About
Aproximar (APX) is a social enterprise, in form of social solidarity cooperative, acting as social innovation hub aiming to enhance people, communities and organisations’ human and social capital as a strategy to strengthen their capacity to deal with existing and emerging challenges and opportunities. The mission is accomplished daily by co-designing and developing tailor-made social innovation, good practices exchange, and transference driven projects, besides delivering its own pack of empowering and capacity building services: training, consultancy, and social intervention.
APX develops, implements, and provides services in 4 departments: Research & development(R&D); Programs&Services(P&S); Consultancy and Empowering Talents. APX has 4 main knowledge areas: 1) Education and Community Empowerment (2007); 2) Economy, Employability and Entrepreneurship (2009); 3) Criminal Justice System (2012); and 4) Active Ageing and Dependent Care (2016). Our offer (programmes) always combines social science (knowledge), active methods (people) and suitable tools (technology).
It counts with 8 trustees (non-paid members), 32 staff and more than 50 volunteers with offices/branches in Lisbon Metropolitan Area (Amadora, Cascais and Lisbon); Leiria; Aveiro; Viseu and Braga, besides cooperation within EU, África and South America. APX team provides services that benefit/impact on a daily basis: professionals, trainees, volunteers and persons with disadvantaged backgrounds, and organisations: (trans)national: public and private: non-profit and for profit.
Last year (2025) on the R&D field: APX reached the mark of 24 awarded good practices from co-funded projects (from different agencies and countries).
Destination: Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-01: Tackling gender-based violence against politically active women and LGBTIQ people HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-02: Understanding the forms of local democracy in low-income and low-middle income countries HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-06: Governing global commons sustainablyHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-09: Lifelong learning of citizenship education and citizen participationHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-10: Digital and media literacy as drivers for democratic and civic resilience HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-02: Women’s, LGBTIQ and minority rights in a context of autocracy, conflict and geopolitical shiftsHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-03: Student and family engagement for developing a culture of democratic/civic participationHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-05: Development aid and democratic governanceHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-08: Global Human Rights and EU valuesHORIZON-CL2-2027-02-DEMOCRACY-09-two-stage: Open topic on reinvigorating and shielding European democracy
Destination: Innovative Research on European Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-HERITAGE-01: “Artistic intelligence” : harnessing the power of the arts to address complex challenges, enhance soft skills and boost innovation and competitivenessHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-HERITAGE-02: Boosting creative startups for disruptive innovationHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-01: Towards a consolidated culture and creativity driven European innovation ecosystemHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-03: Crafting routes to a circular economyHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-04: Culture, heritage and creative industries for health and well-beingHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-06: Future-proofing sustainable cultural tourism
Destination: Innovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations
HORIZON-CL2-2026-02-TRANSFO-01: Co-funded European Partnership for Social Transformations and ResilienceHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-02: Open topic: Strengthen Europe's social model and sustainable competitiveness through productivityHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-03: Tackling child poverty and ensuring disadvantaged children's access to Early Childhood Education and Care HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-04: The impact of the use of digital tools outside school and for communication on educational outcomes and mental healthHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-05: Long-term contribution of basic skills to productivity, innovation, competitiveness and economic growthHORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-07: Fostering competences for the green transitionHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-01: Impact of access to nature-positive environments in promoting social cohesion and reducing inequalities in urban and peri-urban settingsHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-02: Impact of in-kind benefits on income distribution and on vulnerable populationsHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-03: Rethinking sustainable competitiveness beyond traditional perspectives: role and contribution of the Social EconomyHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-07: Persons with disabilities: opportunities for labour inclusion and social protection through the life courseHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-08: Scaling and deploying innovations in migration managementHORIZON-CL2-2027-02-TRANSFO-09-two-stage: Improving socio-economic outcomes for persons with dementia and informal caregivers