Through the Regional Directorate for Communities and the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, the Government of the Azores is promoting the “Thinking about the Diaspora” colloquium on 20 and 21 March, at the Coliseu Micaelense, in Ponta Delgada.
Open to the general public, the colloquium aims to promote in-depth reflection on the challenges and opportunities facing the Azorean diaspora, explore new ways of strengthening ties between communities and their roots and create conditions for defining development strategies that take into account their future, based on the strategic contribution of prestigious figures with extensive experience in numerous sectors of the communities.
The initiative kicks off on Thursday, March 20, at 11:00 a.m., with an opening session attended by the President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Luís Garcia, the Mayor of Ponta Delgada, Pedro Nascimento Cabral, and the Regional Director for Communities, José Andrade. The inaugural conference will follow at 11:30 a.m., given by Onésimo Teotónio Almeida, a full professor at Brown University in the United States of America.
The plenary sessions will begin at 3:00 p.m. with the “Political Panel,” featuring António Cabral, a member of parliament for the State of Massachusetts (USA), and Martin Medeiros, Regional Councillor for the City of Brampton and the Region of Peel in Ontario (Canada), moderated by Pedro Primo Figueiredo, press officer for the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities.
At 4:00 p.m., the “Cultural Panel” will feature interventions by Lélia Nunes, president of the Academia Catarinense de Letras and director of cultural heritage for the Government of the State of Santa Catarina (Brazil), and Maria João Maciel Jorge, Vice-Rector of York University (Canada), moderated by journalist Sidónio Bettencourt, from Antena 1 Açores.
The last panel of the first day of the colloquium, the “Social Panel”, begins at 5:00 p.m. with the participation of Diniz Borges, from California State University (USA). José Carlos Teixeira, from the University of British Columbia (Canada), moderated by journalist Paula Gouveia, director of the newspaper Açoriano Oriental.
On the second day of the colloquium, Friday, March 21, the program begins at 10:00 a.m. with the “Economic Panel,” featuring Duarte Miranda, former vice-president of the Royal Bank of Canada (Canada), and Manuel de Medeiros, founder of the company MAJAM in São Paulo (Brazil), moderated by journalist João Paz, deputy director of the newspaper Correio dos Açores.
The proceedings continue at 11:00 a.m. with the “Generational Panel,” featuring Richard Ambrósio, president of the Portuguese Cultural Association (Bermuda), and Roberto Rodriguez, vice-president of Casa dos Açores Los Azorenos (Uruguay), moderated by Vera Santos, from RTP/Açores.
At 12:00 p.m., the “Communications Panel” will begin, with Francisco Resendes, director of the Portuguese Times newspaper (USA), and Norberto Aguiar, director of the LusoPresse newspaper (Canada), moderated by journalist Osvaldo Cabral, executive director of the Diário dos Açores newspaper.
The proceedings will resume at 3:00 p.m. with the presentation of the “Institutional Panel”, with interventions by Francisco Viveiros, president of the World Council of Houses of the Azores (USA), Régis Marques Gomes, coordinator of Commission 1 (Brazil and Uruguay) of the Azorean Diaspora Council (Brazil), David Pimentel, coordinator of Commission 2 (United States and Bermuda) of the Azorean Diaspora Council (USA), and Paulo Jorge Cabral, coordinator of Commission 3 (Canada) of the Azorean Diaspora Council (Canada), moderated by José Andrade, Regional Director of Communities.
The papers presented at this colloquium will constitute the essential content of the first issue of the magazine AÇORIANIDADE, to be published annually by the Regional Directorate for Communities.
By carrying out initiatives of this nature, the Government of the Azores aims to strengthen ties between the Azorean communities spread throughout the world and their homeland, promoting the exchange of knowledge, collaboration and the development of joint solutions that strengthen the Azorean identity and foster the progress of the various communities involved.
Source: Press Release @ portal.azores.gov
