Led by ADRITEM – Acossiação de Desenvolvimento Regional Integrado das Terras de Santa Maria, based in Oliveira de Axeméis, in the district of Aveiro, the project aims to boost the network of villages classified as “Villages of Portugal” with the involvement of the community and local agents, investing in endogenous resources and heritage, traditional gastronomy and environmental landscapes.

Emídio Sousa, president of the ADRITEM board, stated, “this award for the “Aldeias de Portugal” project, led by ADRITEM and involves 16 local action groups in the country, stems from the concept “Ha Festa na Aldeia”, which started in Porto Carvoeiro with the intention of enhancing the attraction of our villages in the summer, with local traditions, old games and traditional food”.

The success of the first editions of “Ha Festa na Aldeia” later led by ADRITEM, in accordance with Emídio Sousa, has helped the appeal of the villages, in addition to other activities and projects, to “make the interior and rural areas of the country more attractive and inviting, by encouraging more visits, it also helps the economic development of these communities”.

Teresa Pouzada, executive director of ADRITEM and president of the Associação do Turismo de Aldeia, which owns the “Aldeias de Portugal” brand, explaining that the European LEADER Awards competition analysed applications from different countries, all by private or public entities with funding for this program, in a specific period from 2014 to 2020.

“All the projects in the competition had to be finalised or underway, and the international jury chose as the best the one that ADRITEM proposed, as leader and mentor of the project that involved 61 of the 132 “Villages of Portugal”, she revealed.

Recalling the “Ha Festa na Aldeia” project has also been distinguished by the Portugal Inovação Social program, Teresa Pouzada also highlights that this participation and involvement has inspired many of the subsequent strategies of the “Aldeias de Portugal” network and “the protagonists are always the local agents of each territory, such as municipalities, parish, councils, associations, communities and residents”.

By certifying the genuineness of the territories distinguished with this brand, based on methodologies and principles of the LEADER approach, the “Aldeias de Portugal” seal aims to value the resources and potential of each village, involving the respective communities and its agents in a common project for development.

“Our intention is to improve the quality of life of the population of each village and preserve the culture of Portuguese rural experiences and traditions, helping to protect the entire rural heritage”, concludes Teresa Pouzada.