The forum, titled "A network of museums and places of memory of the opposition and resistance to the Portuguese dictatorship", was created with the aim of drawing up a guiding document for the creation of a future network that will bring together museums, archives, associations, foundations and projects related to the resistance and opposition to the dictatorial regime in Portugal. In addition, the forum was also designed to reflect on and create conditions for debate on the importance of preserving democracy, defining good practices and actions to raise awareness and educate about values such as freedom and resistance. The director of the National Museum of Resistance and Freedom (MNRL), Aida Rechena, said, in statements to Lusa, that museums have the role of preserving the memories of those who fought for freedom and raising awareness among new generations about the importance of these struggles. "I think that this type of museum, related to the resistance to repression and dictatorships, must continue to develop awareness-raising activities to warn that freedom and democracy are not acquired values. And that is an objective that the MNRL has: to develop activities that preserve memory and raise awareness that there was a dictatorship in Portugal, in order to try to prevent a situation like this from happening again," she explained. According to Aida Rechena, museums should direct their activities towards current society and address contemporary issues, such as the rise of the far right, in order to remain relevant. "We have to direct our activities towards current society and try to understand what impact we have on current society, otherwise there is no point in museums functioning," she said. "Museums have to be geared towards contemporaneity and the far right is something that should be addressed by these museums and by this network of museums," she added. At the forum, which took place at the Humberto Delgado Centre in Torres Novas, Santarém district, not only were several debates held on the creation of a future network, but also the concrete activities that will be developed by this network. Aida Rechena also said that the National Museum of Resistance and Freedom, which was inaugurated on April 27 - when 50 years had passed since the liberation of political prisoners in Portugal - has had a large influx of visitors, including schools, generations prior to April 25 and foreign tourists, which "demonstrates the interest in the history of resistance in Portugal". "These spaces are valued and proof of this is the enormous number of visitors who have entered the museum in just one month of operation. We have had a huge turnout, and there is a great deal of interest," she said. The event was attended by representatives of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a global network that brings together more than 200 entities that preserve the memory of resistance to dictatorships and the struggle for freedom, including museums and memorial sites, an entity affiliated with the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and which has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The Aljube Museum in Lisbon, the "don't erase memory" Movement, the Union of Portuguese Anti-Fascist Resistants (URAP), the Mário Soares Foundation, the University of Porto's Centre for Transdisciplinary Research in Culture, Space and Memory (CITCEM), the Médio Tejo museum network and the councils of Odivelas, Beja, Marinha Grande, Santarém, Sertã and Grândola were other participants in this forum. Read Also: Alexandre Pais is the new president of Museums and Monuments of Portugal (Portuguese version)