The Regional Department for the Communities organized and sponsored the Meeting “Youth – 2004” which took place on the islands of Terceira, S. Jorge and S. Miguel between July 1 and 11, 2004.

This event was for young Azorean descendants with ages between 21 and 28, with a reasonable knowledge of the Portuguese language, preferably involved in cultural projects with communitarian interest and not having visited the Azores during the last five years.

The objective of this initiative was to gather young people coming from the Azorean communities spread in North America and call their attention to the socio-cultural reality of the Azores.

The workshop “Jogo Dramático” and the following lectures were the basis for this meeting: “A Economia dos Açores no Início do 3º Milénio”, “Breve Introdução Histórica dos Açores”; “A ilha de São Jorge – Entre o Passado e o Presente”; “A Ecoteca de São Jorge – Áreas Ambientais”; “Grupo folclórico da Calheta – Da Tecelagem ao Traje”; “A Participação Política e Cívica nas Comunidades Açorianas”; “A Língua e a Cultura Portuguesas: Traço de União”.

During this event the participants were also able to visit several touristic circuits: Handicrafts Schools, Manadas Church and some Dairies on S. Jorge Island; the local Media (RDP/A and RTP/A), Carlos Machado Museum and several interesting places of natural beauty on S. Miguel Island.

This meeting was attended by twenty participants from the United States (three from California and one from New England) and Canada (six from Ontario, seven from Quebec and three from Manitoba).