Speech by the President of the Government - Communication

Presidência do Governo Regional

Full text of the speech delivered today by the President of the Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, in Ponta Delgada at the opening of the OVER-SEES Conference "Excellence in Vocational Education and Training on the European Islands: New Paths, Promising Future":

"Welcome to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, everyone who has travelled to participate in this ‘Kick-off conference of the OVER-SEES project."

My institutional and affectionate greetings to every one of you.

As you know, together with four other island regions of the European Union, the Azores are part of the international consortium for the creation of a Vocational Centre of Excellence, whose application has been approved by the European Commission.

Opening the conference, on behalf of the Government of the Azores, I would like to wish all the participants the best of luck and inspiration.

Cohesive and innovative, we will have a lot to gain and we will succeed in the European Union's regional development strategies, particularly as regards excellence in education and vocational training on island territories.

This is essential if we are to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the new economies.

In short, to overcome the challenges of the future.

Our partners in this consortium are special and dedicated to this project.

This consortium is coordinated by ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon. 

I would like to take this opportunity to renew my greetings and congratulate ISCTE in particular, namely Vice-Rector Helena Carreiras, who opened this session, and the remarkable researcher Francisco Simões, who has developed several initiatives centred on youth throughout Europe and has been coordinating a high-level European study on youth in rural areas since last year.

Congratulations and well done.

This project, designated as OVER-SEES, will run for 48 months, and I thank you for your commitment to including young Azoreans.

Allow me to praise the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment, as well as the Regional Director for Vocational Training and Employment, who mobilised the launch of this work, in addition to the Azores joining the consortium.

I would also like to mention the outstanding participation and commitment of the Regional Secretary for Education, Culture and Sport, as excellence in education and training is aggregating and commits us to our beliefs. As such, it is a common denominator for the entire government of the Azores, which I have the honour of leading.

Today's event marks the beginning of the project's work, bringing together all the regional and international partners from the four island regions: the Azores, the West-Ireland Region, the Aegean Islands and Sicily.

This project aims to promote excellence in vocational education and training as a tool for economic and social transformation.

With a cooperation model that brings together people, companies, training providers and public governance to accelerate the dual transition identified in the Smart Specialisation strategies of the island regions involved (digital and ecological transitions).

The main goal is to accelerate economic activities linked to strategic sectors such as sustainable agriculture, rural tourism, renewable energy sources and digital transformation. 

OVER-SEES places these regions as benchmarks in the European Union for vocational excellence.

This project helps to promote an innovative vocational education and training model, aligned with the principles of ecological, digital and inclusive transition that govern EU policies for the next decade and regional policies. 

With this one from our Region, the Azores are effectively strengthening their Azores 2030 Operational Programme.

They are strengthening, in particular, initial training, lifelong learning and the modernisation of vocational education, thus contributing to the effective implementation of planned public investments and the pursuit of economic and social cohesion tgoals. 

With this initiative, the Government of the Azores is redoubling its efforts to achieve the regional goals in terms of reducing youth unemployment and retraining workers.

The number of young people opting for vocational education has been growing in the Azores.

In the 2019/2020 school year, 715 new students entered vocational education.

In the 2024/2025 school year, 946 new students entered vocational education. This growth for our reality is significant and encouraging, as it confirms the success of this path.

For the next school year, the Region will have 54 courses available, making it possible for 1,103 new students to enrol.

Our strategic commitment is paying off.

Young Azoreans are increasingly committed to their education.

They are committed to building a successful future for themselves and the Azores.

With this initiative, we also want to draw attention to the effort we have been undertaking to increasingly integrate young people who have been absent from training and the labour market. The so-called NEETS - young people not in Employment, Education or Training

The progress we have made in the Azores has taken us from 20.7% of young people neither studying nor working at the end of 2020 to 11.2% now. In other words, we have reduced by 9%.

This indicates that there are no longer 11,600 young people who neither study nor work. Currently, there are 6,200 young people in this situation.

However, we want even more progress and fewer young NEETs.  There is still a way to go and we are moving in the right direction and making progress.

We are implementing training strategies tailored to the needs of the labour market, particularly about retraining and integrating young people into the labour market.

We are stimulating international cooperation and the development of long-term partnerships between educational institutions, companies, public bodies and civil society organisations.

We are confident that OVER-SEES will help strengthen this journey of young Azoreans and our Region towards their future and our collective future, thus contributing to making the Azores a Region of opportunities.

On a different level of integration of the Autonomous Region of the Azores into the European Union, we are a Political Region recognised in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, Article 349, as one of its 9 Outermost Regions. This allows us to benefit from specific measures in the main EU policies, such as agriculture, cohesion and competition.

Essentially, this means that European institutions acknowledge the need for differentiated support for the development of these Outermost Regions, given the specificities that are incomparable to other regions, which mark them out as territories and populations with special needs.

This reality is undeniable. 

However, I have said this in so many other "fora" where I have spoken publicly. In addition to being a Region of needs, we also want to be, and we have the potential to be, a Region of opportunities.

Opportunities for development in the new economies and geopolitical relevance in the European Union.

For this, our strong belief, and the driving force behind our political and governmental action, is the excellence in education and vocational training, which is fundamental on our islands.

This is how we will respond to the challenges and opportunities of the new economies, especially in a context of a dual digital and ecological transition.

Therefore, we have enthusiastically joined innovative projects such as OVER-SEES, funded by the European Union, which has been transforming the landscape of European islands, including the Azores, by investing in free, high-quality courses aligned with the needs of the local labour market and regional development strategies.

Training tailored to the specific characteristics of the islands, with a focus on strategic sectors such as sustainable agriculture, rural tourism, renewable energy sources and digital transformation. 

Partnerships between universities, local companies and public organisations to ensure that the training available responds to the real needs of the island's current and future business fabric.

Development of practical and cross-sector skills, essential for employability and the ecological and digital transition of island economies.

Social inclusion and the fight against school dropout, promoting opportunities for young people who would otherwise be at risk of exclusion from the labour market.

Vocational training geared towards the new economies makes it possible to:

Prepare professionals for emerging sectors, such as green and digital technologies, which are essential for the sustainability and competitiveness of the islands.

In the Azores, our identity aligns with sustainability.

We are boosting our economy to enhance traditional sectors while promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, and adding new sectors linked to new economies.

We are recognising the role of young people in communities, creating the conditions for them to build promising careers without the need to emigrate.

Therefore, excellence in education and vocational training on islands not only responds to local skills and employability challenges but also positions these regions as innovation laboratories for the new economies, with a positive and sustainable impact on island communities

We believe this initiative, led by the University Institute of Lisbon, aligns vocational training with Smart Specialisation strategies, ensuring the development of high-quality skills in the fields of sustainable agriculture, rural tourism, marine renewable energy sources and digital transformation. 

Given that this is a way of promoting the global ambition of achieving excellence in vocational education and training on European islands, building collaborative thematic groups to promote regional and transnational cooperation; and facilitating long-term partnerships between Vocational Education and Training providers and companies, the Azores and the Regional Government are fully motivated in this participation.

We also recognise, as does this project, that the role of training in key occupations for the ecological transition supports the shift towards new economies and more circular and sustainable EU societies.

We are motivated by the fact that our vocational education and training institutions are empowered to co-develop courses tailored to the specific needs of the islands, ensuring relevance and practical applicability, aligning, for example, training with the needs of the productive sector, the green, blue and space technology economy, which have special opportunities in the Azores, and promoting employability and entrepreneurship.

I have faith in the Azorean youth and in this collaborative, transnational project.

I wish them success and innovation. Achievements and results.

Congratulations and best wishes.

Thank you very much!"