“Mar Português” is the title of the book published by the University of Algarve, which will be released at 18:00 on November 21, at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento, in Lisbon. The presentation, with the presence of Assunção Cristas, minister of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning, will be given by Emílio Rui Vilar, administrator of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
The opening session will be chaired by the rector of the University of Algarve João Guerreiro, and the president of the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities António Rendas. The closing session, in addition to the minister, will be attended by the Secretary of State for Science Leonor Parreira.
As part of the Science and Technology Week 2012, organized by the Ciência Viva National Agency, this initiative also includes the participation of renowned experts, including Mário Ruivo, president of the National Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development (CNADS), and Tiago Pitta e Cunha, Consultant to the President of the Republic for Science, Environment and Sea Affairs.
The book “Mar Português” brings together the communications presented at the Reflection Meeting held on the occasion of the National Day of the Sea, at the University of Algarve, in November 2011, centered on the theme “Knowledge, Valorization and Development” of the Portuguese Sea.
It is a set of works that result from lines of research consolidated in several Portuguese universities or from reflections on the valorization of knowledge, through business solutions.
In any case, there is a concern to define a course for the best use of the resources that the Sea makes available to Man, including in this issue the biology and biotechnology, the management of interfaces, mineral deposits, energy, without forget about logistics, transport and tourism, perhaps the main sectors that currently generate, with greater intensity, net financial surpluses.
With the High Sponsorship of the President of the Republic, this forum brought together a large number of researchers who, in Portuguese universities and research institutions, are dedicated to the marine sciences. Following the meeting, the “Algarve Declaration” was signed, which proposes a Road Map for the reinforcement of knowledge in the maritime sector.
This volume also makes it possible to give public notice of many of the current concerns that the scientific and business community has about the Sea, contributing to outlining an intervention based on knowledge, which guarantees the sustainability of this natural system.
A rational and responsible exploration of national maritime spaces and the exploitation of the resulting economic, social and cultural benefits depend on the active development of universities and State laboratories dedicated to research and higher training in Marine Sciences and Technologies, on the ability to to value the results of R&D that possible partnerships with the business world can foster, as well as the reinforcement of national and international cooperation, in association with other socio-economic agents.
Comments