The 4th ‘Porto Age-Friendly City Conference’ will provide a privileged space for reflection on aging and longevity, promoting the sharing of international best practices and encouraging discussion on the creation of communities that are friendly to people of all ages.
5 NOVEMBER 2025 | SUPER BOCK ARENA AUDITORIUM, ROSA MOTA PAVILION
Meet the event speakers
Fernando Paulo holds a degree in Philosophy – Educational Branch from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto and a postgraduate degree in Municipal Management from the Faculty of Economics of the same university. He has been a City Councillor at Porto City Hall since 2017, having been responsible for the housing portfolio, as well as for the areas of social cohesion and education. From 2014 to 2017, he served as Municipal Director of the Presidency at Porto City Hall. Between 1994 and 2013, he was a Councillor at Gondomar City Hall, responsible for several portfolios, and also served as an administrator in various companies during the same period. He has worked as a secondary school teacher and has lectured in several postgraduate courses. He collaborates with various higher education institutions and is regularly invited as a speaker by universities, schools, and governmental and non-governmental organizations. He is the author of numerous articles published in books, journals, and scientific conference proceedings. His work appears in several poetry anthologies, and he has coordinated and written prefaces for various publications. He is an honorary member of several institutions and has received around twenty decorations, tributes, and distinctions.
Thiago Herick de Sa holds a degree in Sports Science, and Masters and PhD degrees in Public Health. He started his career as a physical educator, working with older people at hospitals, primary care settings and households in Brazil. From 2010, Thiago worked as a researcher in Brazil and in the UK, with a track record of scientific publications in high-impact journals. Thiago joined WHO in 2017 to support the work around urban, transport and health, including the development of WHO’s Urban Health Research Agenda (2022), the Sourcebook on Integrating Health in Urban and Territorial Planning (2020) and the adaptation for global use of the HEAT tool (2021). In 2022, Thiago joined the Department of Social Determinants of Health to lead the work on Age-friendly environments, including the coordination of WHO’s Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, the development of the guide for National Programs of Age-friendly Cities and Communities and the technical support on age-friendly environments to WHO Member States.
Maria Raquel Magalhães de Castello-Branco is the Director of the Municipal Department of Social Cohesion at the Porto City Council.
She holds a degree in Food Engineering from the School of Biotechnology at the Catholic University of Porto and an MBA in Business Management and Administration from the Lusíada University of Porto.
She served as a board member of the Porto Social Foundation, taking on the role of Executive Administrator. She was coordinator of the Executive Unit of the Local Social Action Council of Porto and a board member of the Porto Social Innovation Centre.
She was Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Culturporto, where she also held the position of Executive Director.
She has lectured at the Higher Institute of Health Sciences and been a trainer at the Catholic University of Porto.
She is Honorary President of the International Association “Réseau Cité des Métiers”, having served as President from 2014 to 2020.
She has participated as a speaker in numerous national and international conferences, seminars, and congresses.
Paul McGarry has been the Head of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) Ageing Hub since 2016 and is now Assistant Director of GMCA’s Public Service Reform Directorate.
Paul has worked in local government since 1993, working on ageing projects since 1997, setting up the Age Friendly Manchester Programme at Manchester City Council in 2009. Under Paul’s leadership, in 2010 Manchester became the first UK city to achieve World Health Organisation (WHO) age-friendly status.
Paul was a founding member of both the WHO’s Global Network and the UK Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.
Paul is a research fellow at Manchester University. He has been awarded the “United Nations Healthy Ageing 50” title for his work as a leader in the field. Paul was also awarded the “Outstanding Achievement Award” by the British Society of Gerontology for his ‘significant and lasting contribution to gerontology’.
In June 2024, Paul co-published a book with colleagues from Manchester University’s Urban Ageing Research Group called “Re-imagining Age-Friendly Communities: Urban Ageing and Spatial Justice”.
Óscar Ribeiro is a researcher at RISE-Health, a research unit where he leads the Healthy Ageing research group and is part of Thematic Line 7, dedicated to Prevention and Community Health.
He holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Porto (ICBAS.UP) and a degree in Psychology from the University of Minho (UM).
Currently, he is an Associate Professor with aggregation (Gerontology and Geriatrics) at the University of Aveiro, where he is a member of the Scientific Council. He participates in several applied research projects focused on formal and informal care provided to older adults, also dedicating his work to the study of various topics related to active and healthy ageing and mental health in advanced and very advanced longevity. Within this scope, he coordinated the PT100 Centenarians of Porto, the first Portuguese population-based longitudinal study on centenarians in the Porto Metropolitan Area.
In 2024, he was elected Fellow of the American Geriatrics Society (GSA), regarded as the largest and oldest interdisciplinary organisation dedicated to the study, teaching, and intervention in the field of ageing.
Stefan White is Professor of Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture, a top five global ranked school. Prof. White will present findings from their latest research into understanding and creating Age Friendly cities. This research identifies the key challenges for policy makers, practitioners and communities when trying to make their local neighbourhoods better places to grow older in. It supports approaches to improving the health of local older residents through place-based initiatives, urban planning and housing developments. His research is developing new conceptual models, implementation tools and evaluation processes helping make place-based public-health interventions more effective. The research is led by the Architectural Research Office (A3RO) at the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA), working collaboratively with 30+ Healthy Ageing researchers across disciplines at Manchester Metropolitan University (https://aro.mmu.ac.uk/people/).
Tom van Benthem holds a master's degree in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam.
For five years, he worked at the regional level in the province of Noord-Holland, supporting cities in their political functions related to youth and well-being.
Currently, he serves in the public health department of the city of Amsterdam (GGD Amsterdam) as a strategic policy advisor.
Additionally, he is part of the management team of GGD and provides counsel to the directors and leadership on public health issues, including HIV/AIDS.
Magda Orozco holds a degree in Psychology and a diploma in Public Management and Administration from the University of Barcelona. She earned a Master’s degree in Local Administration from UAB and a Master’s in Public Leadership from the School of Public Administration.
She has developed her career in public administration, where she has served for 34 years, holding various management, communications, and leadership positions.
She is currently the Director of Services for Childhood, Youth, and Older Adults, and is also responsible for the Municipal Strategy against Loneliness 2020-2030 for the City of Barcelona.
Andreia Ribeiro is a Social Worker. She graduated in Social Work from the Higher Institute of Social Work of Porto in 2018. Later, in 2021, she completed a Master’s degree in Social Gerontology at the same institution, with a dissertation entitled “The Importance of Multidimensional Assessment in the Legal Framework of the Supported Adult.”
Since then, she has worked in the fields of ageing and disability, across various institutional contexts and social support services. In 2023, she collaborated with the University of Aveiro as a social consultant and currently works as a Senior Technician at the Municipal Department of Social Cohesion of the Porto City Council.
Mariana Maia holds a degree in Social Work from the School of Education and Social Sciences at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, which she completed in 2021.
She has specialised training in Domestic Violence, Abuse and Sexual Abuse from CRIAP, as well as in Gender Equality. Additionally, she holds postgraduate qualifications in Forensic Social Work from the Higher Institute of Social Work of Porto and in Innovation and Management of Social Organisations from the Higher Institute of Accounting and Administration of Porto.
She is currently completing a Master’s degree in Social Gerontology.
At the start of her career, she worked as a victim support technician in the “Saber Amar +” project, a pioneering service in Portugal specialising in victims over the age of 65, as well as at the Águeda Branch of the Portuguese Red Cross.
She currently serves as a Senior Technician in the Municipal Division of Social Development and Innovation at the Porto City Council.
Hugo Tavares holds a degree in Management and postgraduate qualifications in Financial Economics and in Evaluation and Management of Services.
He has executive training in the Management of Social Organisations and in Public Management at both Local and Central Administration levels.
Since 2018, he has been a senior officer in the Municipality of Porto, working in the area of Social Cohesion. He currently serves as Head of the Division of Social Development and Innovation, an organisational unit responsible for the development of projects and programmes aimed at the senior population and social innovation through the CIS – Social Innovation Centre of Porto.
He is also a staff member of the Social Security Institute, where he held managerial positions for approximately 18 years across various departments including Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, Asset Management, Logistics, and Social Development covering areas such as Social Services, Childhood and Youth, Social Intervention, Programme Support, and Social Equipment Management.
Between 2010 and 2014, he lectured in postgraduate programmes at the Lusíada University of Famalicão in the field of Management of Social Organisations.
António Fonseca is a psychologist with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. He is a professor at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Catholic University of Portugal and a researcher at the Centre for Research in Human Development, where he conducts multidisciplinary research in the field of ageing. He currently collaborates with the Porto City Council within the scope of the “Porto Cidade Amiga das Pessoas Idosas” Action Plan. He is also a consultant for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in the area of ageing.
