The Journey of the LPAZ Forum
António Monteiro (LPAZ Association)
The LPAZ Forum had its inaugural edition in 2015, and since then, five editions have been held: 2017, 2022, 2023, and 2024. This addendum delves into the genesis of the LPAZ Forum, the reasons behind its name “LPAZ,” the choice of Santa Maria as its location, and how the four previous editions were brought about through a history of partnerships and bottom-up initiatives.
GENESIS
The LPAZ Forum was born out of an idea that emerged at the Conference “Pensée de l’Archipel et Lieux de Passage,” organized by APEF – Portuguese Association for French Studies and the CHAM – Centre for the Humanities, held at the Ponta Delgada campus of the University of the Azores, in October 2014. I participated in this event with a paper on Louis Castex and his involvement in the French aeronautical missions to the Azores during the 1930s. Through his books, Castex was one of the precursors to the Azores being “discovered” by aviation, by debating the aeronautical use of the archipelago as a base to support transatlantic air transport. At the end of the panel, José Domingues de Almeida (APEF) approached me with the proposal to hold a conference dedicated to aviators-writers. He soon called Dominique Faria (APEF/CHAM) to share this idea and project. In turn, I proposed that it should be held on Santa Maria Island and that the LPAZ Association would be available to co-organize it.
THE LPAZ ASSOCIATION
The LPAZ Association had been created just two years earlier, in 2012, with the aim of valuing and promoting the aeronautical heritage of the island of Santa Maria and the Azores, not only from an operational perspective but also from a historical and cultural viewpoint. Santa Maria Airport, through its airport infrastructure, and the Santa Maria Oceanic Control Center—both built by U.S. forces after 1944, and since 1946, responsible for managing the air traffic over a vast area of the North Atlantic—played an important role in the largest and longest air bridge in history, the Atlantic air bridge. These infrastructures supported international civil aviation operations between America and Europe, starting in the final days of the Second World War and continuing through the Marshall Plan, Europe’s reconstruction, and unification process periods, until the 1970s.
The LPAZ code—chosen as the name of the cultural association—emerged right from the start of this story, following the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation of December 7th, 1944, which established the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). This occurred only nine days after the “Santa Maria Agreement,” which authorized the United States Government to build, use, and control Santa Maria’s state of the art aeronautical infrastructures. ICAO organized the globe into various aeronautical regions, within which different states and, within them, their various aeronautical infrastructures and services would
fall. Thus, Santa Maria Airport, as well as the Santa Maria Aeronautical (radio) Station, would be assigned the code LPAZ: L for southern Europe (perhaps Latin Europe, although there are non-Latin countries in this region); P for Portugal; and AZ for Azores, reflecting Santa Maria International Airport’s role as the central infrastructure that served the entire Archipelago of the Azores. The other airport in the archipelago was Lajes Base on Terceira Island, built by the British during the Second World War and later transferred to U.S. military forces when the conflict ended, used exclusively by military air traffic until the Cold War détente of the 1970s.
“LPAZ” also benefits from the fortunate coincidence of containing the word “PAZ” (peace in Portuguese), which gains even greater significance from the fact that the Santa Maria American Airbase never served the war effort. Interestingly, it only became operational on May 9, 1945, the first day of peace in Europe, and was even referred to as a “base of peace.” In fact, an article published in Time magazine in June 1946, entitled “The Bases of Peace,” identified Santa Maria and several other air bases that the U.S. forces had built in wartime and that were being transferred to civilian jurisdiction and dedicated to supporting International Civil Aviation, which at that time was in its infancy.
Naturally, this had a tremendous impact on the island, transforming it from an Azorean island with the fewest connections to the world, into an “airport-island,” with flights connecting the major European and North American cities and capitals. It also became the gateway to and from the Azores at a time when turboprop aviation required a technical refueling stopover in the middle of the Atlantic. In addition to its airport and transatlantic air traffic communications and control functions, several other satellite functions were added, given the island’s accessibility and interconnection with the world.
The strategic role played by Santa Maria led to its population increasing from around 8,000 inhabitants, primarily engaged in a subsistence farming economy, to around 15,000 inhabitants (Bastos, 2002). This growth was accompanied by a strong tertiarization of the economy, the arrival of a large number of highly qualified workers from across the Portuguese empire at the time, as well as resident staff from the various international airliners that operated the transatlantic routes.1
With the conclusion of its primordial role as an airport-island, serving as a steppingstone supporting the air-bridge between the New and Old Worlds, following technological advancements in aircraft during the 1970s and 1980s, a pivotal chapter in the history of Santa Maria Island came to an end. This marked a significant transition that invites reflection on the island’s enduring legacy.
Santa Maria was the first island to be formed in the Azores, the first to be discovered and populated, and the first to serve as a transatlantic stopover. It was also the first to learn about the discovery of the Americas, as Christopher Columbus passed through on his return from his first voyage to the New World. Santa Maria, the mother island, has been a hub of creativity, initiating, nurturing, launching, and sharing projects across the Atlantic at various periods in its history. It has consistently supported communication, transportation, and the exploration of Atlantic knowledge. This makes it an ideal locale for hosting a forum dedicated to reflecting on Atlantic issues. Since 2015, this vision has been embraced by the LPAZ Forum.
LPAZ FORUM 2015 – “AVIATORS-WRITERS, WRITER-AVIATORS – WITNESSES AND WRITERS OF HISTORY”
Following that first exchange of ideas at the conference “Pensée de l’Archipel et Lieux de Passage,” APEF presented us with an extraordinary call for papers titled “Aviateurs-écrivains, écrivains-aviateurs – témoins et écrivains de l’histoire” that, naturally, received a very positive response. The academic partners were the University of the Azores, APEF, and ILCML – Margarida Losa Comparative Literature Institute. The sponsors were the Regional Government of the Azores, the Vila do Porto Municipality, and SATA Group (Azores Airlines).
Figure 12.1
Logo for the LPAZ Forum 2015.
Twenty-three presentations were delivered at this conference. Subsequently, a call for articles was issued, followed by scientific peer-review, culminating in the publication of a dedicated book within the APEF collection Exotopies by Le Manuscrit. This publication is titled Aviateurs-écrivains, témoins de l’histoire (Almeida et al., 2017).
One of the participants of the 2015 LPAZ Forum was Professor Alan Dobson, who had previously visited Santa Maria in 2007 for a conference on the impact of American military air bases in Europe, organized by Luís Nuno Rodrigues (Iscte-IUL), and again in 2014 for one of the first LPAZ initiatives. During the fruitful talks we all had in September 2015, he suggested the title for the next LPAZ Forum: “Aviation: The Impact on Time and Space.”
LPAZ FORUM 2017 - “AVIATION: THE IMPACT ON TIME AND SPACE”
The call for papers for the LPAZ FORUM 2017, themed “Aviation: The Impact on Time and Space,” was written by Dominique Faria and myself. The forum took place from September 6th to 10th and featured not only an international academic conference but also a meeting of aviation museums and archives in the North Atlantic basin. During these intense four days, delegates debated the role of aviation in changing the concepts of time and space, and its profound impact on both territories and cultures. They shared knowledge and experiences related
to aviation heritage and its enduring legacy.
In terms of partnerships, the 2017 LPAZ Forum had CEI – Centre for International Studies, from Iscte-IUL, the University of the Azores, and APEF. On the sponsoring side, ANAC (Portuguese Aviation Authority) joined the regional government and the local municipality.
Figure 12.2
Logo for the LPAZ Forum 2017
The peer-reviewed papers presented at the LPAZ Forum 2017 were subsequently published in the Exotopies collection, under the title L’aviation et son impact sur le temps et l’espace, published by Le Manuscrit (Dodson et al., 2019).
LPAZ FORUM 2022 – “WINGS OF THE ATLANTIC – THE AZORES AND THE CHALLENGES OF THE WEST”
As planned from the beginning, the LPAZ Forum was intended to have a biennial periodicity, with the next edition scheduled for 2019. Since it was the year of the 75th anniversary of the Santa Maria American Airbase and the signing of the Santa Maria Agreement of November 28th, 1944, we decided to shift the event to this period (November 28th-30th). Only too late did we realize that November 28th, 2019 would be Thanksgiving Day in the United States, making it extremely difficult to secure U.S. representatives for the event. Consequently, we rescheduled the conference to September 2020, when we could celebrate not only the Santa Maria Agreement but also the 75th anniversary of the American Airbase inauguration and the end of World War II. Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic blocked us from celebrating these anniversaries and gathering together.
The return of the LPAZ Forum happened in 2022 in a markedly different post-pandemic world, spanning from local to global perspectives: significant developments emerged regarding the Azores’ role in New Space international initiatives, alongside geopolitical shifts such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leading to a strengthening of NATO.
Since, by the Spring of 2022, we still didn’t know how that summer would unfold in terms of flights and travel conditions, there was no time for a call for papers. Instead, the organization decided to issue direct invitations to several institutions that could help us assess the new challenges the world would be facing from Azorean, Portuguese, and Atlantic perspectives. As a result, the conference “Wings of the Atlantic - The Azores, the Atlantic, and the Challenges of the West” welcomed new partners, including the CEHu – Centre for Humanistic Studies at the University of the Azores; the Atlantic Centre; FLAD – Luso-American Foundation for Development; and TSA – Transatlantic Studies Association.
It also featured the participation from institutions like EMEPC – Portuguese Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf; Okeanos from the Universidade dos Açores, EMA-Espaço (Azores Mission Structure for Space), and EUSPA – European Union Agency for the Space Programme.
The LPAZ Forum 2022 also provided an opportunity to gather academic partners and governmental institutions sponsoring the forum to align on a strategy for future conferences and initiatives. The LPAZ Forum 2022 would not lead to a publication, but it was decided that the forum would be organized annually and in person (not online). It was also agreed that it would be important to dedicate one day to the Santa Maria Strategic Roadmap, allowing participants to visit geostrategic sites around the island and learn more about the significant role that the Azores have played and continue to play in bridging the Atlantic.
LPAZ FORUM 2023 – “THE AZORES, THE ATLANTIC, AND THE GLOBAL CHALLENGES”
The call for papers for the 2023 LPAZ Forum was jointly written by Ana Mónica Fonseca, Director of CEI-Iscte, and myself, with significant contributions from all the members of the Scientific Committee, especially Alexandre Moreli from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and Licínia Simão from the Atlantic Centre and the University of Coimbra. With this call for papers and conference, the LPAZ Forum returned to its full disciplinary scope, bridging from literature (the focus of the first edition) to the geopolitical issues related to the sea, air, and space activities, as well as Atlantic communities, culture, and heritage. Thisconference was organized in partnership with Cei-Iscte and CEHu – Center for Humanistic Studies, at the University of the Azores, the Atlantic Centre, and TSA, with the support from the Regional Government of the Azores, the Municipality of Vila do Porto and FLAD – Luso-American Foundation for Development.
At the end of the conference, Professor Diniz Borges, who had participated in the panel dedicated to the Azorean diaspora in the U.S., proposed that papers presented at this conference be published by Bruma Publications, from PBBI – Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute, at California State University, Fresno, in collaboration with Letras Lavadas, the main publishing house in the Azores.
The current volume, The Azores, the Atlantic, and the Global Challenges: Geopolitics and Diaspora, includes the papers from the LPAZ Forum 2023, which were submitted for peer review to the editors of this book: Dulce Maria Scott, Diniz Borges, Ana Mónica Fonseca, and António Monteiro.
LPAZ FORUM 2024 – “ONE ATLANTIC, MANY PERSPECTIVES – VALUING DIVERSITY IN THE AGE OF COMPETITION”
The LPAZ Forum 2024 is now on the scene with the theme “One Atlantic, Many Perspectives – valuing diversity in the age of competition,” proposed by Licínia Simão from the University of Coimbra and former Director of the Atlantic Center. This 2024 edition sees the return of APEF and ILCML to the group of academic partners, following their participation in the 2015 and 2017 editions.
Additionally, CHAM – Center for the Humanities (Nova University and University of the Azores) is also part of the academic partners for this year’s forum.
In the 2024 edition, we aimed to bridge connections to the South Atlantic while focusing on defining nine conference topics that span across Atlantic issues, viewed from the Azorean perspective:
1. The Azores and Atlantic geopolitics;
2. Atlantic Kinetics: transport, communications and connectivity [in memory of Alan Dobson];
3. Atlantic diasporas;
4. Environment and climate change;
5. History of Science in the Atlantic;
6. Island Studies, Island Literature, and representations of the Atlantic;
7. Atlantic Politics, State, Autonomy and Integration;
8. Geocritical and geopoetic approaches on the Literary Atlantic;
9. The Atlantic in literature, the media and other arts.
CONCLUSION
This has surely been a fruitful endeavor, gathering Atlantic experts on the mother island of the Azores in the heart of the Atlantic. Its holistic and transdisciplinary approach has fostered a much richer understanding of Atlantic realities and challenges, illuminating step by step how these partners can contribute to a better comprehension of Atlantic phenomena.
The time of the year seems to be a great opportunity. The first days of September work as a réentrée into academic activities before classes start in Europe, enabling the gathering of participants to the center of the Atlantic. Also, the peaceful and warm atmosphere of the island, coupled with a social program that enables the exchange of ideas between the participants, play a crucial role in the ever-growing success of the LPAZ Forum.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE ORGANIZING AND/OR THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEES OF THE LPAZ FORUM
– Alan Dobson (Swansea University)
– Alexandre Moreli (IRI, Universidade de São Paulo)
– Álvaro Antunes (LPAZ)
– Ana Clara Santos (APEF)
– Ana Isabel Moniz (APEF)
– Ana Mónica Fonseca (CEI-Iscte)
– Ana Paula Coutinho (Universidade do Porto; ILCML)
– António José Telo (Academia Militar)
– António Monteiro (LPAZ; CEI-Iscte)
– Berta Pimentel (CEHu – Universidade dos Açores)
– Carlos Amaral (CEHu – Universidade dos Açores)
– Carlos Riley (Universidade dos Açores)
– David Burigana (Università degli Studi di Padova)
– David Devereux (Canisius College)
– Diniz Borges (PBBI - California State University, Fresno)
– Dominique Faria (Universidade dos Açores; CHAM; APEF)
– Ermelindo Peixoto (Universidade dos Açores)
– Françoise Lucbert (Université Laval)
– Giuseppe Formato (CIES-Iscte)
– Godfrey Baldacchino (L-Università ta’ Malta)
– Gonçalo Vilas-Boas (Universidade do Porto; ILCML)
– Gui Menezes (Okeanos, Universidade Açores)224 | ANTÓNIO MONTEIRO
– Ian Horwood (York St. John University)
– Jeffery Engle (Center for Presidential History)
– João Bairos (LPAZ)
– José Domingues de Almeida (Universidade do Porto; APEF; ILCML)
– José Manuel Fernandes (Universidade de Lisboa)
– Licínia Simão (University of Coimbra)
– Luís Andrade (CEHu – Universidade dos Açores)
– Luís Costa Cabral (Atlantic Centre)
– Luís Nuno Rodrigues (CEI-Iscte)
– Maria de Fátima Outeirinho (Universidade do Porto; ILCML)
– Maria de Jesus Cabral (Universidade de Lisboa)
– Maria do Céu Fraga (CEHu – Universidade dos Açores)
– Mário Viana (CEHu – Universidade dos Açores)
– Mélodie Simard Houde (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
– Miguel Monjardino (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)
– Nuno de Noronha Bragança (Atlantic Centre)
– Olivier Odaert (Académie des Beaux-Arts de Tournai)
– Onésimo Teotónio Almeida (Brown University)
– Patrícia Daehnhardt (IPRI-Nova; IDN)
– Paulo Jorge de Sousa Meneses (Universidade dos Açores)
– Peter J. Hugill (Texas A&M University)
– Peter Švík (Historisches Kolleg, Munich)
– Ricardo Batista (LPAZ)
– Rui Batista (LPAZ)
– Rute Gregório (Universidade dos Açores)
– Stéphane Tison (Université du Maine | Le Mans-Laval)
– Susana Goulart Costa (Universidade dos Açores)
– Thomas Mills, Lancaster University; Transatlantic Studies Association
NOTE
1 - In the 1940 national census, Santa Maria Island had 8,067 inhabitants (Bastos, 2002). Following the installation of the American airbase and its adaptation to an international civil aviation airport (1944–46), a significant migration process began. People from other Azorean islands, the Portuguese mainland and empire, as well as other countries, moved to the island to take advantage of the jobs and opportunities created by the transatlantic airport. Migrants needed either a job contract or a “carta de chamada” (a formal invitation letter) to move to the island (Figueiredo, 1990).
The national census recorded the following population changes throughout the decades (Bastos, 2002; INE, n.d.):
1940: 8,067
1950: 11,839
1960: 13,233
1970: 9,792
1981: 6,500
1991: 5,922
2001: 5,628
2011: 5,552
2021: 5,406.
At its peak, more than 3,000 people were working directly or indirectly at the Santa Maria Airport, many of whom lived in Vila do Porto. The influx of jobs and better living conditions led to population increases across all parishes (Bastos, 2002).
It is estimated that by 1965, the island’s population had grown to over 15,000 (Bastos, 2002). However, changes in immigration laws in the U.S. and Canada, combined with the evolution of aviation technology, led to a decline in the island’s population. Consequently, jobs began to decrease, and services were either closed or transferred to mainland Portugal or other Azorean islands, exacerbating Santa Maria’s emigration rates. The implementation of the autonomous regional government in 1976 further shifted services to more populated islands. By the 1980s, NATO’s Lajes air base on Terceira island was designated as the primary gateway to the Azores. Around the same time, São Miguel island, the most populated in the Azores, developed an airport capable of handling direct flights from both sides of the North Atlantic (Monteiro, 2021).
As seen elsewhere, the decreasing peripheral island population in Santa Maria has been concentrating in urban areas, particularly Vila do Porto town. In the Azores, this trend is mirrored by the concentration of population in and around Ponta Delgada city in the island of São Miguel. If Santa Maria had the average population density of the entire archipelago, it would have around 11,000 inhabitants; if it had the density of São Miguel, there would be about 17,000 inhabitants.
REFERENCES
Almeida, J. D. de, Faria, D., Monteiro, A., & Outeirinho, M. de F. (Eds.). (2017). Aviateurs-écrivains, témoins de l’histoire. Paris, France: Éditions Le Manuscrit. https://lemanuscrit.fr/livres/aviateurs-ecrivains/
Bastos, S. (2002). As Mobilidades Populacionais em Santa Maria: Suas Evoluções e Tendências, Câmara Municipal de Vila do Porto.
Dobson, A., D. Faria, A. Monteiro & Rodrigues, L. N. (Eds.). (2019). L’aviation et son impact sur le temps et l’espace. Paris: Éditions Le Manuscrit. https://lemanuscrit.fr/livres/laviation-et-son-impact-sur-le-temps-et-lespace/
Figueiredo, J. (1990). A ilha de Gonçalo Velho – Da descoberta ao aeroporto! (2nd ed.). Câmara Municipal de Vila do Porto.
INE – Instituto Nacional de Estatística, URL: https://censos.ine.pt/
Monteiro, A. (2021). As Ilhas nas Relações Internacionais: Santa Maria (Açores) no Século XX. Lisboa: Lisbon International Press.
Rocha, G. (1991). Dinâmica Populacional dos Açores no Século XX: Unidade, Permanência, Diversidade, Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada,
Strategy: The bases of peace. (1946, June 17). TIME, https://time.com/archive/6783952/strategy-the-bases-of-peace/