Portugal

One the last places you think of when people talk about natural foods is Lisbon. Or maybe not, depending on what you include under that heading. For Rui Rato, owner of the restaurant Tao, natural foods imply not only foodstuffs in their unrefined form, but also a harmonious combination of each ingredient, taking into account the effect of the whole on body, mind and spirit of each individual. It is exactly with this in mind that each client puts together their own dish, which is what you’d expect in a restaurant whose name is derived from Taoism. In this Chinese …

Despite the difficulties, there are many Guineans – both residents and emigrants, in which Portugal plays an important part – who are looking for ways to improve the country, trying to reverse the trend towards political, military and economic fragility. To this end, a group of Guinean women resident in Portugal decided to join forces drawing on the experience of Filomena Djassi. She is a woman with well-founded ideas, and, despite her youth, she is already taking on a leadership role. After a training course with a group of women in Lisbon, she spoke to ECO123. ECO123: Who is Filomena …

Surfing was always about communing with nature. But as the sport became more professional and industrial, boards underwent some changes. Initially made of wood, they started being made from oil-based plastics responsible for large quantities of carbon emissions. In Portugal, in the historical location of Óbidos, carpenter José Antunes made the most of the misfortune of losing his job to counteract this trend – he started making surfboards from wood. José started by making durable toys for his two children. But, if children could have wooden toys, why not adults too? And that is how Yoni Surfboards came into being. …

It’s just a small step from organic agriculture to sustainable development Projecto 270 may be just a farm, but it is actually much more than that. It covers half a hectare and is located between the beaches of Praia da Riviera and Praia da Rainha on the Costa da Caparica. It’s been running for a decade and is organically certified. The idea for the project arose in Genoa at a demonstration against globalisation, putting into practice the motto “Think globally, act locally”. Its name comes from the number of the plot. To start with it was quite a sandy, family …

Innovation and investment are the spices in our economic soup. You will need the following ingredients: 38,887 daily returns of the tabloid Correio da Manhã, 27,804 copies of the weekly Sábado, 17,824 unsold copies of Expresso, 12,547 copies of Público and 16,118 unsold copies of the Diário de Notícias, 23,339 copies of the daily Jornal de Notícias, 16,050 returns of the sports paper O Jogo, 33,442 unsold copies of Record, 5,625 returns of Vida Económica, 10,574 copies of Visão – a total of over 250,000 copies of all daily papers and magazines in Portugal per day: A Bola, Caras, Cosmopolitan, …

 People. Planet. Profit. New bankers are what the country needs. We approach the topic of MONEY from the air. As we sit in the climate killer, well aware that each of us is burdening the atmosphere with a further 1.2 tonnes of CO₂ for this edition, the Airbus 320 from Lisbon prepares to land in Berlin. In its luggage, the magazine ECO123 has an invitation to the annual meeting of the GABV – the Global Alliance for Banking on Values. We want to find out how sustainable bankers aim to change the global economy for the better. Of course, two …

Towards a Healthy News Diet News is to the mind what sugar is to the body We are so well informed and yet we know so little. Why? We are in this sad condition because 200 years ago we invented a toxic form of knowledge called “news.” The time has come to recognize the detrimental effects that news has on individuals and societies, and to take the necessary steps to shield yourself from its dangers. At core, human beings are cavemen in suits and dresses. Our brains are optimized for our original hunter-gatherer environment where we lived in small bands …

The Algarve depends mostly on the tourist industry; in order to achieve growth, it has developed rapidly to the point where the beauty of the coast has been destroyed and the very reason most people come here on holiday is in danger. The Algarve desperately needs to diversify its economy, to open up and widen the market for farm produce and to attract new businesses producing modern, high-tech products. The Algarve does not need heavy industries but it does need to become a centre for innovation, engineering and technological research to encourage the development of new ideas, designs and the …

A holistic view of economics, which puts it in its rightful place, in the service of people with skilful hands, who are guarantors of expertise and quality, working in partnership with nature in order to offer people unique experiences, appears to be a successful way of boosting regional production. As AMO – Produto Local can attest. Regional products in lotion containers? Passers-by cannot fail to notice the black packaging with its modern design bearing the brand-name AMO, where no detail is left to chance. Even if these do not go unnoticed and remind one of lotion pots, what they contain …

The company “Sabores da Geninha” devotes itself to the manufacture and processing of the typical products of the region of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo. The company is only four years old but Maria Eugénia Torres has been making sugared almonds, cakes and jams for years. In December 2012, the sugared almonds won the Gold Medal at the “National Competition of Traditional Portuguese Fruit Confectionery”. It is said that the almond tree was the only tree that managed to deceive the devil. He was feeling hungry as he was crossing the region, saw a tree in blossom in March and, thinking …