In Terras do Infante, a congress could only have the Sea as its theme. This could be the starting point of the first Congress of the Association of Municipalities Terras do Infante, which will take place on March 23, at the Centro Cultural de Lagos.
Organized in close partnership with the University of Algarve, this initiative of the three municipalities in the western tip of the region – Lagos, Aljezur and Vila do Bispo – will talk about the Economy of the Sea and its sustainability, from three complementary perspectives: opportunities, challenges and threats .
The congress will thus celebrate “the meeting of all the mayors of these three municipalities, the presence of bodies, entities and individuals linked to the theme, but above all, knowledge, information, reflection and debate on the Sea and the oceans, such as factor of differentiation, innovation and knowledge in the sustainable form of its exploitation, in the resolution of conflicts of use, in new activities and creation of attractive mechanisms for investment, among multiple aspects».
The first panel, on the Economy of the Sea, will review XNUMX years of the canning industry in Lagos, but will also discuss the innovation brought about by what will be the largest frozen fishery factory in Portugal and also by aquaculture . The issues of the economic and tourist impact of recreational boating, the surfing economy, as well as the sea as a differentiating factor in tourism in the region, will also be addressed.
The guest speakers are Nuno Battaglia, CEO of Grupo Battaglia Capital SA, Fernando Perna and Paulo Carrasco, researchers from the University of Algarve, João Fernandes, president of the Algarve Tourism Region, and Francisco Castelo, responsible for the Lagos Town Council Photo Library.
In the morning break, the Portuguese Deep Sea Exhibition will be inaugurated, promoted by the Ministry of the Sea, which will then be open to the public until 29 March.
In the afternoon, there will be a second panel, where communications will be presented related to the conservation of marine biodiversity in Costa Vicentina, the problem of the “plastic” sea and pollution, water and oceans.
The communications will be the responsibility of Maria João Bebianno and Jorge Gonçalves, researchers from the University of Algarve, and Carla Graça, vice-president of ZERO – Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável.
Closing a day of intense debate, at 17:30 pm, there will be a tribute to Professor Mário Ruivo, who died in January 2017, with the presence of his widow, Maria Eduarda Gonçalves.
The tribute will include the premiere of a short video documentary, with 10 minutes, about the life and work of Mário Ruivo, oceanographer who was one of the great drivers of the need to know the Ocean better, politician, pioneer of an ecological concept of management of the resources of the sea. He was also a senior leader of the United Nations, namely in the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization and in the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of Unesco.
In December 2016, precisely recognizing his legacy, the University of Algarve had awarded him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, in Marine, Earth and Environmental Sciences. And it was at this ceremony that professor Mário Ruivo said something that is still current: «It is imperative to give a real incentive to the training of human resources and the attribution of conditions that guarantee the continuity of research for the necessary duration, so that we can, in fact, asserting us as a great world maritime power. Because it's not enough to continually state that we have potentials».
Ana Paula Vitorino, Minister of the Sea, will preside at the closing session of this 18st Congress of the Association of Municipalities Terras do Infante, at 00:XNUMX.
Registration for the Congress, which is mandatory, even because there are limited places, must be made by email [email protected] .
Click here to learn about the entire program (PDF).
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