Estoril Conferences :: Global Challenges, Local Answers

Between the 19th and 22nd of May, Estoril Convention Centre became, once again, the main stage for another International Conferences cycle. For four days, a panel of famous speakers placed into perspective, debated and reflected on a set of ideas and suggestions regarding globalization challenges. Names such as Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Durão Barroso, Francis Fukuyama, Garry Kasparov, Georgios Papandreou, José Ramos-Horta and Vandana Shiva, were among the invited guests.

We open you the door to one of the most prestigious Conferences in Estoril 2015 and unveil a little bit of its goals and future ambitions.

Estoril Conferences have the main objective of becoming an international reflection centre on the topics of globalization challenges, with special attention to the relationship between global and local domains. “GLOBAL CHALLENGES, LOCAL ANSWERS” is its signature.

This biennial initiative, developed since 2009, aims to sustain Cascais and Portugal as a meeting point for some of world’s most famous individuals, international organisations, universities, research and development centres, think tanks and non-governmental organisations. This initiative is a clear reflection of the attention this municipality dedicates to sustainable development, at various levels.
The main target of these Conferences – from all around the globe – is made essentially of governors, politicians, entrepreneurs, managers, academicals students, journalists, opinion leaders, a set of heterogeneous agents of modern societies active life.

Apart of seminars from invited lecturers, Estoril Conferences also include an award ceremony for two major distinctions:

The Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize, with a prize money of 15 thousand euros, which honours the books that have contributed to new and original thoughts; Estoril Local Answers Award, for 10 thousand euros, to the project that better represents “Local Answer” for a “Global Challenge”.
This year the awards were given to Francis Fukuyama – with the book “Political Order and Political Decay” – and to Aporvela – for the project “A sea of opportunities”, dedicated to youngsters in risk of social exclusion, respectively.

To respond to the special concern related to education and the offer of information to younger generations which will embody the future, Estoril Conferences include a strong core of University Partners such as Aarhus University – Denmark, Rotterdam School of Management from Erasmus University, Georgetown University – USA, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Getúlio Vargas institution – Brasil, among other national and international schools.

Milton Sousa, CEO of Estoril Conferences and, since 2010, the main responsible for designing the model of this initiative, reinforces the commitment of Cascais in promoting Knowledge.

Cascais and Estoril are already famous not only for their natural beauty attributes, architecture, great climate, lifestyle, but are therefore the perfect stage to attract and promote initiatives with international projection, such as this. Besides this, the fact that so many Ambassadors have chosen this location to settle their lives, both during their diplomatic mission in Portugal and afterwards during their retirement, makes this location the perfect convergence point to establish connections, interactions and potentiate synergies. Moreover, Portugal is, historically, a neutral country, propitious to dialogue and integrator of many different cultures. The favourable conjugation of all these factors is the main wireframe for these Conferences that occur every two years, with the principle mission of approaching and uncovering local solutions for global challenges that these days most of the countries face themselves.

Local wise, the positive impact of this initiative has largely overtaken the immediate impacts of the event, as well as those that directly impact the economy during the event days and the days after. Above all, the added value translates in the fact that the event attracts internationally famous names, many of them visiting Portugal for the first time, and will take back home in their luggage, the experience of having discovered a country in progress and a region concerned with keeping the quality and prestige that distinguishes it for many decades. Cascais will definitely stay on the emotional map of everyone visiting it, proof of it is the fact that many guest speakers have returned, at a personal level, to explore everything once again, with more time and slower pace.

The great novelty resulting from the 2015 edition is the creation of a Think&Do Tank, that involves partner Universities with the main goal of boosting and adding continuity to the initiative, besides its biennial editions. Research projects, publications, smaller scale events yet similar and under the flag of Estoril Conferences, educational projects – inclusively throughout an International Masters program, located in Cascais and developed through a network of academic partners – are some of the actions expected to add continuity to this event.

The Cascais municipality knows that investing on education is, simultaneously, the best way to prepare future generations for global challenges and give them the best tools to find local solutions. For this reason, Carcavelos will host the future university campus from NOVA School of Business and Economics, which will have capacity for over five thousand students and is part of the strategy to “attract knowledge, competence and activity to the municipality, making it more attractive”.

Moreover, Cascais already includes two university poles, Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies and Alcoitão Health Superior School, revealing the strong investment on local development.
Estoril Conferences return in 2017 but we are sure that with everything Cascais and Estoril have to offer, you will pay us a visit well before that.

Come for a reason. Stay for many!