ACÔA (Friends of the Côa Museum and Archaeological Park)
ACÔA (Friends of the Côa Museum and Archaeological Park) is a non-governmental organization that aims to study, safeguard, and share the heritage of the Côa Valley. Its mission is to connect the local communities through cultural heritage. The ACÔA’s main project is the Memory Archive which started in 2011 to better understand and promote inter-generational relationships in a territory in transformation. By building partnerships with a range of regional educational and institutional networks, Memory Archive developed a virtual archive that focuses on the socio-cultural and landscape memories of these communities. By valuing people through their memories and storytelling, Memory Archive hopes to contribute to the promotion of the region’s contemporary past and present. Memory Archive’s intention is to be a living archive by enabling new lines of investigation or by stimulating more creative and artistic paths. The Memory Archive project led to the creation of a UNESCO Club named UNESCO Intergenerational Club (the result of an agreement between ACÔA and UNESCO National Commission / Portugal).