The Angra do Heroísmo Chamber of Commerce (CCAH) wants to create a Glex academy on Terceira Island, in partnership with the Explorers Club, to bring international explorers to the island annually.
“The idea is basically to create various small events throughout the year and have these events aimed at the population of the Azores, be it students or teachers,” explained the president of the business association, Marcos Couto, in a statement to journalists.
The challenge was launched by the businessman at the opening session of the fifth edition of the GlexExplorationSummit, organized by ExpandingWorld and curated by TheExplorers Club in New York, which is taking place for the second year running in Angra do Heroísmo.
The GlexAcademy is only an idea, but Marcos Couto gave examples of already underway initiatives that would fit into this project.
“On Thursday, after the Glex [Summit], Professor Ana Pires, who did a similar mission [to the Christmas Cave] and who is the first Portuguese scientist-astronaut, will stay on Terceira Island and will give a workshop to teachers in the region, free of charge,” he revealed.
GlexSummit also promoted this year’s “Explore the Azores” competition for young people aged 13 to 18. The three winners “will go to the Explorers Club in New York to spend a day with world explorers.”
The president of the CCAH argued that the GlexAcademy could also attract children of international explorers to Terceira.
“We can bring the children of world explorers here. By bringing their children, we bring their parents, grandparents, cousins, friends and we give them much more leverage, with the possibility of offering them completely different things,” he suggested.
For Marcos Couto, GlexSummit “is undoubtedly a highly differentiating event” that can lead to other projects.
“These events are important to give body, to give visibility, but there is all this other work that can be done, with very direct repercussions on our students, on teachers in the region, on the know-how we bring,” he said.
The summit was held for the second year running in Angra do Heroísmo, with support of 200,000 euros from the municipality.
Marcos Couto regretted that the support was “exclusively municipal”. Still, he said that “the important thing is that these events bring a return to the island and the region”, and that “is already a fact”.
“It’s a tremendous mistake that the region makes systematically, our politicians, our rulers, which is to expect these people to bring us something. We just sit back and think that we’ve put money on things and that it will sort itself out. It’s our responsibility to give visibility and continuity to these kinds of events. Let us have that capacity, they are partners,” he said.

in Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.