UNIVERSAL VALUES GARDEN

The Palácio dos Marqueses de Ponte de Lima, in Mafra, is being restored.

The Ponte de Lima Marquis Palace, in Mafra, is being restored.

This Palace and its gardens, dated from the 17^th century, were built over the ruins of Mafra’s Castle and Medieval Court. During its more than four centuries of history, there were several remarkable moments: D. João V stayed there during the construction of Mafra’s Convent; it was the stage for the “Mafra Conspiracy” against king D. João VI; General Loison stayed there during the French occupation; it was an improvised hospital for the prevention of the bubonic plague and it was the first elementary school in the Mafra Vila. 

After several decades of degradation and abandonment, the Luso-Illyrian Institute for Human Development (iLIDH), a non-profit institution, assumed the responsibility of restoring and recovering the Palace and its outside area in order to establish the Values University, a multifaceted place for research, training, well-being and knowledge and which resources will be concentrated in the Museum of Universal Values.

Among other efforts, iLIDH wants to recover the splendor that once was featured in the Palace’s garden, converting it into the Universal Values’ Garden, an intercultural and interreligious place for reflection, sharing and contemplation, and where several sensorial, intellectual, emotional and physical activities will be provided to the visitors. The garden will host artistic pieces and symbols associated with different cultures and religions, in an environment of global spirituality and tolerance.

In order to move from ideas to action, iLIDH needs help to proceed with the works of the Palace and, in this particular stage, of the Garden. We need resources to carry out the landscape design, including the project itself and the materials and services it implies.

We request donations to accomplish this goal. However, if you can’t help with donations, you can contribute with the project’s dissemination. Visit our Facebook page, like it and share it with your friends.

BUDGET:

We request financial support for the execution of the landscape design which should begin in 2014, with the following specific components:

1) Cleaning of the Garden by a professional team – 500€

2) Implementation of network infrastructures (irrigation network and electricity) – 2500€”

About the author

iLIDH, Luso-Illyrian Institute for Human Development, was founded in 2007 and is a private non-profit association , oriented towards public interest goals. iLIDH’s purpose is to research, implement and promote scientific, technical, cultural initiatives in areas that promote cooperation and socio-economic development, in a framework of universal values, such as responsibility, integrity, respect, compassion and the common good, that overcome ideological, religious and political barriers,

iLIDH has worked in several areas, namely in Education, Culture, Cooperation and Development, Management and Organizational Learning, being one of the main promoters of Research and Development projects about values, ethics, personal, social and civic skills in Portugal. Among its supporters and members, it relies on the patronage of individuals and organizations in Portugal and abroad, from scientific, educational, entrepreneurial and governmental areas.

The Universal Values Garden project is coordinated by:

Lourenço Xavier de Carvalho – PhD in Educational Sciences by the Education and Psychology Faculty at the Portuguese Catholic University, holds a BA in Sociology by ISCTE, Lisbon University Institute. Over the past 14 years he has participated and coordinated several national and international Research and Development projects and has been a consultant for public and private bodies in Education, Training, Employment, Immigration and Knowledge Management areas.

Eva Ndrio Carvalho - Holdsa Master’s degree in Family and Society from ISCTE, Lisbon University Institute and a BA in Geography and Regional Planning by Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty at the New University of Lisbon.  Over the past 12 years she has focused her career on participating and coordinating Research & Development and International Cooperation Projects.

Budget and due dates

Images

Documents

• Apresentação - Museu dos Valores Universais

  pdf • 432.57 KB