AZORES

PARTNER

Associação para o Desenvolvimento Local da Ilha do Pico

ADLIP – Escola Profissional do Pico is a vocational secondary school located in the town of Madalena, in Pico Island, which is one of the nine islands of the Portuguese archipelago of Azores. ADLIP-EPP accepts students between the ages of 15 and 25, mostly seeking technical qualifications in order to find employment. Throughout the years many courses have been offered in a variety of study fields. The courses running at the moment are Tourism, Restaurant and Bar Services, Computer Sciences, Psychosocial Support and Health Technician. These courses have a three year duration; students must have completed their 9^th grade to be able to enter, and will leave with a double certification (12^th grade and professional qualification in their study field). Included in their curriculum are 600 hours of on-the-job training (internship) in companies related to the course.

The population of Pico Island is approximately 15,000. The main economic sectors are agriculture, cattle raising, dairy products, wine production, tourism, fishing and services. The climate in the Azores is subtropical oceanic, pleasantly warm in summer, yet cool and mild for many months of the year. Vegetation is green due to abundant rains during fall and winter.

The mountain (Pico), which gives the name to the island, is 2351 meters high and is officially the highest point of Portugal. Climbing Pico mountain is one of the big tourist attractions, as well as hiking or cycling through natural trails, diving, snorkeling or whale watching.

The landscapes of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture, combining their volcanic nature and ancestral cultivation practices, were classified by UNESCO, in 2004, as World Heritage.

Each one of the islands of the Azores is packed with natural beauties in its purest of forms.