The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture stated in Ponta Delgada that the protection of the sea does not concern "exclusively" military forces or governments, it also concerns institutions and citizens.
 
Avelino Meneses spoke in the context of the "Educating for Blue Growth" programme. On the occasion, he acknowledged that citizens' education for the protection of the sea is "a difficult task that some consider almost impossible," especially after "all the evil" that has already been done over time, when the seabed "was used as a deposit for toxic waste."
 
Therefore, ensuring the "sustainability" of the sea entails "the outline and implementation" of an environmental education policy that counteracts the image of "inexhaustible source" of resources. It must "warn that oceans are also vulnerable and destructible, requiring the prevention of pollution," emphasised the government official.
 
In view of existing threats and the potential that the Azores have to offer, even being "the only national economic space still rich and relatively unexplored," it is imperative to "continue and pursue" the defence of the environment.
 
The training, taking place on the islands of S. Miguel, Terceira, Faial and Pico, involves about three hundred elementary school teacher. It is estimated that the first phase of the programme will reach more than 4,500 students at this level of education.
 
Focused on the conservation and sustainable use of marine resource, the "Educating for a Blue Generation" programme now reaches the first teachers in the Region with the Regional Government's support.
 
This educational programme is another step towards the protection, promotion and enhancement of the natural resources of the archipelago of the Azores. It falls within the goals of the Blue Azores programme, an initiative developed by the Regional Government in close cooperation with the Oceano Azul Foundation and the Waitt Foundation & Institute that involves various local and national partners and international entities.
 
The Foundation, headquartered in Portugal, was established in 2017 with the aim of promoting a healthier and more productive Ocean through three main areas of action, namely literacy, conservation and empowerment, under the motto "From the ocean's point of view."