Company

Quaternaire Portugal, Consultoria para o Desenvolvimento SA is a leading Portuguese company in the fields of Economic and Social Development; Education and Training Systems and Expertise; Territory; and Programme and Policy Evaluation. Founded in 1990, the company provides consulting services based on its extensive knowledge and experience in land planning, economic development and social and cultural dynamics, as well as Portuguese, European and international public policies.

The company’s collaboration with a large number of public administration offices and other organisations, public and private, over more than three decades of significant transformation and successful European integration allowed Quaternaire Portugal to amass extensive knowledge and experience, which have earned the company a privileged status and a solid reputation in a competitive market. In addition to operating for nearly a decade in Mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Regions, the company has focused on internationalisation, particularly by extending its operations to Portuguese-speaking countries.

Quaternaire Portugal relies on a diversified, multidisciplinary team to design bespoke solutions and produce and share strategic knowledge for decision making, thus providing adequate responses to the challenges posed by a world in constant change and helping clients manage uncertainty and create value.

Quaternaire Portugal relies on a solid network of shareholders and prestigious business partners, with extensive technical and scientific experience. In order to meet the specific needs of each individual client, the company counts on a regular, flexible team of external consultants, specialised in a wide range of technical and scientific fields, who work in close collaboration with the internal team and the company’s clients.

Quaternaire Portugal fosters the continuous acquisition of skills and focuses on post-graduate training, seeking to support and strengthen its team and boost enthusiasm, creativity and passion for development, innovation and social cohesion.

Majority-owned by Portuguese shareholders, the company has offices in Matosinhos (head office) and Lisbon.

A staunch advocate of sustainable, inclusive, collaborative development, Quaternaire Portugal has embraced the mission of establishing itself as a reliable partner in the production of strategic knowledge, such as to promote the emergence of new policies, empower strategic players and foster the economic, social and cultural development of the communities and territories where it operates.

Focusing on flexibility in order to design bespoke solutions, the company observes the following principles and values:
 

- Perception of the territory as a valuable asset for the integration and coordination of projects, players and policies; 
 

- Strategic knowledge as key in decision-making processes;
 

- Collaborative culture and partnership in development processes;
 

- Sustainable development;
 

- Consulting as a means of empowering communities and organisations;
 

- Robust, innovative methodologies;
 

- Creative, modern solutions;
 

- Independence and accountability;
 

- Improvement of social and professional skills in development consulting.

Quaternaire Portugal favours a conceptual approach to land, business, sector and human development issues, finely honed over more than thirty years of experience.

This approach is based on an understanding of the development process as a dynamic interaction between entrepreneurship (social and private) and three other factors: infrastructures and equipment (“hardware”), soft technology and human resources (“software”), and organisational innovation (“orgware”).

Interaction between these factors is perceived as key to project success, irrespective of the actual driver of development.

In order to ensure that all factors involved are addressed within the scope of the consulting services offered, Quaternaire Portugal employs a highly qualified team, namely in the fields of strategic and land development planning, education and training, and engages in proactive dialogue with all players, public and private, in all matters pertaining to entrepreneurship issues.

This approach affords Quaternaire Portugal a creative overview of the issues at stake, allowing the company to pinpoint all relevant aspects, identify adequate solutions and present innovative, pertinent, feasible proposals, as well as overcome the frequent scarcity of available resources.

Quaternaire Portugal employs a permanent team of about 20 experienced consultants from various fields. The team’s flexible organisation allows it to respond to the challenges posed by public policies and sustainable development, in a competent, creative manner. Working at the company’s two offices, located in Matosinhos and Lisbon, the consulting team is supported by administrative and management teams, which also contribute to fostering good relationships with clients and business partners.

Boasting over thirty years of experience in consulting, Quaternaire Portugal is a resilient, versatile company, as a result of its capacity to focus on the following aspects:

- A multidisciplinary approach to integrated development processes, acquisition of skills by public and private organisations, and land development projects (general and innovation economics; sociology; anthropology; history; geography; engineering; architecture and urban development; biology; environment and landscaping; management; assessment; strategic planning; tourism; and education sciences);

- Coordination of large, multidisciplinary teams, and integration with diverse organisational and institutional cultures;

- Analysis, interpretation and evaluation of a wide diversity of land, sector and business issues and contexts;

- Design, monitoring and assessment of pertinent, coherent, feasible strategies, programmes and projects;

- Experience and collaborative methodologies, suited to the building and consolidation of cooperation between players and the rational use of resources, such as to foster strategic development;

- Reflection and debate on major issues and challenges associated with land, human, social and economic development, focusing on public policies aimed at promoting sustainability and cohesion;

- Fostering of knowledge through a targeted effort to improve the technical and scientific qualifications of staff, namely by encouraging and supporting post-graduation, Master’s Degree and PhD studies;

- Up-to-date IT systems and digitisation and a sound working environment.

Quaternaire Portugal favours the PROJECT as the focus of its operations, which underlines the key role played by consultants/coordinators. This approach is combined with two other organisational structures:

- AREAS or fields of expertise, which are responsible for managing technical, scientific and methodological aspects, as well as staff training, motivation, career development and teamwork;

- SERVICES or product lines, which allow the company to remain permanently updated, ensure proximity to the market, including the respective needs and trends, and focus systematically on innovation.