Islands of Innovation Project "focused on opportunities for diversification of regions' economies," says Pedro de Faria e Castro - Communication

Subsecretário Regional da Presidência

The Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency stated today in Horta that, for the Azorean Government, the  "Islands of Innovation project was focused on opportunities for the diversification of the economies of the project's partner regions to improve their respective innovation policies."

Pedro de Faria e Castros chaired the opening session of the Final Conference of the Islands of Innovation Project, under the scope of INTERREG Europe, which took place on the island of Faial. On the occasion, he stressed that today "is a great day" for the Azores, where, "the partners from Frisia, Estonia, Denmark and Madeira were welcomed in the middle of the Atlantic with great enthusiasm."

The Final Conference of the "Islands of Innovation" Project presented the results of the work carried out in 2022, during which the Azores were a pilot region at an international level, with the organisation of several workshops based on a single theme: tourism (RIS 3 Açores).

"We have decided to move forward with the theme of "Tourism and Innovation," selecting three islands to represent each group: the Western Group (Flores), the Central Group (Faial) and the Eastern Group (Santa Maria)," said the government official. He noted that these were "very productive meetings where we had the opportunity to listen to concerns but also to propose solutions for tourism and innovation on each of these islands.

Pedro de Faria e Castro reiterated that these "actions, according to the Azorean Government, deserve to be considered in a consultation process that began from the bottom up and that may certainly influence public policies in the future."

"This is the importance of the Islands of Innovation, that is, promoting synergies between the various parties and making innovation a common practice on our islands and in our regions," he said.

Closing his speech, Faria e Castro called for the Azores to be "regarded as a potential location for international conferences and a privileged testing ground for science and innovation due to our natural resources and small size. They are also a central point in the Atlantic with good access between continents and a privileged location for international networking."