Paulo Estêvão highlights importance of regional meeting of teachers involved in education for Space - Communication

Secretaria Regional dos Assuntos Parlamentares e Comunidades

The Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, Paulo Estêvão, attended today the presentation of several workshops at the first regional meeting of the Azores Space Teachers Network (ASTN) held in Lagoa. He highlighted the importance of the event as a forum for debate and knowledge sharing on space-related matters.

“It is very important to have critical mass in this sector. It is not just our location and political ambition; it is important to have this critical mass to respond to these needs and to the companies that set up here. We now have seven aerospace companies based in the Azores, and another two will arrive by the end of the year,” the government official emphasised.

For Paulo Estêvão, the Azorean economy must be "diversified," with the aerospace sector being a key focus for job creation and wealth generation.

"There are jobs directly linked to the sector and then there are all the others linked to adjacent sectors," continued the government official, who acknowledged the centrality of Santa Maria in this field. Nevertheless, he noted that the goal is for all the islands of the Azores to be involved in space-related matters.

The ASTN initiative, which took place on Wednesday and ends today, is part of the activity plan of the Azores Mission Structure for Space (EMA-Espaço), representing a meeting point for teacher training in the Azores for the development of projects in the field of "Education for Space."

ASTN is a regional cooperation and sharing network currently comprising 114 teachers from all levels of education, including vocational education, and all islands in the archipelago. It is a network open to the entire teaching community.

The network was created in 2022 with the aim of promoting a forum for the discussion of ideas and sharing of experiences between teachers and partner entities, with a special interest in the application of curricular and extracurricular projects using Space as a learning context.

In the space field, it should be noted that the Government will join the Portuguese Space Agency's Astronaut for a Day initiative in September, which will take place on the island of Santa Maria. The local airport will be the setting for the zero-gravity flight that will take 30 Portuguese students on a unique experience of floating like astronauts.

In addition, the fourth edition of the European Symposium of NEREUS Regions, linked to space technologies, will take place in the Region in October.