It may seem rather ironic to celebrate Cascais European Youth Capital with a stamp, or collection of stamps. It is said that stamps were invented more than 300 years ago. They don’t seem very fashionable, particularly at a time when many people have stopped sending letters. Everything has now moved into the digital world, into the cloud, emails, SMS and WhatsApp messaging.
It is precisely because they aren’t fashionable that our little old stamps continue to be modern.
They are modern because they have value. The value which someone accords to sending a message to someone else.
They are modern because they are ageless. They move through time with youthful energy.
They are modern because they link us all together. Past, present and future generations, united by a square piece of paper.
It is for these reasons that releasing a collection of stamps is an excellent way to commemorate Cascais European Youth Capital.
We want to have value.
We want to make our mark on history.
We want to link present and future generations of young people.
This is our goal. We are ghting hard to achieve it.
We have competed for the title of European Youth Capital on two occasions. We lost on the rst, but we didn’t give up. We kept on trying. We won on the second, because we were convinced that Cascais and Portugal deserved the title. Cascais has one of the most dynamic communities of young people in the country. We compare favourably to other places around the world in terms of entrepreneurship, volunteering, association activity and citizenship.
This means that in many cases, the political power is led by the dynamism of its young people.
We are working so that no young person is left behind.
We want to improve our youth policy framework. We want to be bold in our proposals for empowerment. We want to be assertive in devising policies for education, both for young people and for lifelong learning. We want to be relentless in defending decent work for young people.
We will leave a mark on young people at the national and European level. We will promote the best European Youth Capital ever.
When we all have grey hair and look back at these stamps, we will always remember the boldness and courage of our youth.
Carlos Carreiras President of Cascais City Council
