The Presidency of the Regional Government of the Azores, through the Regional Department for the Communities, promoted the Third Meeting Youth 2005 – “To be is to influence”, which took place on the islands of Faial and Pico, between July 14 and 22.

This Meeting, attended by 20 young Azorean descendents (eight from the United States and twelve from Canada), had the objective of calling the participants’ attention to the present social, economical and cultural reality of the Azores.

Tourism in the Azores, the Importance of Horta for the Development of the Region, DOP’s (Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, Azores University) Marine Research in the Azores, Emigration/Whaling, Today’s Azorean Society, the Regional Autonomous Institutions (with a visit to the Regional Legislative Assembly), the Importance of Civic and Political Participation in our Communities, Emigration and Immigration from and to the Azores and “To be is to influence – To be is influencing oneself” were the issues discussed during the meeting.

The participants had also the opportunity to go to Pico Island where they visited the Whaling Museum and the Whaling Industry Museum.

Back to Faial Island, they attended the release of the book “Florianópolis, a 10ª Ilha dos Açores – O Encontro das Origens”, by Joel Pacheco, and visited Capelo Museum and Capelinhos Volcano.

All the participants applied for this initiative during the months of February and March, 2005, and had to be between 21 and 30 years old, of Azorean descent, 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 5 years.