Students are encouraged to carry out social actions.

Donations of food, clothing, and construction materials are some of the actions carried out by students.

ESEG understands the importance of actions aimed at society and encourages students and teachers to work on projects focused on this theme. Professor João Walter Saunders, PhD, provokes in Production Engineering students, in the Project Management discipline, this perspective on social actions as a complement to the theory acquired in class.

“This approach is based on Service Learning, which is learning through social projects and actions,” comments the professor. Each group, with a maximum of four people, needs to plan and execute the project by the end of the semester. “Throughout the classes, we provide follow-up, and the students need to submit a schedule, scope, cost plan when necessary, presentation of results, quality indicators, and so on,” explains the professor.

Lucas Pereira, Mayra Trindade, Rafael Gonçalves, and Reginaldo Santana, responsible for the 'Transcender' project, helped Casa Florescer – a shelter for transvestite and transgender women – with fundraising. "It was a long project that demanded great responsibility from us, which will enhance our careers because it gave us experience and a more intimate perspective on how to handle projects in general, in addition to improving soft skills such as organization, planning, multitasking, and communication," says Mayra.

In order to obtain clothes, blankets, ingredients, and soup containers, Victor Jesus, Vinicius Musso, and Vinicius Pereira led the "Soup Kitchen" project. Vinicius Musso explains that Cid Musso Jr. has been working independently to help people in need for over 20 years. "During the pandemic, the work intensified due to the increase in homeless people. Therefore, we saw an opportunity to apply concepts learned in class to maximize the benefits of this social action. We took care to sanitize the collected items because of Covid-19.".

The "Futuro do Bem" project helped Lalec – an institution that acts as a shelter for children in vulnerable situations – and was created by Guilherme Corrêa, Guilherme Hanashiro, and Vinicius Hideo. "Lalec was experiencing hardship due to the coronavirus. Therefore, we worked to collect donations of books, clothes, toys, and money for the institution," comments Vinicius.

To help rescue animals, Isadora Alves, Lorena Santos, and Rebeca Silva put the "AMAR" project into practice, supporting the Maya Project in Campinas. Isadora explains that they based their action on research that "showed a 501% drop in donations during the pandemic." The project collected pet food, biscuits, flea and tick medication, dewormers, and helped relocate three puppies to an NGO in the city of São Paulo.

Larissa Xavier, Guilherme Oliveira, and Leonardo Pinheiro created "Viver pro Bem" (Living for Good) and benefited the NGO VIVA ZN, which promotes sports, culture, and leisure for children and teenagers from underprivileged communities in the North Zone of São Paulo, in addition to collecting and distributing basic food baskets, hygiene kits, clothing, and blankets. "The work taught us how to develop a project from the beginning, and allowed us to see our strengths, weaknesses, privileges, and challenges. It transformed not only our careers but also our human side," says Leonardo.

With a project aimed at encouraging learning in Finance, students Alan Cho, Erik Yamanaka, and Stephanie Joly created "Learn Investments," a portal to teach about investments in a practical way. "During college and internships, we learned about investments and we know how confusing it can be for those who don't have enough capital to invest in a good quality course. That's why we decided to gather the necessary information in one place and transmit this knowledge," says Alan. "We provide audio and PDFs for people to read and listen to online, but also with the option to download the content and have the information wherever they want.".

“United for the Construide Family,” a project by students Camila Brito, Paulo Lino, and Thaís Marciano, helped the NGO Construide, which builds houses for families in vulnerable situations. “The project suggested by the university is enriching not only professionally, increasing our knowledge of how to manage and execute a project, but also personally, as it’s an incredible opportunity to help build a home for a family,” shares Paulo.

Professor João Saunders explains that "the return came from the greater engagement of the class from a social and entrepreneurial point of view, since many need to seek sources of income to make the project viable." Saunders adds that "when you have the possibility of combining practical and theoretical knowledge, it facilitates learning; the student begins to understand how to use the Project Management tool. Another point is the development of so-called soft skills, such as leadership, negotiation, and communication.".

The students reaffirm the professor's and the faculty's proposal. “Participating in a social action project was an excellent way to improve and build social skills and interactions, creativity, and relationships. Through this, we learned to develop greater sensitivity and empathy, enhance our knowledge by applying theory to practice, in addition to the great learning experience gained through planning,” reports Lorena Santos.

“Many projects at ESEG expose us to reality. We have already gone to companies to analyze and propose improvements in the production process, we have created products and, finally, we carried out a social action. We have learned about the range of projects that we, as production engineers, can participate in. This shows a lot about the culture of the college and also of the professor. In addition to giving us all the support, it comforts the heart to know that they aim to train empathetic professionals,” concludes Isadora Alves.