The Bett 2027 Delegation will, for the first time, feature a stop in Lis . Taking place from January 13 to 22, this international event organized by Bett Brasil will be divided into two tracks, with the first focusing on leaders in higher education.

In Portugal, the program will be curated by the Brazilian Association for Distance Education (ABED), bringing Brazilian participants together with Portuguese institutions for technical visits, the exchange of experiences, and networking opportunities.

Cássio Cabral Santos, ABED’s Administrative and Financial Director and a researcher at the Center for Digital Literacy and Social Inclusion at the Polytechnic University of Santarém (Portugal), explains that the proposal to include Portugal arose from a conversation during the most recent edition of Bett UK. The cultural and linguistic similarities between Brazil and Portugal were among the factors considered in the creation of this new phase.

Santos also highlights the presence of Brazilian students in Portuguese higher education as a factor that strengthens the potential for exchange between the two ecosystems. According to him, about 13% of students in Portugal are foreign nationals, with Brazilians making up a significant portion of that group.

“We share cultural and linguistic ties with Portugal. Furthermore, the country plays an important role on the international stage in relation to Brazil. For this reason, we believe that a visit to Portugal, with a focus on higher education, could greatly enhance the leaders’ professional development and the exchange of experiences,” he explains.

Among the topics expected to take center stage during the visit to Lisbon is distance learning. According to the director of ABED, the Portuguese model offers members of the delegation the opportunity to learn about an organizational structure that differs from the one adopted in Brazil, particularly with regard to the autonomy of institutions to define their own pedagogical models.

See also:

• Online Event Highlights the Portugal Leg of the Bett 2027 Delegation
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He cites Brazilian regulations, which establish guidelines for organizing courses, including, for example, requirements for a certain amount of synchronous activities. In Portugal, he says, the law sets general rules, while institutions have greater freedom to determine how they structure their distance learning courses.

According to the ABED representative, understanding these possibilities can contribute to discussions about the future of distance education in Brazil, especially as the sector’s new regulatory framework is being implemented.

“The pedagogical model is, to a certain extent, defined by regulations and replicated by institutions, which limits the freedom to promote innovation. In Portugal, institutions have greater autonomy to define this structure, ranging from the absence of synchronous sessions to models with a higher proportion of live activities. This difference is important so that we in Brazil can see how more general rules can allow each institution to define its own pedagogical model,” he says.

Lisbon as a hub

The program in Portugal was designed to serve as a forum for bringing together different stakeholders in the sector. According to Santos, this interaction could pave the way for new institutional relationships and joint initiatives.

“This first stage in Lisbon will be very important because we will bring together Brazilian leaders with representatives from Portugal’s leading universities. The goal is to create a space for exchanging experiences, networking, and identifying partnership opportunities, as well as allowing Brazilian institutions to gain firsthand insight into how Portugal structures distance education,” he says.

After their visit to Portugal, participants in the first track will travel to London, where they will engage with British educational institutions, global companies, experts, and initiatives within the educational ecosystem, in addition to attending Bett UK. The delegation’s second track, held exclusively in London from January 18 to 22, will be geared toward professionals in K-12 and higher education, government representatives, experts, and industry leaders.

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