The Northwest Social Observatory (OSN) is a research infrastructure of the Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto, which aims to analyse and monitor social recompositions in the Portuguese Northwest, as a macro-region whose development is important not only to the population and entities existing there, but also to the surrounding regions and the country (Ribeiro and Ferrão, 2014).

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

• To deepen knowledge about contemporary socioeconomic inequalities in the context of the Portuguese Northwest from a sociological perspective;
• To contribute to the scientific debate on the dynamics of social vulnerability underlying the (re)production of inequalities;
• To contribute to the definition of fair and sustainable local and regional development policies and practices.

LINES OF ACTION:

• Investigate and analyze the different dimensions of socioeconomic inequalities, social categories, and particularly vulnerable territories, based on primary data collection and secondary sources.
• Produce and disseminate up-to-date scientific knowledge on socioeconomic inequalities in northwestern Portugal by publishing reports, articles, and other scientific documents.
• Participate in and support the definition of local and regional development policies and strategies.
• Inform and make available accurate and up-to-date content in an open access and accessible format, bringing science closer to the public.