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The President of the Republic will promote, to be carried out in May 2015, an International Conference under the theme “Portugal and Youth – New Trends, Further Hope”, included in his Routes to the Future initiative.

This will be the fourth international conference comprising the Routes to the Future, an initiative launched in 2012 which intends developing a reflection encompassing the great challenges fronting the Portuguese.

After such themes as demographic development – particularly the issues arising from fertility and population growth – Portugal’s strategic positioning in correlation with Europe and the World – identifying historical trends and the opportunities for insertion in the economy and in the great hubs of global economy – and of the new trails that are placed before the Country – considering the spirit of Democracy, the culture of Compromise and the challenges of Development - , the debate will now be focused on the issues that Youth will have to face.

A new generation of Portuguese arises in a society branded by structural change, but at the same time by the uncertainty regarding the Country’s future. The 2008-2013 economic crisis was, for Portugal and the Portuguese, not just one of the most grievous in its contemporary history, but also the opportunity to set a change, either in the models of economic development, or in the values of thought processes that guide social life.

Will this generation be the bearer of a new world vision? Since this is a generation which has achieved the highest grades of qualification and education, what has been the responding capability of the economy and of society in the creation of opportunities that correspond to such grades? In what measure does youth emigration result in a forfeiture of human capital and in a loss on investment? How does youth position itself in the face of politics, European integration, geographic mobility and wealth creation? Do we have a more innovative and more entrepreneurial generation? Up to what point is this youth a player in the deep cultural change occurring in Portuguese society?

The intention of this IV International Conference of the Routes to the Future is to obtain answers to these and other issues that query the future of Portugal and the Portuguese, especially those that, having been through the experience of the more recent difficult periods, tend to build new routes and to awaken other hopes of renewal and development.