Challenges facing the Atlantic and the Atlantic Diaspora to be discussed on the island of Santa Maria

From the seventh to the ninth of this month of September, the island of Santa Maria will host the “LPAZ Forum 2023 – The Azores, the Atlantic and Global Challenges”.
According to the organizers, “the main challenges and opportunities facing the Atlantic area will be discussed by experts from all four shores.”
The forum is organized by LPAZ – Associação para a Valorização e Promoção do Aeroporto de Santa Maria, in partnership with the Centre for International Studies of the Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (CEI-Iscte), the Centre for Humanistic Studies of the University of the Azores (CEHu), the Atlantic Centre and the Transatlantic Studies Association.

The event is now in its fourth edition. “The result of a Call for Papers launched in the spring of 2023, the LPAZ Forum 2023 will bring together more than two dozen speakers in Santa Maria. Bringing together reflections from disciplinary areas as diverse as History, International Relations, Island Studies and Aerospace,” says the association.
“The program of the LPAZ 2023 Forum will also include a Strategic Tour of the island of Santa Maria, visiting the most strategically relevant facilities that help us understand the importance, in historical terms, but also today and for the future, not only of this island, but also of the entire archipelago and of Portugal, in its Atlantic dimension,” the association added in a statement sent to the press.
The forum is being held with the support of the Regional Government, Vila do Porto Town Hall, and FLAD – the Luso-American Development Foundation.
Topics such as European Union-NATO relations, the Atlantic Diasporas, and the Azores in Atlantic policy will be discussed.

in Diário Insular newspaper, José Lourenço – director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Medial Alliance) at California State University, Fresno.

The Portuguese Beyond Borders Insitute at Fresno State will be present with a talk given by its founding director based on the conferences and symposiums that PBBI hosted within the last three years with panels and discussions from Azorean-Americans in all facets of American society, including a proposal to create a new paradigm in the Azoreas-Diaspora relations that can bridge both sides of the Atlantic and all the way to the Pacific.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

4TH LPAZ FORUM

THE AZORES, THE ATLANTIC AND THE GLOBAL CHALLENGES

SEPTEMBER 7TH – 9TH | SANTA MARIA, AZORES, PORTUGAL

The conquest of the Atlantic has shaped the world and the Western Civilization, and the Archipelago of the Azores has played a relevant role on the knowledge, transport, communication, and control within this ocean. These islands, which have been called “the wheel of the Atlantic”, on the maritime navigation era, and “Crossroads of the Atlantic”, on the aviation age, have a privileged perspective on the changes that shaped the world and the Western Civilization. With the emergence of New Space, the extension of the Continental Shelf processes and the search for resources and solutions for the sustainability of the Anthropocene, the Atlantic opens to new frontiers and the Azores are again called upon to play a significant role on this new chapter on the evolution and perceptions across the Atlantic.

To discuss the challenges and opportunities for the Azores and the Atlantic community from a transdisciplinary approach, the LPAZ Association, in collaboration with the Center for International Studies of Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (CEI-Iscte), the Center for Humanistic Studies of the University of the Azores (CEHu), the Atlantic Centre, and the Transatlantic Studies Association, is organizing the “LPAZ Forum – The Azores, the Atlantic, and the Global Challenges” on Santa Maria Island – Azores, Portugal, on September 7th – 10th, 2023. This conference is the fourth edition of the LPAZ Forum, following up on the meetings of 2015, 2017, and 2022, and has the support of the Regional Government of the Azores, Vila do Porto’s Municipality and Portuguese Ministry of National Defense.

The 2023 edition of the LPAZ Forum is bridging and bringing together researchers with different backgrounds. The purpose of this Forum is to debate the past, present, and future role of the Azores and the Atlantic in addressing the global challenges of our time. We are interested in discussing the importance of building and maintaining Atlantic communities, the impact of environmental and climate change on the interactions within the Atlantic basin, the perceived geopolitical shifts impacting in this broad region, including in the Medium and South Atlantic, the security challenges communities are facing in the current context, and the opportunities for cooperation and economic prosperity, among other topics.