Curtir Ciência occupies the building of the former Âncora Tannery – a building that was exemplarily renovated by the Municipality of Guimarães. It plays an important role in disseminating science to the school community and the general public, following the principle that science helps to form better citizens. The project is a partnership between the Municipality of Guimarães and the University of Minho. Curtir Ciência promotes scientific and technological culture, particularly at the level of education, and fosters motivation for scientific learning that occurs through early contact with scientific knowledge, its agents and processes.
Curtir Ciência is located in the facilities of the former Âncora Tannery Factory, providing a space for experiencing the memories of the traditional industry, experimenting and promoting scientific culture.
Acquired in 1978 by the Guimarães City Council, the building underwent renovation work that preserved its unique architectural identity, leaving intact the legacy associated with the transformation of the skins of different animals into leather.
Here you can take a look at the hides, the tanning tanks, the shearing and unhairing shops, the beating boards, as well as the hide drying room, providing visitors with an extraordinary journey through a unique example of industrial archaeology and an encounter with scientific knowledge, creative talent, innovation and technology.
Very close to the Couros river, in the block where the Couros campus of the University of Minho is located, Curtir Ciência gives a new life to the old factory, located in the town that grew outside the walled area of Guimarães, supported by the action of the friars of the Franciscan Order.
As soon as you pass through the gate, around the courtyard, you are greeted by the architectural ensemble in which the hardness of the granite contrasts with the lightness of the wood, and where you can discover evidence of work routines, identify improvised solutions for making use of natural resources, such as water and sunlight, and experiment with new areas of knowledge.
The space, full of signs of a disappeared activity, has gained a new life, inspiring visitors to get to know and feel Guimarães from the historic building of a factory, full of activities in which science and knowledge are the pillars of the future.
The Municipio of Guimarães manages direct educational responsibilities in the area of pre-school and primary education, and is responsible for providing children and young people with the necessary and appropriate means for greater and better access to instruments and activities of social, cultural and educational interest.
The University of Minho assumes as its mission to generate, disseminate and apply knowledge, based on freedom of thought and the plurality of critical exercises, promoting higher education and contributing to the construction of a model of society based on humanist principles, which have knowledge, creativity and innovation as factors of growth, sustainable development, well-being and solidarity.
Curtir Ciência, with an approved eligible investment value of €614,978.25, had an approved financial contribution of €522,731.51, equivalent to a contribution rate of 85% (ERDF), within the scope of the PO Norte, resulting from the community regulatory provisions (EC Regulation No. 1083/2006 and 1828/2006) and the standards and technical specifications established by the Managing Authority in force on the date of its approval.
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