We live in a time where we are constantly linked to everything and everyone, yet not always in meaningful ways. We are one click away from sharing opinions, judging strangers, or posting negative comments about things we barely understand. At the same time, we seem to be losing the capacity to look around and realize that living in society requires empathy, responsibility, and active citizenship.

During holidays, when daily routines slow down, there is time to reflect. And it is in these pauses that it becomes clear how often we talk about rights but not about duties. How we celebrate individual freedom but rarely mention the responsibility it demands. And how, when facing challenges such as pollution, wildfires, or lack of civic behavior, we too often expect “someone else” to solve the problem.

Intuitively, we all know that shared responsibility and active citizenship are fundamental for society. Empathy allows us to understand others, but common responsibility reminds us that we are part of something bigger. Every small gesture has a collective impact. For a manager, responsibility means more than financial results: it means considering the effects of decisions on teams, the environment, and the community. For teachers, it means educating citizens as well as students. For parents, it means leading by example, showing children that citizenship is about caring for public spaces, respecting others, and contributing to the common good.

Citizenship is not only about enjoying rights; it is also about fulfilling duties. It is about following the rules that ensure balance and justice. It is about recognizing that individual actions reflect on the lives of everyone. And this becomes clear in everyday examples.

Throwing a cigarette butt onto the beach, tossing rubbish from a car window, and leaving glass bottles in a dry forest. Small gestures with heavy consequences. They pollute the sea, destroy landscapes, fuel fires, and put lives at risk, forcing firefighters – who are also fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters – to face flames that should never have started.

This is where empathy must turn into responsibility. We all know respecting shared spaces is important. But for how long will we pretend this is someone else’s problem? For how long will we allow lack of civility to destroy the common heritage that is Portugal? The land, the sea, the forests, and the cities belong to all of us, whether we live here every day or return only during summer holidays. This is our shared heritage, and it must be protected for future generations.

Shared responsibility is not an abstract idea. It is about not throwing trash on the ground, using ashtrays, caring for public spaces, and teaching children that what is public belongs to everyone. The negligence of one can cost the lives of many. A single glass bottle left under the sun can ignite hectares of forest. A single cigarette butt in the wind can destroy homes and memories.

What makes this worse is that technology, which could bring us together, often has the opposite effect. It connects us to quick judgments, endless scrolling, and superficial exchanges, but distances us from the essentials: looking after each other, caring for our common spaces, and feeling responsible for the community we belong to. We talk a lot about empathy, but rarely translate it into concrete responsibility.

The time has come to change this. Empathy is the beginning, but only individual responsibility can create collective transformation. Protecting Portugal is protecting ourselves. And it doesn’t take heroic acts. It begins with small, conscious choices: recycling, respecting shared spaces, following rules, and paying attention to those around us. Each gesture matters because together they shape a fairer, more supportive, and more sustainable society.

Portugal has a unique heritage: from its beaches to its forests, from villages to cities. But more than a territory, it is a community. Citizenship is the force that keeps the community alive. If we want a country worth living in and worth passing on, we must move from empathy to responsibility. Only then will we preserve what is most valuable: our common home.

Author

Paulo Lopes is a multi-talent Portuguese citizen who made his Master of Economics in Switzerland and studied law at Lusófona in Lisbon - CEO of Casaiberia in Lisbon and Algarve.

Paulo Lopes