Venue

The Fourteenth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality, TEEM 2026, will take place from October 20 to 23, 2026, at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto in Porto, Portugal.

Founded in 1852 amid Portugal’s liberal turn, the Escola Industrial do Porto—rooted in “education for development” and hands-on training—evolved through successive reforms into today’s Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP). A major 1864 overhaul split industrial study into shared theoretical schooling and practical work in state workshops or private factories; the school became the Instituto Industrial do Porto, training masters, foremen (“condutores”), and factory directors. In 1881 it rejected a proposed merger with the Academia Politécnica, affirming a distinct, practice-oriented identity. After decades of national indecision over industrial policy, reforms between 1947 and 1950 positioned Industrial Institutes at the apex of technical education, preparing mid-level engineering agents for immediate industry entry. Decree-Law 830/74 (31 Dec 1974) converted these institutes into Higher Institutes of Engineering, granting legal personality and autonomy and enabling bachelor’s and licentiate degrees; in 1989 ISEP joined the Polytechnic subsystem, later adopting bi-stage degrees (1998). With the Bologna Process (2006), ISEP restructured into licentiate and master’s programs, and in 2008 hosted President Aníbal Cavaco Silva on the first official state visit to a polytechnic, the year it awarded its first post-Bologna master—cementing its enduring motto: “Saber Fazer” (Know How to Do).