It’s back to summer school
A forum for people seeking information about bringing more environmental awareness into their lives and work is to be held this year for the sixth time by the Interdisciplinary Institute for Environmental Research (DIPE). The «Summer Ecology University,» this year on the island of Syros, has become an annual event where experts share their experience and knowledge with the public, who combine a three-week education program with a holiday. This year’s program has the theme «Sustainability – Work – Entrepreneurship,» and covers the theory and practice of sustainability, with examples from transport, town planning and agriculture, work-related issues such as tax reform, unions, and work in the new economy, with examples from alternative forms of tourism and economic structures in the Aegean. It is organized in cooperation with the University of Thessaly and the National Center for Public Administration. The course is divided into three separate streams which can be taken separately or in their entirety. The first week (July 7-11) is devoted to «Sustainability: From Theory to Practice» presented by Michalis Modinos (town planner and president of the National Center for the Environment and Sustainable Development), Dimos Tsantilis (physicist, writer and DIPE associate), Spyros Vouyias (transport expert and parliamentary deputy), town planner Maro Evangelidou and Professor Napoleon Maraveyias, president of the National Agricultural Research Foundation (ETHIAGE). The second week (July 14-18) deals with «Labor: Conflict and Convergence,» and the speakers include former European Commissioner Yiannis Palaiokrassas discussing «Tax Reform, the Environment and Labor,» environmental scientist and civil engineer Christina Theohari on «The Unions at a Turning Point.» Other speakers include Vassilis Pesmazoglou, assistant professor at the University of Crete, archaeologist Eleni Svoronou, head of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Greece’s ecotourism program, and Yiannis Spilanis of the Aegean University. The final week deals with «The Challenge in the Field of Entrepreneurship» with Alexandros Deliyiannis, DIPE Director Ilias Efthymiopoulos, Antonis Trifyllis, Michalis Papayiannakis and Michalis Christakis. Most of those who have attended previous sessions were prompted by personal interest rather than being sent by public or private organizations. Although no qualifications are necessary, some university study is needed if participants are to get the most out of the courses. According to Tassia Chrisaiti of DIPE, teachers form the majority of the summer student body. «Teachers have more time off, of course, so they combine their attendance with a summer holiday and bring their families along. But we have all kinds of people, from architects to psychologists, and adults of all ages,» explained Christaiti. Alternative tourism Eleni Svoronou, an archaeologist and head of the WWF Greece program for ecotourism, will be lecturing in Syros on alternative tourism, including its effect on local employment, its role as a supplementary form of income for farming economies, and the importance of new opportunities not only in ecotourism but in other specialized fields and the upper end of the market. Even before the current crisis in tourism focused attention on the need to find means of expanding the season, there had been many attempts to find ways to extend its duration and to show tourists that Greece was not only its islands and coastal areas. WWF has concentrated on ecotourism to boost alternative tourism chiefly for the purpose of conservation, but there are other specialized fields that could enlarge the market. «Alternative tourism can be anything that extends the usual range of tourist activities. It can include spas, cultural and religious tourism such as visits to historic monasteries, convention tourism, and nature tourism such as birdwatching,» said Svoronou, although she points out that there is obviously some overlap. Some of these sectors are already developing. Thermal springs, once very popular with people seeking «cures» for various ailments, are undergoing a revival and are in demand by people wanting simply to relax and unwind at any time of year. Another growing market is in «adventure holidays» such as rafting, kayaking and mountain biking. Observation platforms for birdwatchers already exist in many parts of the country including the Dadia forest, considered a good example of the successful integration of tourism and conservation in Greece; Porto Lagos, one of the best birdwatching spots on mainland Greece; and the wetlands of the Axios River delta. The state-run Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) commissioned WWF Greece in 2000 to carry out a study analyzing exactly what the expansion of ecotourism would involve, in view of the Year of Ecotourism in 2002. WWF Greece carried out intensive research in the forest of Dadia in Evros, northeastern Greece, and also looked at two other areas in need of natural development and rehabilitation: the already popular tourist destinations of the Pindos mountain range in central Greece, and the wetland of Lake Kerkini in Serres, in northern Greece. «The National Tourist Organization of Greece has taken some steps toward promoting alternative tourism, but generally the initiative has come from the private sector, non-governmental organizations and local government,» Svoronou added. In the prefecture of Florina, the luxury La Moara hotel at Nymphaio is geared toward upmarket customers. The Dadia forest reserve, initially established by WWF in the Evros prefecture, is now run by the local municipality. Birdwatching areas have been set up by environmental groups such as the Hellenic Ornithological Society. Svoronou will also be looking at policies for alternative tourism, support measures, and social and institutional conditions. Further information is available from the program’s website (www.dipe.gr). WWF’s ‘School of the Sea’ Another summer course, this time for professionals, is being organized by WWF on the island of Alonnissos at the National Sea Park of the Northern Sporades. A follow-up to last year’s «School of the Forest,» this year’s session continues the practice of focusing on a region in which a long-term environmental protection program is under way. It is designed for staff members of civil services such as ministries, coast guard, local government bodies, non-governmental organizations, development and technical companies, academics and researchers. The subject matter includes the concept of a protected area, ways to monitor the ecosystems, institutional frameworks, getting the local population involved and integrated planning, management and development.
