Improve
what exists.
Build
what is missing.

Portugal can improve when people bring together knowledge, work and a willingness to participate. ITMA — the Technical Institute for Improvement and Autonomy — aims to build that community: one capable of identifying problems, developing solutions and demanding accountability in the management of what belongs to everyone.

For us, saving Portugal means creating the conditions to live with dignity, work with prospects for the future, find an affordable home and receive timely healthcare. It means valuing our local areas, making better use of resources and giving people a greater ability to participate in decisions that affect their lives.

This change can happen without another 25 April revolution. We want to honour the freedom won in April through democratic, peaceful and ongoing participation. Organising citizens, studying problems, presenting proposals and monitoring results are ways of making that freedom part of everyday life.

We want a patriotic, non-partisan ITMA, independent of political parties and respectful of each member’s choices. Our commitment is to Portugal, to people and to the common good. Belonging to this community should allow for different opinions, united by the desire to improve the country.

Housing, healthcare, the cost of living, borrowing costs, tax fairness and the use of public money are areas in which we want to encourage research, debate and concrete proposals. We also want to discuss immigration using evidence, with an insistence on compliance with the law, integration and respect for human rights.

ITMA’s contribution begins with its technical mission: bringing skills together, sharing knowledge, recovering resources and developing projects that increase communities’ autonomy. In Manteigas, the SOTAVE VIVA vision can put this work into practice, connecting the restoration of spaces with training, economic activity and local development.

Each proposal should explain the problem it aims to solve, the resources needed, the costs, who is responsible and how results will be assessed. This is how we want to turn frustration with promises that deliver no results into work that everyone can follow.

Our ambition is to bring together one million members over the long term. That growth will have to be built through trust, active participation and demonstrable results. We want a community capable of presenting well-founded proposals, engaging with institutions and applying legitimate civic pressure so that problems receive a response.

Members should be able to contribute to ITMA’s priorities and take part in consultative votes on issues and projects. In these consultations, votes linked to each voter’s identity will be visible only to members. We want to hear the arguments of those who agree and those who disagree, because understanding an objection can reveal a problem and improve a proposal.

The transparency we demand from institutions should begin within ITMA: understandable accounts, funding sources, spending criteria, defined responsibilities and declared conflicts of interest. Those who represent the community should account for the work carried out and the decisions taken.

The Constitution recognises freedom of association, participation in public life and the right to petition. We want to exercise those rights responsibly, through proposals, requests for clarification, public participation and engagement with the competent authorities. Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Articles 46, 48 and 52.

The use of public-interest action (ação popular) will be considered case by case, with legal support and compliance with the legal requirements, including those governing associations’ standing to bring proceedings. It will serve to defend the collective interests protected by law when there are grounds for such action. Law No. 83/95, Articles 1 to 3.

We want to build a Portugal where the ability to contribute finds its place, where resources are managed responsibly and where communities have the strength to improve their living conditions. That journey begins with each project, each well-founded decision and each person who participates.

ITMA — Improve what exists. Build what is missing.