The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture stressed today the existence of "a common denominator" among the members of the Regional Council of Culture that is related to "the need for networking."

Avelino Meneses spoke to journalists during the works of the first meeting of the Regional Council of Culture. The government official, who chairs this advisory body created in March, stressed that this need arises "fundamentally from the geographic discontinuity of our archipelago."

Hence, "we need to create a regional network of libraries and a regional network of museums" in order to preserve and disseminate their information and congregate a "multitude of institutions" that are are not directly under the jurisdiction of the Government, such as municipal councils, "Santas Casas da Misericórdia" and private companies, said the government official.

Private entities "are endowed with their own autonomy and it is not our intention to call it into question." In this context, the Region aims to create "a digital network towards the creation of central information hub," said Avelino Meneses.

In addition to containing historical and current archives, the creation of this network will allow users anywhere to become acquainted with what exists in the Azores, whether the information concerns governmental departments or other entities, added the government official.

According to the Regional Secretary for Education and Culture, the goal towards the dissemination of information also embodies the "concern" with the inventorying and scanning of the existing collections as well as with the transfer of information to "other media formats in order to ensure its preservation."

On the other hand, Avelino Meneses admitted that the Regional Council of Culture, which he considered to be a body with a very important mission, will likely discuss "the procedures they consider most appropriate" to minimise the inconvenience of overlapping cultural events.

The Regional Council of Culture is made up by the following members: Avelino Meneses; Nuno Lopes, Regional Director for Culture; Luís Meneses, representative of regional museums; João Santos, representative of island museums; Rute Gregório, representative of public libraries and regional archives; Milton Mendonça, representative of the Association of Municipalities of the Azores; António Alves, representative of the Regional Section of the National Association of Villages and Duarte Melo, representative of the Diocese of Angra do Heroísmo.

Ana Paula Andrade, Machado Pires, Teodoro de Matos, Maduro Dias, João das Pedras Saramago, Álamo Oliveira, Manuel Bernardo Cabral, Maria dos Milagres Paz, Tomaz Vieira and Victor Rui Dores are also members of this advisory body as guest personalities, who have distinguished themselves in the fields of architecture, graphic and visual arts, literature, music, performing arts, media as well as social and human sciences.

The Regional Council of Culture aims to issue recommendations on matters regarding the implementation of cultural policies in the Region. This body also proposes the measures it deems necessary for their development, either on its own initiative or at the request of a member of the Regional Government or the Regional Directorate for Culture.