After the first workshop in Évora (Portugal) and the second one in Kavala (Greece), the third workshop of the Grundtvig – Lifelong Learning project Scultbord took place in Mérida on 27th and 28thOctober 2011. The first session of the workshop was held at the Regional Parliament of Extremadura and it was structured to show the ways the regional Government of Extremadura and other institutions have used to spread the Portuguese culture in this Spanish region.
The Technical Secretary for External Affairs of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Ms. Maria Isabel Nieto, in her speech at inauguration of the workshop stated that adult learning is a vital component of lifelong learning. It is fundamental to note the importance of lifelong learning not only for competitiveness and employability, but also for social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development.
The President of the Parliament of Extremadura, Mr. Fernando Manzano, welcomed the participants, showed the interest of the Institution in the project and compromised to transmit the conclusions of the workshop to all the groups represented in the Parliament.
The first conference of the workshop was delivered by Ms. Montaña Hernández, head of the Cross-border Initiative Office (Regional Government of Extremadura) since 2002. In her speech, Ms. Hernández tried to explain the progress of cross border cooperation in Extremadura and the importance of culture in all this process. Since the Cross-border Office was created in 1993, this department has been working on trying to know better their neighbour country and encouraging people to know their neighbours. “The reason for that is the conviction that a better knowledge of our neighbour country, its language and its culture, will improve our relations not only at a social or cultural level but it will also help to improve our economical development”.
Cross border ties between Extremadura, Alentejo and Central Portugal were initiated at the beginning of the 90’s. They were institutionalized as a result of the “Protocols of Cross Border Cooperation” endorsed by the Extremaduran Regional Government (Junta de Extremadura) and the CCDR Alentejo, in 1992, and by the Extremaduran regional government (Junta de Extremadura) and the CCDR Central Portugal, in 1994. Starting practically from scratch, a productive first stage of cooperation began at that time. Following an initial phase of getting to know each other, the first projects and results began to take shape more recently under the protection of the successive programs INTERREG and POCTEP (Operative Program of Spanish-Portuguese cross border cooperation).
After almost two decades, the territory occupied by the three regions, with its 428 kilometres of common border, has been transformed into a territory with new perspectives and possibilities in which cross border cooperation has become an important asset for its development. An enormous amount of initiatives and common projects have emerged. Many of them focused on adult population by promoting their skills and education. The number of Spaniards studying the Portuguese language and vice versa, has increased exponentially in recent years, as has the presence of creators and artists from both sides of the border in museums and cultural festivals in the three regions. It can be said that Portugal has become part of Extremadura’s cultural landscape.
At the same time, terms “Iberian” or “peninsular” have been incorporated into a large number of conferences and numerous trade fair competitions held on both sides of the border. And there are more than 300 studies and publications related to Portugal edited in Extremadura.
The positive results, as well as the interest shown by the three regions in broadening their cooperation, led to the signing of a single cooperation agreement and the fusion of the two former Work Communities in one, with the aim of rationalizing the organizational structures of our neighbourhood relationship.
The signing of this agreement facilitated the creation of the Euroregion Alentejo-Centre-Extremadura (EUROACE) and the beginning of a new stage in the cooperation between the three regions.
AEBR Newsletter
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