparative case studies, summarized in an analytical grid highlighting the transition: from infrastructural to strategic, technocratic to collaborative, static to intelligent. The discussion underscores the urgency of overcoming asymmetries, redundancies, and low participation, advocating evidence-based governance, digital platforms, and continuous monitoring. Smart Education is framed as humanistic, sustainable, and public-value-oriented, with four pillars: territorial inclusion, environmental sustainability, intelligent digitalization, and consequential evaluation. The 3rd-generation Charter is not a mere update but a governance architecture positioning the school as a node of innovation, cohesion, and territorial development, responding to digital, ecological, and demographic transitions with intelligence, equity, and participation.

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How to Cite
Lobo, L., Nápoles, A., Carvalho, H., Pocinho, R. ., & Peñalvo, F. (2026). FROM TERRITORIALIZATION TO SMART EDUCATION: THE EMERGENCE OF THE 3RD GENERATION EDUCATIONAL CHARTER IN PORTUGAL. E3 — Revista De Economia, Empresas E Empreendedores Na CPLP, 12(1), 09–28. https://doi.org/10.29073/e3.v12i1.1075
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Articles
Author Biographies

Luis Lobo, General Directorate of School Establishments - Northern Region Services Directorate, Portugal

Luís Carlos Ferreira Campos Lobo serves as Regional Delegate for Education in Northern Portugal at the Directorate General for Schools. He has extensive professional experience in public administration, particularly in the field of education. He previously worked at the Inspectorate General of Education and Science as an inspector, carrying out activities related to monitoring, control and evaluation in public and private schools. His research interests include the relationship between education, public administration and regional development, as well as processes related to the modernisation of educational governance and management. He holds a degree in Sport and Physical Education from the Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto and a Master’s degree in Sport Sciences, specialising in Sport Management, from the same institution. He also holds postgraduate specialised training in School Administration and Organisation, Special Education in the Cognitive and Motor domain, Management and Administration of Sport Companies, and Intermediate Management in Public Administration. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Training in the Knowledge Society at the University of Salamanca.

Ana Nápoles, Lusíada University of the North, Portugal

Ana Paula Freitas Vasco dos Santos de Nápoles is a geographer and researcher, with contributions to the study of territory, the city and contemporary urban dynamics. She holds a degree from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto and a PhD in Human Geography, specialising in Urban Planning, from the same university. Her academic work has focused on critical reflection on urban space, territorial regeneration and the socio spatial processes that shape post modern cities. Since 2010, she has been an integrated researcher at Fundação Minerva and at the Research Centre for Territory, Architecture and Design (CITAD) of Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa, where she has supervised academic projects and participated in scientific initiatives related to architecture, urban studies and territorial planning. Her professional trajectory also includes a solid technical career in the Ministry of Education, where she has performed technical and pedagogical functions in multiple areas, articulating scientific knowledge, educational practice and public administration.

Hugo Carvalho, Higher Institute of Information and Administration Sciences of Aveiro / CIDETH, Portugal

A dedicated university professor, he serves as a coordinating professor at several higher education institutions, including ISCIA (where he is also a member of the technical-scientific council, vice-president of the ethics committee, and part of the editorial team for the multidisciplinary journal Modus Operandis), the University of Beira Interior, ISCAP, ISLA Gaia, CESPU, IEES, Universidade Europeia, and AEAAV.

In parallel, he holds key leadership roles in the business and clinical sectors: he is CEO and general director of Neuro IT — a company focused on applied neuroscience research and development —, research director at the same organization, a board member and director of the mental health unit at Fisicare (in Aveiro, where he also works as a clinician on the team), an active business angel, and the founder of several innovative projects such as “Negócios à (Sobre)Mesa,” PIGO, the Aveiro Business Angels Club (ABAC), Geisertech, and national ambassador for Ignite Portugal.

His academic background is exceptionally broad and diverse, spanning design to neurosciences, management, engineering, communication, health sciences, medical sciences, and forensics. He earned his PhD in applied neurosciences (specializing in brain mapping of human emotions and collection of neurophysiological signals for brain-computer interfaces) from the University of Beira Interior, is a PhD candidate in knowledge society training at the University of Salamanca, holds specialist titles (by public examination) in communication sciences and in marketing and advertising from ISCIA Aveiro, master’s degrees in design and in neurosciences (with a specialization in cognitive rehabilitation) from the University of Aveiro, and graduate certification in Medical Neurosciences from Duke University, along with additional training as a neuroscience educator from the University of Buenos Aires.

As a researcher, he is affiliated with leading centers such as CIDETH at ISCIA, LIPIS at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, CICS.NOVA at FCSH-New University of Lisbon (and has also collaborated with PsyLab-NeuroLab at the University of Aveiro). He also serves as an expert evaluator for ANQEP in EQAVET quality standards for vocational education and training, and participates in external evaluation teams for the Inspectorate-General of Education and Science (IGEC).

Over the years, Hugo Carvalho has consistently been recognized for his exceptional networking skills (named Networker of the Year from 2013 to 2024), excellence in training (Trainer of the Year 2024), social merit (Gold Degree from ANGES), innovation (DGD Google Innovation Award 2024), and pedagogical competence in technology (Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert 2023-2024).

He is co-author and coordinator of several published works, including Gestão de Empresas com Pessoas a Bordo, Corporator: Como Evitar os Principais Erros de Gestão, Volumes I and II of Networking 100 Cenas, and Strategia: Análise do Ambiente Estratégico das Empresas, as well as maintaining the blog Educar 100 (Cem) Cenas.

A dedicated university professor, he serves as a coordinating professor at several higher education institutions, including ISCIA (where he is also a member of the technical-scientific council, vice-president of the ethics committee, and part of the editorial team for the multidisciplinary journal Modus Operandis), the University of Beira Interior, ISCAP, ISLA Gaia, CESPU, IEES, Universidade Europeia, and AEAAV.
In parallel, he holds key leadership roles in the business and clinical sectors: he is CEO and general director of Neuro IT — a company focused on applied neuroscience research and development —, research director at the same organization, a board member and director of the mental health unit at Fisicare (in Aveiro, where he also works as a clinician on the team), an active business angel, and the founder of several innovative projects such as “Negócios à (Sobre)Mesa,” PIGO, the Aveiro Business Angels Club (ABAC), Geisertech, and national ambassador for Ignite Portugal.
His academic background is exceptionally broad and diverse, spanning design to neurosciences, management, engineering, communication, health sciences, medical sciences, and forensics. He earned his PhD in applied neurosciences (specializing in brain mapping of human emotions and collection of neurophysiological signals for brain-computer interfaces) from the University of Beira Interior, is a PhD candidate in knowledge society training at the University of Salamanca, holds specialist titles (by public examination) in communication sciences and in marketing and advertising from ISCIA Aveiro, master’s degrees in design and in neurosciences (with a specialization in cognitive rehabilitation) from the University of Aveiro, and graduate certification in Medical Neurosciences from Duke University, along with additional training as a neuroscience educator from the University of Buenos Aires.
As a researcher, he is affiliated with leading centers such as CIDETH at ISCIA, LIPIS at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, CICS.NOVA at FCSH-New University of Lisbon (and has also collaborated with PsyLab-NeuroLab at the University of Aveiro). He also serves as an expert evaluator for ANQEP in EQAVET quality standards for vocational education and training, and participates in external evaluation teams for the Inspectorate-General of Education and Science (IGEC).
Over the years, Hugo Carvalho has consistently been recognized for his exceptional networking skills (named Networker of the Year from 2013 to 2024), excellence in training (Trainer of the Year 2024), social merit (Gold Degree from ANGES), innovation (DGD Google Innovation Award 2024), and pedagogical competence in technology (Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert 2023-2024).
He is co-author and coordinator of several published works, including Gestão de Empresas com Pessoas a Bordo, Corporator: Como Evitar os Principais Erros de Gestão, Volumes I and II of Networking 100 Cenas, and Strategia: Análise do Ambiente Estratégico das Empresas, as well as maintaining the blog Educar 100 (Cem) Cenas.

Ricardo Pocinho, Leiria Polytechnic Institute, Portugal

Ricardo Pocinho is an assistant professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria. He is a researcher at CICS.NOVA, IPLeiria.

Francisco Peñalvo, University of Salamanca, Spain

Francisco Peñalvo is Full profesor Salamanca University.

 

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