What have we been up to?

This project focuses on promoting decent and meaningful work by using randomized controlled trials to evaluate the impact of Career Life Design training. The research examines how such training enhances psychological and career resources, as well as concrete employment outcomes, for both students entering the market and older unemployed individuals. 

Team: Samantha Sim, Amélia Monteiro, Radek Oros, and Sebastian Kernbach 

Funded by the EU’s Erasmus+ program, this project equips stakeholders with knowledge and handbooks to integrate gender perspectives into social entrepreneurship. It aims to foster gender inclusivity for women and minorities to create a fairer European economy. 

Team: Carina Autengruber 

This initiative organizes a call for scholarships to support researchers whose projects offer proof of concept for scientific discoveries with measurable social impact. The award prioritizes solutions in areas like education, health, migration, and active ageing. 

Team: Miguel Pina e Cunha (President of the Jury), Carina Autengruber

Designed for Master’s students, this Executive Study Tour provides a week of active pedagogy to explore the role of organizations in society. Participants engage with different facets of sustainability and conscious capitalism within the Portuguese context to develop their leadership responsibility. 

Team: Ricardo Zózimo, Catarina Soares, Milton de Sousa, Rui Coutinho, and Rodrigo Tavares 

This research assesses the emerging concept of regenerative tourism, which seeks to create positive impacts for natural systems and local communities. The project develops a theoretical framework through global case studies and assesses its feasibility and relevance for the Portuguese tourism sector. 

Team: Graham Miller and Teresa Moana Mannebach 

The Scaling Systemic Impact Initiative empowers impact-driven leaders and organizations—including foundations, family offices, impact investors, social organizations, and corporations—to address societal challenges more effectively through a systems-oriented approach.

Our work is driven by the need to resolve a persistent paradox: despite significant resources allocated to societal challenges, achieving meaningful impact remains elusive. This challenge arises because individuals and organizations often struggle to understand and navigate the inherent complexity of these issues. To address this, the Initiative operates across three core pillars: Mindset, Knowledge, and Tools.

By blending theoretical insights with practical tools, we help leverage existing systems knowledge to shift from linear problem-solving to systemic, holistic approaches that can tackle complexity.

At the heart of our methodology is the Think, Map, and Practice Formula, which we aim to teach, apply, and democratize to promote systems thinking. Our vision is to catalyze a growing community of systems thinkers and practitioners who are equipped to embrace, understand, and navigate complexity with confidence.

Team: Ricardo Zózimo Daniela Afonso Mariana Cabral

An executive intensive training program on the context and leadership of social organizations, to empower business professionals in non-executive roles within social organizations, thereby supporting the social sector.

This program is part of the Social Equity Initiative, a partnership between Nova SBE, BPI, and the "la Caixa" Foundation, which aims to promote Portugal's social sector.

More information here.

Team: Miguel Pina e Cunha, Rita Diniz

The Social Leapfrog program is a customized reflection and capacitation program for hybrid social organizations. Over three years, it aims to support organizations in "taking a leap" in terms of impact and sustainability. It has the support of Nova SBE's community (students, alumni, faculty, staff, and partners) through student projects (Master's thesis, student clubs, and pro bono internships), traditional educational training (Master's courses and Nova SBE Executive Education programs), mentoring and coaching programs, workshops with faculty from the school, among others.

The pilot edition started in 2019 with seven social organizations from the Metropolitan Area of ​​Lisbon:  A Barragem, Ajuda de Mãe, Alzheimer Portugal, Biovilla, Cercica, Mezze and Semear. The second edition is starting the experience stage with nine organizations from different parts of the country:  Aria, Arcil, Associação Salvador, CECD, Centro Social de Soutelo, CRESCER, Fundação Dr. José Lourenço Júnior, Just a Change, U.Dream, and Vila com Vida. Learn more here.

This program is part of the Social Equity Initiative, a partnership between Nova SBE, BPI, and the "la Caixa" Foundation, which aims to promote Portugal's social sector. Learn more here.

For more information, please email social.leapfrog@novasbe.pt.

Team: Carmen Lages, Talita Feliciano

In partnership with the University of Liège, this project explores stakeholder dynamics in Cascais. The research specifically analyzes the role of private actors and the mechanisms through which public and private stakeholders collaborate to build a Sustainable Smart City. 

Team: Marta Almeida and Nathalie Crutzen 

This research project in organizational behavior investigates the psychological impact of retirement, particularly regarding the loss of personal identity and organizational experience. It aims to identify how society can make this transition more humane and productive as the population ages. 

Team: Rita Cunha, Filipa Rodrigues, and Manuela Faia Correia. 

WILL promotes the understanding of female leadership challenges and builds knowledge to help organizations become more inclusive. Current research focuses on rebranding leadership development to appeal to women and improving the quality of mentor-mentee relationships. 

Team: Jenny Hoobler and Anna Czaplewska-Jaffery 

Boutique is a pioneering program designed to accelerate regenerative businesses in Portugal and bridge the gap for aligned investment. It provides selected organizations with tools and strategic support over six months to help them structure funding rounds and become investment-ready. 

Team: Ricardo Zózimo and Joana Castro e Costa 

This comprehensive three-day training program was designed for companies committed to inclusion. It uses both theoretical and practical approaches to help organizations explore broader aspects of DE&I and implement more inclusive management practices.

Team: Jenny Hoobler, Milton Sousa, Joana Castro e Costa, and Carina Autengruber. 

This tailored project helped the institution rethink its future path by addressing challenges in strategic decision-making, talent retention, and growth. The journey involved discovery, creative ideation, and the delivery of a roadmap to build a sustainable, future-ready strategy. 

Team: Nadim Habib, Joana Castro e Costa, and Rita Diniz  

Business Memory dives into the history of work, organizations, and the economy. From the corporate archives of the largest Portuguese economic group of the 20th century, there are important lessons to help pave the way for future organizations, workplaces, and economies. This project aims to bring these lessons to light and provide access to academia, practitioners, and society as a whole.

Partner: Fundação Amélia de Mello

Team: Álvaro Ferreira da Silva and Inês Dias da Silva

The Leadership & Wellbeing Observatory is a research project that began in 2018/2019 with the aim of studying leaders and their social, organizational, and personal views. This preliminary study was issued in the Leadership Report 2020. 

Presently, the Leadership & Wellbeing Observatory is under the academic supervision of Professor Filipa Castanheira and Professor Pedro Neves, who are developing a study on Technostress, an eminent effect of the dependency on technology in the workplace, which has shown a negative impact on performance and quality of life of an organization's human resources.

For more information, please contact leadership.observatory@novasbe.pt

Team: Filipa Castanheira, Pedro Neve, and Inês Dias da Silva 

This online colloquium, a co-organization between Nova SBE and our partner FAM - Fundação Amélia de Mello,  brought together marketing scholars, practitioners, and society to discuss the role of consumers and companies in humankind’s efforts to achieve important societal goals, including responsible production and consumption, public health, consumer welfare, and equality. Together, they discussed the role Marketing plays in improving the welfare of all stakeholders and benefiting the world, and brought evidence forward of how marketing practices are moving towards a greater purpose.

For more information, watch the conference videos here.

Team: Carmen Lages, Irene Consiglio, Sofia Kousi, Inês Dias da Silva

This study provided a systematic map of impact assessment methodologies and a retrospective analysis of the history and stakeholder impact of the “Prémios de Solidariedade BPI” between 2010 and 2018. 

Parceiro: BPI | “La Caixa” Foundation

Partnership project cofounded by the EU Erasmus+ program. It focuses on the societal problem of land degradation and develops educational programs and activities within an integrated management landscape, grounded in sustainable business models. 

https://www.rsm.nl/enable/about-us/

The Academy of Purpose aims to inspire and foster students’ personal development while promoting direct contact with role models who have a clear sense of purpose and who are able to share their experience, impact, and visions of the future. The Academy includes three initiatives: 

• Purpose Takeovers- Inspirational moments through which Nova SBE’s community gathers to listen to surprising and breathtaking guests who share their meaningful experiences. 
• Social Impact Talks- Powerful talks by international managers and entrepreneurs who can combine progress with performance 
• Resilient Leaders– Personal interviews with individuals who were able to overcome major challenges or traumatic events and pursue their dreams or a higher purpose 

An intensive 2-day digital bootcamp held in June 2020, in which students and mentors came together to solve specific management challenges faced by the participant social organizations as a result of the pandemic. It counted with the participation of 28 students, 7 mentors, 7 social organizations, and 2 faculty members. This event was organized by , and the Social Leapfrog program, with the support of two master students and one alumnus.

For more information, please contact roletoplay@novasbe.pt

Nova SBE Impact Experience is aligned with the School's mission to be a community dedicated to the development of talent and knowledge that impacts the world. It produced the annual Impact Report while engaging its community to foster societal impact, focusing on both impact assessment and impact activation. 

It clarified the School's strategy in the community, contributing to stronger engagement and impact aligned with the SDGs, ultimately making Nova SBE accountable for the impact it generates. 

From the students' perspective, it accounted for and integrated all opportunities in the social area that students could participate in, including classes, social internships, volunteering, and social entrepreneurship initiatives. 

After the success of this initiative, the project spun off and is currently part of the Role to Play. 

For more information, please contact roletoplay@novasbe.pt

The NOVA SBE Impact-Driven Alumni is a network of previous students of Nova SBE who are involved in social impact initiatives, have started social enterprises, or work for organizations that “do well and do good”. 

Goals:

1. Creating an international network of professionals passionate about creating social impact and working toward a better society, helping them develop their bonds. 
2. Sharing impact opportunities such as internships, jobs, or volunteering offers that are made available by any type of organization aligned with the group’s values (Social Enterprises, Impact Investors, Non-Profit Organizations, Companies, Public Administrations, International Development Organizations and others). 
3. Playing as a platform for the inspiration and development of social impact opportunities of any kind (Local Initiatives, Starting Up of Social Enterprises, etc.) 

This group gathered face-to-face for the first time in January 2018 to share inspiring stories and learn more about the social sector and the various initiatives of the Leadership for Impact Knowledge Center. 

The Social Impact Talks were developed to inspire and spread ideas through powerful talks by international managers and entrepreneurs who can drive real impact through their professional or personal experiences. 

This initiative aims to foster learning by providing life examples and inspiring future leaders, namely, Nova SBE Master’s students. The project also aims to gather important research materials from faculty-led interviews. 

Organized by the Nova SBE Leadership for Impact Knowledge Center, Social Impact Talks took place monthly at the Nova SBE Campus in Carcavelos and were open to students and the general public. During 1h30m, an invited guest would give an impact-focused talk based on their experience, followed by Q&A with the audience. 

Partnership project cofounded by the EU Erasmus+ program. It focuses on the societal problem of security threats and defense and develops educational programs and activities on international security management. 

The Nova SBE Summer School “The Lisbon Experience: Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation” aimed to be an immersion experience in which students could experience the academic excellence of Nova SBE’s faculty and the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Lisbon and Cascais. 

Over 10 intensive days, the summer school offered a mix of master classes, field trips, and workshops on three themes: entrepreneurship, social innovation, and responsible leadership. Through action learning, participants had classes with Nova SBE’s faculty, met entrepreneurs and investors, worked on real challenges, and enjoyed the vibrant Lisbon/Cascais summer experience. 

Learning goals: 

• Understanding the entrepreneurial process, based on real-life cases. 
• Applying innovative methods to address current social challenges. 
• Realizing students’ own leadership potential as entrepreneurs. 
• Understanding the specific entrepreneurial ecosystem of Lisbon. 
• Making sound choices about their future education and career. 

CEMS is a Global Alliance of 31 leading business schools, over 70 multinational companies, and 7 NGOs that together offer the CEMS MIM (Master's in International Management). 

The Responsible Global Leadership Challenge was a two-day seminar that brought together representatives from Corporate and Social partners, CEMS professors, and students for an experiential learning opportunity. 

CEMS students had the opportunity to explore personal responsibility in the context of being a future leader/manager, beginning to better understand their personal values, their impact on decision-making, and how this, in turn, affects others and society. 

This program was developed together with Nova University rectory and had the goal of promoting the training of four African universities in order to better respond to the social and economic challenges of the regions where they operate, promoting local development in a sustainable and inclusive way. 

The participants were 32 faculty members from four African partner universities: Universidade Agostinho Neto (Luanda), Universidade Katyavala Bwila (Benguela), Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Maputo), and Universidade Lúrio (Nampula), and four knowledge areas: Economics, Social Sciences, Health, and Engineering. 

Students’ testimonials: 

“The experience in social entrepreneurship has been fantastic, and it will be passed on to my students and colleagues through seminars.” 

Fidel Bilika, Universidade Lúrio (2018) 

The Inclusive Community Forum (ICF) is an initiative dedicated to the lives of people with disabilities that aims to promote a more inclusive community. 

The ICF aims to build a network composed of all those involved in the lives of people with disabilities, challenging them to take an active role in co-creating solutions to the greatest challenges for inclusion. In this way, the ICF brings together people with disabilities, their families and friends, Nova SBE students, academics and staff, social organizations in the field of disability, companies, schools, and people from the community at large to co-create new solutions to these social challenges. 

In turn, the co-created solutions are tested in pilot projects, ensuring their sustainability and scale in the post-pilot phase, as well as their communication and dissemination of good practices. 

Given the size and complexity of the issue, the ICF identified two central themes for promoting a more inclusive community: Employability and Education for people with disabilities. 

You can learn more about this project here.

Team: Isabel Almeida e Brito, Frederico Oliveira Pinto, Margarida Castro Caldas, Maria Castro e Almeida, Carmo Ferreira, and Joana Lopes 

The mission of the Center is to advance and transfer knowledge of paradox and plurality, not only to organizations but also to society at large, in order to protect pluralism, diversity, and democracy against divisive forces that polarize and impede dialogue. 

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. 

Learn more on the Center's website.

Team: Miguel Pina e Cunha and Aníbal Lopez 

3-day executive training program to support C-Level executives in transforming their businesses into more sustainable ones. 

Partner: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 

Learn more here. 

Team: Pedro Oliveira and Rita Aragão Ramos 

A program designed for students who wish to create their own social enterprise or develop a social innovation project within the organization they work for, using a hands-on approach to better prepare future agents of change for the growing challenges of society. 

Partner: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 

More information here. 

Team: Pedro Oliveira, Rita Nascimento, and Rita Aragão Ramos