​Having just left university in the midst of a pandemic, the opportunities to develop skills in my area were not the most extensive in the Algarve. Even so, a few days later I was introduced to the “Faro 2027” project, which until that date I only understood as a candidacy for the European capital of culture. I started as a volunteer, suggested ideas and even helped during the South Music Festival, but always something very punctual. A few months later was when I had the ability to understand the dimension that this project carried. More than an opportunity to develop skills, Faro2027 was an opportunity to meet people, to get to know myself, to get to know the Algarve and dream it differently. In the months I was involved in the project, there were many moments of stress, joy, a feeling of accomplishment, frustration, everything that a project of great ambition implies. I see the Faro2027 team as a group of people who dare to dream, who dare to say that the Algarve should not be defined by the labels that people outside our reality give it and that it is our responsibility to understand and transform the Algarve accordingly. with its potential.

​Some of the daily tasks involved talking to people, giving them the opportunity to be heard, empathizing with them and their stories, understanding their frustrations, making them dream or simply giving them back hope, organizing documents, interviewing people, planning events, organize materials and, if necessary, transform an entire office into a Ford model production line to ensure that the results were achieved, but always to the sound of laughter.

​I consider that the moment that most impressed me was the trip to Lisbon to deliver the Candidature/Bidbook Dossier. The emotions that emerged that day translated into a feeling of pride in realizing that, contrary to what is believed, people unite whenever they dream together.

​Despite the final result, plans and projects are drawn, ideas are launched. We dreamed of the title, but we never aspired to it as a final result, we always wanted to guarantee a sustainable cultural plan for Faro and the Algarve. A plan that would do justice to the people who live here and choose the Algarve to be their home. Couldn't have had a better experience.

Project that took Minecraft to classrooms now reaches students in the Municipality of Loulé and travels to Maputo, Mozambique.
After the success of the first edition, the Municipality of Faro bet again on the development of the MI.MOMO project, taking it to more schools and more students, in the region and abroad.
Understanding the importance of the project for the promotion of heritage among young people, the Municipality of Loulé responded positively to the challenge of participating in the second edition of MI.MOMO. In addition to the Algarve municipalities of Faro and Loulé, students from the Portuguese School of Mozambique, in Maputo, participate in the second edition of this heritage education project, marking the internationalization of an initiative whose merit has been widely recognized.
With a total of 9 schools participating, the second edition of MI.MOMO has already offered training to 48 teachers and at the moment modernist buildings in the cities of Faro, Loulé and Mozambique are being reproduced in Minecraft by more than 460 students. In addition to the partnerships established last year, namely the Ria Formosa Training Centre, Regional Directorate for Culture of the Algarve, Europeana, Microsoft and the National Arts Plan; the second edition of the project also has the support of Museu Zero.
​The success of this project is also evidenced by its presentation at major events, such as Built with Bits: Designing Virtual Spaces for the Future (organized by Europeana Pro, within the scope of the New European Bauhaus) and Challenges 2021 - “Digital Challenges”: XII International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in Education. It should also be noted that MI.MOMO was distinguished with the Honorable Mention for Approaching the Young Public, in the first edition of the Heritage.pt Awards, of the Iberian Biennial of Cultural Heritage 2021.
Applying the potential of new digital tools to teaching and learning, MI.MOMO is a project aimed at 3rd cycle students that aims to disseminate the built cultural heritage through the reproduction of modernist architecture buildings on the Minecraft Education digital platform, in a context of classroom.
In addition to the educational component, MI.MOMO has the ambition to reach the entire community, leading it to think and debate topics such as: the city in the digital age, urban requalification and the built cultural heritage as a legacy for future generations.

​It is with great sadness that the Municipality of Faro and Faro2027 inform that they are not continuing in the race to become European Capital of Culture 2027. Faro was not one of the cities selected by the European Union jury for the second phase of the competition. The Municipality of Faro congratulates the cities of Aveiro, Braga, Évora and Ponta Delgada for moving on to the next stage.
​“We did our best and we thank the thousands of people who built this candidacy with us. We always said that the most important thing was not winning the title, but the process. The application process was essential for us to look at the municipality and the region in a very participatory way. We know that we have built a relevant and quality application. The result obtained does not mean that we will stop. The path has begun, we must continue to work” : said Rogério Bacalhau, Mayor of Faro, who was present at the press conference where the European jury announced the finalists.

Although the outcome was not the one desired by the Municipality of Faro and by the entities co-producing the candidacy, the topics dealt with in the candidacy continue to deserve the attention of local and regional public entities. We remind you that the Faro2027 application process involved the direct participation of more than 3000 people from across the Algarve region. Artists, children, young people, entrepreneurs, mayors, unemployed, retired, international experts, professors, foreign residents and tourists were consulted and presented ideas for the region.
Based on the ideas gathered, the Candidature Bidbook presented various themes such as water, multiculturalism, climate change and tourist massification. The Candidacy Bidbook also presented proposals for the establishment of better links with Europe in the field of culture and sustainability. It is important to emphasize the regional involvement and cooperation throughout this process, recognizing the role of the University of the Algarve, the Algarve Tourism Region, CCDR Algarve, the Regional Directorate for Culture of the Algarve, IPDJ Algarve, and in particular all the Municipalities of the Algarve, and of many organizations and cultural and social agents in the region that supported this project from the start.

​“We cannot ignore all the work developed, the energy generated, or the issues raised by the people who participated in the process. There are projects that are already underway and that we intend to continue to pursue, such as the rehabilitation of the Fábrica da Cerveja, the Cultural Kilometer or the Gastronomic Embassy. Faro also assumed commitments within the scope of the creative roof terraces project. We are leaders of the European Creative Rooftop Network (ECRN) which brings together 9 cities, in a project funded by the Creative Europe program worth €4M over 4 years. The Faro Convention and the initiatives planned under it, such as the announced International Conferences or the MI.MOMO.FARO project, will continue to be developed, as will other projects that we will announce in due course, with all our commitment”: says Rogério Bacalhau.

What does it take to generate a wave?
Lots of drops of water and a growing energy.
What does it take to generate a wave big enough to drive a process of change?
Even more drops of water and more energy sprouting and growing in the same direction.

In the process of applying for Faro to the European Capital of Culture 2027, ideas, initiatives and projects flow like the waves to the shore. One idea sparks multiple ideas, one person takes us to many people and we create new communities, a concept grows and flows in many directions.
​
This has been and continues to be Faro2027. That's how we built the Candidacy Dossier. We continue to gather information and listen to people, inducing an increase in ambition and belief in dreams for our future, pooling our energies... and here we are, self-aware and enthusiastic, surfing waves to shore, surfing to land loaded with creativity and innovation!

After the success of the first edition, Faro's candidacy for European Capital of Culture will take MI.MOMO.FARO to more schools and more students, in the Algarve region and abroad.
In addition to Faro, around a thousand students from Olhão, Loulé and Albufeira are participating in the second edition of this heritage education project. Mozambique and Lithuania also join MI.MOMO.FARO, marking the internationalization of an initiative whose merit has been widely recognized and which has been present at major events, such as Built with Bits: Designing Virtual Spaces for the Future (organized by Europeana Pro , within the scope of the New European Bauhaus), Challenges 2021 and “Digital Challenges”: XII International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in Education.

​Developed with the support of Microsoft, the National Arts Plan and the Algarve Regional Directorate of Culture, Europeana Educação, Museo Zer0 and the Ria Formosa Training Center, MI.MOMO.FARO is a project aimed at 3rd cycle students who want to to disseminate the built cultural heritage through the reproduction of modernist architecture buildings on the Minecraft Education digital platform, in the context of the classroom. Applying the potential of new digital tools to teaching and learning, this project has the participation of dozens of professionals, including teachers, architects and municipal technicians.

​An application developed for the people and with the people was the motto for the presentation of Faro's Candidature for European Capital of Culture 2027, which took place at Teatro das Figuras on the 28th of February. Dozens of guests took the stage to tell, in the first person, what it has been like to participate in this process.

​The journey through the Faro2027 application process began in the foyer of the theater where photographs, objects and films presented the path taken, highlighting some initiatives and projects, trying to anticipate what would be presented on stage.

​It was up to the Vice-President of the Municipality of Faro, Paulo Santos, to start the event. “Faro2027 is a process, it is a path of no return.”, was the opening sentence of his presentation where he explained all the work developed, regional involvement as an opportunity for development but above all how this process challenged teams and working methods : “Nobody was prepared for a project of this magnitude. We were all forced to review working methods and formulas, we were forced to lose the fear of taking risks and we were forced to leave our comfort zone.” In his presentation, the different stages of the process were enumerated, the projects carried out, the European networks created but above all the process was valued regardless of the fact that Faro/Algarve won the title: “We are committed to this competition but our focus was and will continue to be on the process”, concluded Paulo Santos.

The event continued in a talkshow format and many were invited to take the stage to give body and voice to the process. The presentation of the Candidature Dossier (bidbook) was in charge of Bruno Inácio, Head of the Culture Division of the Municipality of Faro and Coordinator of the Faro2027 team. Bruno explained how the region's relationship with water is the main theme of the application, around which all the other problems and themes addressed are derived, not least, such as multiculturalism, climate change and tourist massification.

​The official presentation of the Faro2027 application to the jury will take place on the 9th of March in Lisbon, in an event behind closed doors, with the cities selected for the second phase of the process being known on the 11th of March.

​Faro 2027 went to Faro Hospital to help color the Christmas of children hospitalized or under hospital care.
We brought gifts to brighten up these children's Christmas. Our girls and our boys turned the gifts into works of art.
Together, we lived happy moments, we celebrated with smiles and even with laughter. Memories left that will go down in history. In our history, in the history of our little ones. After all, it's the moments that make the magic of Christmas.

This action stems from the existing partnership between Faro2027 and CHUA, within the scope of the Art for Health project. Our thanks to the hospital services and health professionals who helped us in this initiative:

• Pediatric hospitalization
• Pediatric outpatient consultation
• Pediatric day hospital
• Pediatric emergency

On the 25th and 26th of November, the city of Faro hosted the 7th meeting of Culture Next, a network of European cities, current and former candidates to the title of European Capital of Culture.​

In November of 2019, when signing the collaboration agreement between the Municipality of Faro, the Algarve Intermunicipality Community, the Algarve Tourism Region and the University of Algarve, the municipalities mutually agreed that the European Capital of Culture title justified everyone’s involvement and dedication. ​

They saw this as one of the European Union most recognized initiatives, understanding its transformative impact on the territory and its large capacity of multiplying the investment. On the 5th of November, the sixteen municipalities approved at the meeting of the intermunicipal council a manifestation of collective interest of regional investment in the scope of the candidacy of Faro to European Capital of Culture. This candidacy is recognized as a “collective wish, worthy of a vast and lasting commitment, constituting a unique and outstanding opportunity for Algarve.” It was deliberated, considering the regional component of the project, a manifestation of collective interest for regional investment of an estimated value of sixteen million euros.​