The 5th edition of ‘Construir Pontes | Parcerias Sustentáveis entre Empresas e Organizações de Economia Social’ [Building Bridges | Sustainable Partnerships between Companies and Social Economy Organisations], organised by GRACE – Empresas Responsáveis, was held on 29 October 2026 at Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon.

During the event, BRU-Iscte researcher Ana Patrícia Duarte presented the results of the Corporate Volunteering Study in Portugal, developed by GRACE in partnership with BSI_Iscte – Business for Social Impact, a knowledge transfer centre within the Business Research Unit (BRU-Iscte) in collaboration with the Iscte Business School.

Launched in May 2026, the study maps the current state of corporate volunteering in Portugal, examining its level of implementation in companies, the motivations for and barriers to its adoption, the most widely used models, employee engagement, social impact measurement, and key future trends and challenges, bringing together different levels of experience to provide a comprehensive and representative view of the sector, generating knowledge to support more effective corporate volunteering strategies.

This was followed by a cross-sector panel discussion, ‘What Do the Results Tell Us?’, in which Suzana Rocha Pereira (Lusíadas Saúde), Fátima Duarte (Pista Mágica) and Ágata Bettencourt (Oney Bank) reflected on what the findings reveal about the future of corporate volunteering.

The programme also featured a participatory session, open to all attendees, aimed at drawing up practical guidelines for the future of corporate volunteering. In addition, a showcase of social economy organisations gave participants the opportunity to network and establish direct contacts with a view to building new partnerships.