The Mathematical Space in the Portuguese Language (EMeLP – Espaço Matemático em Língua Portuguesa) is an international partnership, the members of which are scientific societies and scientific and academic institutions whose main interest is the promotion and development of mathematics in its broadest sense in countries that have
Portuguese as one of their official languages. This short note describes the formation, goals, and projects of EMeLP.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Baldin, Yuriko

Carneiro, Mário

Cherinda, Marcos

Costa, Fernando Pestana da

Semedo, João

EMS Newsletter

English

The Repositório Aberto

Mathematics Education
58 EMS Newsletter December 2018
The Mathematical Space in the  
Portuguese Language (EMeLP)
Fernando Pestana da Costa (Univ. Aberta, Lisboa, Portugal), João Semedo (Univ. de Cabo Verde, Praia, Cape 
Verde), Marcos Cherinda (UNESCO Office, Maputo, Mozambique), Mário Carneiro (Univ. Federal de Minas 
Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), Yuriko Baldin (Univ. Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil)
The Mathematical Space in the Portuguese Language 
(EMeLP – Espaço Matemático em Língua Portuguesa) 
is an international partnership, the members of which are 
scientific societies and scientific and academic institutions 
whose main interest is the promotion and development of 
mathematics in its broadest sense in countries that have 
Portuguese as one of their official languages.  These coun-
tries, located in Africa (Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Cape 
Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, S. Tomé and Princi-
pe), America (Brazil), Asia (East Timor) and Europe (Por-
tugal), form a community of more than 260 million, with 
a broad cultural, historical and social diversity, diverse 
stages of economic and scientific development, and vari-
ous needs concerning mathematics teaching and research.
Although the idea to create EMeLP (inspired by the 
already existing Espace Mathématique Francophone) 
goes back to the first decade of the 21st century, when it 
was suggested by Jaime Carvalho e Silva, then the repre-
sentative of Portugal at the ICMI, real efforts to put the 
idea on a firm footing only started in January 2014. The 
founding act of EMeLP took place shortly afterwards, 
on 7 June 2014, when the then representatives of Brazil 
(Victor Giraldo), Mozambique (Marcos Cherinda) and 
Portugal (José Francisco Rodrigues) at the ICMI signed 
the creation act of EMeLP at IMPA in Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil (Figure 1). At present, EMeLP has the active par-
ticipation of the founding countries and also Cape Verde, 
which joined the “Space” shortly after. One of our main 
goals is to invigorate the mathematical community of the 
remaining Portuguese speaking countries to adhere and 
get actively involved in EMeLP initiatives.
The objective of EMeLP is to develop and help dis-
seminate, among Portuguese speaking countries, joint 
initiatives in mathematics in its widest sense, namely in: 
mathematics research; applications of mathematics in 
other sciences, technology, arts and society at large; edu-
cation; teacher training; communication and popularisa-
tion of mathematics for the general public; and dissemi-
nation of educational resources and materials.
Currently, EMeLP publicises its own activities, as well 
as other mathematics related activities in Portuguese 
speaking countries, through its Facebook page (https://
www.facebook.com/emelportuguesa); a dedicated web-
page is planned for creation soon. However, the first 
widely visible initiative of EMeLP was the promotion 
of its 1st international congress (CiEMeLP 2015), which 
took place in Coimbra, Portugal, 28–31 October 2015, 
with the moto “The Multiple Ways to Produce and Com-
municate Mathematical Culture in the Portuguese Lan-
guage” (Figure 2).
This meeting had more than 260 participants from 10 
countries (including a few from three countries outside 
EMeLP – Paraguay, Spain and the UK). There were sev-
en invited plenary talks, two special sessions about the 
life and work of the late ethnomathematician Paulus 
Gerdes and the mathematician José Sebastião e Silva, 
12 parallel talks and more than 120 contributed talks in 
the five Discussion Groups (“Mathematics, culture and 
society”, “Relations between mathematics in schools, 
universities and in other social practices”, “Math-
ematics communication inside and outside schools”, 
“Mathematics’ teacher formation” and “Technologies 
in the teaching and communication of mathematics”), 
in addition to a significant number of poster presenta-
tions.  The conference was home to many well-attended 
and lively discussion sessions, with the participation of 
mathematicians, mathematical educators and teachers 
(Figure 3).
Fig. 1. Signing the creation act of EMeLP in January 2014 in Rio de 
Janeiro. From left to right: Marcos Cherinda, Victor Giraldo and José 
Francisco Rodrigues.
Fig. 2. Webpage of the first international congress of EMeLP, which 
took place in Coimbra (Portugal), 28–31 October 2015.
Mathematics Education
EMS Newsletter December 2018 59
According to the by-laws of EMeLP submitted to the 
ICMI for approval, these international congresses are 
to be a regular feature of EMeLP, where discussions of 
past activities and planning for future initiatives will take 
place, as well as the election of new direction boards. 
The second international congress of EMeLP is 
scheduled to take place in Maputo, Mozambique, in 
November 2019.
Although different Portuguese speaking countries 
have different needs in mathematics education, research 
and public awareness, and have different cultural contexts 
in which mathematical practices and reasoning impinge, 
the need for: public recognition of the importance and 
ubiquity of mathematics; an improved mathematics edu-
cation at all levels; a stronger mathematical background 
for teachers; and improved quality and enhancement 
of international collaboration and the impact of math-
ematical research are recognised as important goals in all 
of the countries involved and, thus, are aspects to which 
EMeLP will certainly be paying attention in the years to 
come.
Fernando Pestana da Costa [fcosta@uab.
pt] teaches at the Department of Sciences 
and Technology of Universidade Aberta, 
Lisbon, and is a researcher at the Centre 
for Mathematical Analysis, Geometry and 
Dynamical Systems, Instituto Superior Téc-
nico, University of Lisbon, Portugal. His 
research interests are in mathematical analysis and differ-
ential equations, with a particular emphasis on dynamical 
aspects. He received his PhD at Heriot-Watt University, 
Edinburgh, in 1993. He has been Vice-President (2012-
2014) and President (2014–2016) of the Portuguese Math-
ematical Society. Since 2017, he has been the representa-
tive of Portugal at the ICMI.
João Felisberto Semedo [joao.semedo@
docente.unicv.edu.cv] is currently the Presi-
dent of the Scientific Council at the Uni-
versity of Cabo Verde. He graduated in 
mathematics from Universidade Federal 
Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro (1998), and has 
an MSc in didactics of mathematics (2004) 
and a PhD in education (didactics of mathematics), both 
from Universidade de Lisboa (2011). He is a professor 
at the University of Cabo Verde and was President of the 
Pedagogical Council of the Department of Science and 
Technology and President of its Board of Directors from 
September 2012 to June 2015. He is a founding member 
of AMATCV (Mathematical Association of Cape Verde) 
and is the representative of Cabo Verde at the ICMI.
Marcos Cherinda [mcherinda@gmail.com] 
received the degree of Teacher of Math-
ematics and Physics (1980–1981) for Sec-
ondary Education at the Faculty of Educa-
tion of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane 
in Maputo, Mozambique. In 1989, he com-
pleted his Diplom Lehrer in mathematics 
in Germany. In 2002, he received a PhD in mathemat-
ics education from the University of the Witwatersrand, 
Johannesburg, South Africa. Until 2017, he worked as a 
professor of mathematics education at the Pedagogical 
University in Mozambique, where he was Director of the 
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Since 2012, 
he has been the national representative of Mozambique at 
the ICMI. He is currently an official of UNESCO at the 
Maputo office. 
Mário Jorge Dias Carneiro [carneiro@
ufmg.br] is an emeritus professor at Univer-
sidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. His 
main research area is dynamical systems, 
with a special interest in conservative sys-
tems. He received his PhD from Princeton 
University in 1980 and has held post-doc-
toral positions at IMPA, Brazil, and Princeton University. 
He has been Vice-President of the Brazilian Mathematical 
Society (1993–1996) and, in 2005, was the coordinator of 
a curriculum reform in mathematics for the State of Mi-
nas Gerais, Brazil. He is the representative of Brazil at the 
ICMI.
Yuriko Yamamoto Baldin [yuriko@
dm.ufscar.br] received a PhD in mathe-
matics from the Universidade Estadual de 
Campinas, Brazil, in 1984, with a thesis in 
differential geometry. She has done post-
doctorate studies in the USA, made scien-
tific visits to Japan and has been a visiting 
professor at the University of Tsukuba (2014). She is a 
senior professor of mathematics at the Department of 
Mathematics of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, 
where she has worked since 1977. Her research interests 
include teacher education and development of didactical 
materials. She has represented Brazil at the ICMI (2008–
2012) and is currently a member at large of the Executive 
Committee of the ICMI for 2017–2020, after also holding 
this position for 2013–2016. She is the appointed liaison of 
EMeLP to the ICMI.
Fig. 3. A panel discussion at the first international congress of EMeLP.


The mathematical space in the portuguese language (EMeLP)

Repositório Aberto da Universidade Aberta

Mathematics Education58 EMS Newsletter December 2018The Mathematical Space in the  Portuguese Language (EMeLP)Fernando Pestana da Costa (Univ. Aberta, Lisboa, Portugal), João Semedo (Univ. de Cabo Verde, Praia, Cape Verde), Marcos Cherinda (UNESCO Office, Maputo, Mozambique), Mário Carneiro (Univ. Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), Yuriko Baldin (Univ. Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil)The Mathematical Space in the Portuguese Language (EMeLP – Espaço Matemático em Língua Portuguesa) is an international partnership, the members of which are scientific societies and scientific and academic institutions whose main interest is the promotion and development of mathematics in its broadest sense in countries that have Portuguese as one of their official languages.  These coun-tries, located in Africa (Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, S. Tomé and Princi-pe), America (Brazil), Asia (East Timor) and Europe (Por-tugal), form a community of more than 260 million, with a broad cultural, historical and social diversity, diverse stages of economic and scientific development, and vari-ous needs concerning mathematics teaching and research.Although the idea to create EMeLP (inspired by the already existing Espace Mathématique Francophone) goes back to the first decade of the 21st century, when it was suggested by Jaime Carvalho e Silva, then the repre-sentative of Portugal at the ICMI, real efforts to put the idea on a firm footing only started in January 2014. The founding act of EMeLP took place shortly afterwards, on 7 June 2014, when the then representatives of Brazil (Victor Giraldo), Mozambique (Marcos Cherinda) and Portugal (José Francisco Rodrigues) at the ICMI signed the creation act of EMeLP at IMPA in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Figure 1). At present, EMeLP has the active par-ticipation of the founding countries and also Cape Verde, which joined the “Space” shortly after. One of our main goals is to invigorate the mathematical community of the remaining Portuguese speaking countries to adhere and get actively involved in EMeLP initiatives.The objective of EMeLP is to develop and help dis-seminate, among Portuguese speaking countries, joint initiatives in mathematics in its widest sense, namely in: mathematics research; applications of mathematics in other sciences, technology, arts and society at large; edu-cation; teacher training; communication and popularisa-tion of mathematics for the general public; and dissemi-nation of educational resources and materials.Currently, EMeLP publicises its own activities, as well as other mathematics related activities in Portuguese speaking countries, through its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/emelportuguesa); a dedicated web-page is planned for creation soon. However, the first widely visible initiative of EMeLP was the promotion of its 1st international congress (CiEMeLP 2015), which took place in Coimbra, Portugal, 28–31 October 2015, with the moto “The Multiple Ways to Produce and Com-municate Mathematical Culture in the Portuguese Lan-guage” (Figure 2).This meeting had more than 260 participants from 10 countries (including a few from three countries outside EMeLP – Paraguay, Spain and the UK). There were sev-en invited plenary talks, two special sessions about the life and work of the late ethnomathematician Paulus Gerdes and the mathematician José Sebastião e Silva, 12 parallel talks and more than 120 contributed talks in the five Discussion Groups (“Mathematics, culture and society”, “Relations between mathematics in schools, universities and in other social practices”, “Math-ematics communication inside and outside schools”, “Mathematics’ teacher formation” and “Technologies in the teaching and communication of mathematics”), in addition to a significant number of poster presenta-tions.  The conference was home to many well-attended and lively discussion sessions, with the participation of mathematicians, mathematical educators and teachers (Figure 3).Fig. 1. Signing the creation act of EMeLP in January 2014 in Rio de Janeiro. From left to right: Marcos Cherinda, Victor Giraldo and José Francisco Rodrigues.Fig. 2. Webpage of the first international congress of EMeLP, which took place in Coimbra (Portugal), 28–31 October 2015.Mathematics EducationEMS Newsletter December 2018 59According to the by-laws of EMeLP submitted to the ICMI for approval, these international congresses are to be a regular feature of EMeLP, where discussions of past activities and planning for future initiatives will take place, as well as the election of new direction boards. The second international congress of EMeLP is scheduled to take place in Maputo, Mozambique, in November 2019.Although different Portuguese speaking countries have different needs in mathematics education, research and public awareness, and have different cultural contexts in which mathematical practices and reasoning impinge, the need for: public recognition of the importance and ubiquity of mathematics; an improved mathematics edu-cation at all levels; a stronger mathematical background for teachers; and improved quality and enhancement of international collaboration and the impact of math-ematical research are recognised as important goals in all of the countries involved and, thus, are aspects to which EMeLP will certainly be paying attention in the years to come.Fernando Pestana da Costa [fcosta@uab.pt] teaches at the Department of Sciences and Technology of Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, and is a researcher at the Centre for Mathematical Analysis, Geometry and Dynamical Systems, Instituto Superior Téc-nico, University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests are in mathematical analysis and differ-ential equations, with a particular emphasis on dynamical aspects. He received his PhD at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, in 1993. He has been Vice-President (2012-2014) and President (2014–2016) of the Portuguese Math-ematical Society. Since 2017, he has been the representa-tive of Portugal at the ICMI.João Felisberto Semedo [joao.semedo@docente.unicv.edu.cv] is currently the Presi-dent of the Scientific Council at the Uni-versity of Cabo Verde. He graduated in mathematics from Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro (1998), and has an MSc in didactics of mathematics (2004) and a PhD in education (didactics of mathematics), both from Universidade de Lisboa (2011). He is a professor at the University of Cabo Verde and was President of the Pedagogical Council of the Department of Science and Technology and President of its Board of Directors from September 2012 to June 2015. He is a founding member of AMATCV (Mathematical Association of Cape Verde) and is the representative of Cabo Verde at the ICMI.Marcos Cherinda [mcherinda@gmail.com] received the degree of Teacher of Math-ematics and Physics (1980–1981) for Sec-ondary Education at the Faculty of Educa-tion of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, Mozambique. In 1989, he com-pleted his Diplom Lehrer in mathematics in Germany. In 2002, he received a PhD in mathemat-ics education from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Until 2017, he worked as a professor of mathematics education at the Pedagogical University in Mozambique, where he was Director of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Since 2012, he has been the national representative of Mozambique at the ICMI. He is currently an official of UNESCO at the Maputo office. Mário Jorge Dias Carneiro [carneiro@ufmg.br] is an emeritus professor at Univer-sidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. His main research area is dynamical systems, with a special interest in conservative sys-tems. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 1980 and has held post-doc-toral positions at IMPA, Brazil, and Princeton University. He has been Vice-President of the Brazilian Mathematical Society (1993–1996) and, in 2005, was the coordinator of a curriculum reform in mathematics for the State of Mi-nas Gerais, Brazil. He is the representative of Brazil at the ICMI.Yuriko Yamamoto Baldin [yuriko@dm.ufscar.br] received a PhD in mathe-matics from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil, in 1984, with a thesis in differential geometry. She has done post-doctorate studies in the USA, made scien-tific visits to Japan and has been a visiting professor at the University of Tsukuba (2014). She is a senior professor of mathematics at the Department of Mathematics of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, where she has worked since 1977. Her research interests include teacher education and development of didactical materials. She has represented Brazil at the ICMI (2008–2012) and is currently a member at large of the Executive Committee of the ICMI for 2017–2020, after also holding this position for 2013–2016. She is the appointed liaison of EMeLP to the ICMI.Fig. 3. A panel discussion at the first international congress of EMeLP.

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The mathematical space in the portuguese language (EMeLP)

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