The U.Porto e-learning café: Learning spaces and the path of self education

In the European Higher Education Area “learning” is a key word as well as individual responsibility and engagement with self education. Universities are facing demanding challenges mainly due to the rising of life-long-learning needs, to significant cuts on public budgets and to strong pressures to achieve increasing levels of excellence both in education and research. In a globalized society where information and communication technologies (ICT) play a major role, employers require that college graduates be excellent in communication and in the use of information, be able to think creatively, innovate, cooperate and compete across borders. At the University of Porto (U.Porto) we believe that the spatial configuration of learning spaces and the facilities and initiatives they accommodate may be rather important to provide effective environments for learning and mingling, motivating students to become more knowledgeable and equipped with the interdisciplinary and high level skills the 21st century society requires. In these contexts information technologies are important tools for creating and promoting innovative students environments.