The harmonised management of human resources, materials and logistics based on an ethos of resource optimisation that also covers productivity regulation processes, without, however, becoming dissociated from the fact that cultural promotion and development are means of preserving the identity and creativity of the people, which drive a balanced development of society. Cultural work also implies the articulated and comprehensive planning of the activities of museums and libraries, providing self-esteem to the local population and a means of their dissemination. They also foster self-learning through strategies targeting different audiences and differentiated age groups. The activities concerning the inspection of the state of conservation of the region's heritage are, for reasons of methodological discipline, justifiably concentrated in a structure with analytical capacities and permitting rapid intervention.
Thus, the Azores Restoration, Preservation and Study Centre is wound up. A number of companies specialising in restoration have been created over the years in islands such as São Miguel, Terceira and São Jorge, and these companies are regularly consulted in regard to the performance of work in the entire region. It is thus believed that the management of qualified employment will contribute to other development capacities of this private sector in expansion. Thus, the manual work areas will be done away with (or reduced) and all other duties committed to the Directorate for Heritage Assets and Cultural Action, which will perform the task of monitoring and technically supervising work and, by other means, a closer relationship with the artistic assets held by the region's museums will be created, under the direct jurisdiction of the Tangible Heritage Department. There will thus exist operational cohesion and coherence of action, given that the bureaucratic and administrative stumbling blocks will be removed.
The cultural centres are also wound up, given that cultural production and development, as a means of preserving cultural, creative and inventive identity, shall drive a harmonious and sustained development of society, which imply the articulated and extensive planning of activities, conferring self-esteem, promoting liaison, dissemination, and self-learning in varied audiences and at different age levels. The work of the cultural centres of São Miguel, Terceira, Faial and Pico will be carried on by the regional museums and the regional archives and public libraries, through local coordination, and expanded to cover the entire territory of the island of the region, working in a liaised manner. The coordinator of the Regional Directorate for Culture in Faial and the regional sub-director in São Miguel, along with the Regional Director for Culture, will form a corporate board, that will ensure the organisational architecture of the different dependent bodies of the Regional Directorate for Culture.
Lastly, the Angra do Heroísmo Classified Zone Office is closed down, as a consequence of the provisions of Article 32 of Regional Legislative Decree no. 15/2004/A of 6 April. The separation of the Angra do Heroísmo classified zone from the general areas is no longer justifiable, neither from an administrative-financial viewpoint nor in operational terms, given that the Directorate for Heritage Assets and Cultural Action has taken over responsibility for the protection and valorisation of the region's cultural heritage. Hence, appraisal and procedural criteria are standardised and conceptual conformity is established.