The Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, through the Regional Directorate for the Communities, promotes the Colloquium “Thinking about the Diaspora” on March 20 and 21 at the foyer of the Coliseu Micaelense in Ponta Delgada.
Open to the general public, the colloquium aims to promote an in-depth reflection on the challenges and opportunities facing the Azorean diaspora and explore new ways of strengthening ties between communities and their roots. It also intends to create the conditions for defining development strategies that consider their future, based on the strategic contribution of prestigious personalities with vast experience in numerous areas of the communities.
The initiative kicks off on Thursday, March 20, at 11 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 the Communities, José Andrade. At 11: 30 a.m., the inaugural conference will be delivered by Onésimo Teotónio Almeida, a professor at Brown University in the United States.
The plenary sessions begin at 3 p.m. with the “Political Panel,” featuring António Cabral, MP for the State of Massachusetts (USA), and Martin Medeiros, Regional Councillor for the City of Brampton and the Region of Peel in Ontario (Canada). They will be moderated by Pedro Primo Figueiredo, press officer for the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities.
At 4 p.m., the “Cultural Panel” will feature presentations 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-Chancellor of York University (Canada). The session will be moderated by Antena 1 Açores journalist Sidónio Bettencourt.
The last panel of the first day of the Colloquium, the “Social Panel,” begins at 5 p.m. with the participation of Diniz Borges, from California State University (USA), and José Carlos Teixeira, from the University of British Columbia (Canada). It will be moderated by journalist Paula Gouveia, director of the Açoriano Oriental newspaper.
On the second day of the Colloquium, Friday, March 21, the programme begins at 10 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). The session will be moderated by journalist João Paz, deputy editor of the Correio dos Açores newspaper.
The proceedings continue at 11 a.m. with the “Generational Panel,” featuring Richard Ambrósio, president of the Portuguese Cultural Association (Bermuda), and Roberto Rodriguez, vice-president of the House of the Azores Los Azorenos (Uruguay). They will be moderated by Vera Santos, a journalist for RTP/Azores.
At noon, the “Communication 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 resume at 3 p.m. with the presentation of the “Institutional Panel,” featuring 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). The event will be moderated by José Andrade, Regional Director for the Communities.
The papers presented at this Colloquium will form the core content of the first issue of the AÇORIANIDADE magazine to be published annually by the Regional Directorate for the Communities.
In organising such initiatives, the Azorean Government aims to strengthen ties between Azorean communities worldwide and their homeland, promoting the exchange of knowledge, collaboration and development of joint solutions to strengthen Azorean identity and favour the progress of various communities.
