The Region of Crete
The Region of Crete is one of the 13 regions of Greece. Crete is the largest island in Greece and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean, occupying a total area of 8,303 km2 with a coastline of 1,046km.
Tourism is the most important economic activity in Greece and contributes over 50% to its GDP. Especially in Crete, a seasonal model based on coastal tourism has been established for many years, as the beaches of Crete are famous for their beauty and their purity. The environmental quality of beaches and coastal areas play a major role in attracting investment in all sectors of its economy, promoting growth, employment, social cohesion and territorial integrity. Marine litter has not only a negative impact on coastal ecosystems and their services but every year, national and local authorities spend thousands of euros to maintain the beaches attractive.
The Region of Crete is involved in the promotion of the coastal environment, infrastructure and services in order to attract tourism continuously. Its efforts on sustainability could be enhanced by better cooperation with the direct beach administrations, entrepreneurs operating in these areas and, of course, funding from programmes that may have a direct impact on waste prevention at the coast.
The Region of Crete is always on going with many European Projects under the framework of Horizon 2020, Interreg EU, Interreg Greece – Cyprus, Interreg MED etc. It has been particularly interesting in the CAPonLITTER program because Crete is a coastal tourism-based region and is particularly sensitive to marine litter.
The team
The CAPonLITTER team is constituted by employees in the Region of Crete that are willing to contribute whatever is needed for the environmental management.
- Eleni Tzagkaraki, Architect holding a M.Sc in Environmental Planning of Cities and Buildings, as coordinator.
- Manolis Methymakis, economist, M.A. (Econ.) as financial manager
- Maria Christodoulaki, lawyer with Master in Political Sciences as well as Graduate of the National School of Public Administration and Local Government
- Maria Kandigologianaki, biologist with a PhD in the field of laboratory medicine and biotechnology.
- Aristeidis Stratakis, Mineral Resources Engineer MSc.
- Lina Anezaki, M.Sc.Marine Biology
- Lena Kargaki, Civil Engineer
- Chrysi Tsirita, Civil Engineer
- Aliki Karouzou
