«Democracy and Participation» is the theme of the fourth conversation promoted by the Rotary Club of Faro, in partnership with Editora Sul, Sol e Sal, scheduled for next Friday, November 16, at 21:30 pm, at the João de Deus School Auditorium, in Faro.
The guest speakers are José Ribeiro e Castro, former deputy to the Assembly of the Republic and MEP, former leader of the CDS PP and former secretary of state, who has been more recently at the head of a civic movement in defense of democracy, which is now in large numbers. part, for the reform of the Portuguese electoral system, as well as António Branco, former rector of the University of Algarve, doctorate in Medieval Portuguese Literature and associate professor in Language and Literature Didactics, and also Luís Vicente, actor and director of ACTA – A Companhia Theater of the Algarve. The moderation will be in charge of Elisabete Rodrigues, journalist and director of Sul Informação.
The themes of this cycle of conferences promoted by the Rotary of Faro are about the Algarve reality and have as their theme «The Algarve, Portugal and the Future».
The "need to reflect on the Algarve and create critical thinking that can be used to build an idea or plan for the region" is one of the central aspects of the program, which will confront visions and ideas on crucial issues such as the Economy, Education, Environment, Cities and Culture.
The first conversation was about the theme «Territory and identity: Challenges for the century. XXI», having as guests Adriano Moreira, Guilherme de Oliveira Martins, João Guerreiro and Paulo Teixeira Pinto, with journalist Idálio Revez (Público) as moderator.
The second conversation was on Economy, with guests Guilherme de Oliveira Martins, António Rebelo de Sousa, João Cravinho, Vítor Neto and André Jordan, with moderation by Maria Augusta Casaca (TSF).
In the third session of the cycle of conversations “The Algarve, Portugal and the Future”, issues of Culture were debated, with António Mega Ferreira, Dália Paulo, João Soares, Lídia Jorge, with Rosa Veloso (RTP) as moderator.
The fourth conversation of the cycle O Algarve, Portugal and the Future proposes a reflection on democracy and participation.
«Although democratic rules and values have a widespread degree of acceptance in Portugal, the absence of an active and conscious civil society has been a constant in the country's political life and also one of the greatest constraints of our democracy, insofar as that the growing apathy and divorce between the population and its representatives and institutions has been clearly reflected in its quality and performance”, stress the promoters of the conversation.
"The acceptance and even identification with the rules and values of democracy has not been matched by the participation and civic commitment that one might assume, and the estrangement and indifference of a large part of the population in relation to to democratic institutions,” they add.
Therefore, this conference aims to “question the protagonism and ethics in the functioning of political parties, the role of institutions that are outside the sphere of the State in promoting a plural and different civic culture, new militancy, the Europeanization of institutions, the return of localisms'.
In the particular case of the Algarve, they stress, «we are interested in thinking about mechanisms that allow greater levels of professional and geographical mobility from the center to the periphery, a greater integration of regional problems in decision-making circuits and national debate forums», as well as « to contribute to a deep reflection on the imperative or not of moving forward with regionalization, of providing our democracy with mechanisms for the representation and debate of local interests at the national level, based on principles of parity and solidarity».
Comments