Luís Garcia urges ambition and realism for Azores autonomy
Azores GuideThe Azorean parliament president said knowledge, science and innovation should anchor the next phase of autonomy.
Luís Garcia said the next 50 years of Azorean autonomy should be approached with hope, ambition and realism during the presentation of "Autonomia dos Açores, 50 anos de História" at the Centro Cultural de Vila Franca do Campo. He rejected excessively pessimistic and triumphalist readings of the Azores' future.
Garcia said leading a new cycle of autonomy requires intelligence, strategy, and the ability and willingness to bring together people, ideas and energies. He said the archipelago's nine islands have different territories, scales and experiences, as well as different ways of living insularity, and that the Azores cannot afford division or ignoring those who think differently.
He said knowledge, science and innovation should be fundamental anchors for the next cycle. Garcia described autonomy as an instrument of emancipation through integral, cohesive and supportive economic and social development for a complex community made up of island communities.
The book is an initiative of the Assembleia Legislativa da Região Autónoma dos Açores, developed with CHAM-Açores, a research unit of the University of the Azores. It was coordinated by professors Luís Bastos and Susana Goulart Costa and brings together contributions from researchers, academics and political figures linked to different moments of the region's institutional life.
This follows the site's report that the Azores leader spoke on autonomy at the University of Madeira: Azores leader speaks on autonomy at University of Madeira.
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Azores Guide
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