Day1 – 07/10/2021
On the first Day, Greek partners gave a short summary of the good practices of Aristoteli. Project partners activated their knowledge of the GPs and started to think about connections between the partner cities.
Day2 – 22/10/2021
Session 1 – Morning session, presentations
At the beginning of the morning session, Nikolaos Avgerinos, Vice Major of the Municipality of Aristoteli welcomed the participants, the project partners, and the local stakeholders. Panagiotis G. Tsolakidis /Local Project Manager/ and Nikolaos Avgerinos introduced the city, its natural heritage, challenges, and local strategy. The purpose of the local strategy is to invest in sustainable development, revitalization of peri-urban areas and the natural environment, by promoting natural and cultural heritage and strengthening public and private actors of the tourism sector, engaging them in the protection of natural heritage and biodiversity.
The first good practice Aristoteli Grove was presented by Marilena Zamani /Municipal Councillor, Municipal Tourism Establishments Development Agency S.A (AXTADA)/. The participants were shown the area which is part of the protected areas of the European Natura 2000 network. In the area of the Grove, original interactive instruments have been exhibited that operate based on the laws of nature which are mentioned in the writings of Aristotle.
Nikolaos Avgerinos presented the good practice Heritage Hikes. The Aristotelian Route is not only individual, but also part of a wider network of Aristotelian routes, as well as other culturally defined routes such as the Mount Athos borderline routes, and more. After presenting the characteristics, routes, and trekking networks of Heritage Hikes, Avgerinos showed the brochure made for helping visitors during their trekking.
The third good practice was presented by Maria Pappa /Marketing & Communication Manager, Mount Athos Area Organisation/. The KOUZINA project is a monthly gastronomic festival, which promotes the place and the people through authentic food and local products. The festival is divided into 5 weekly thematic sections, which highlight the local gastronomic influences: Ancient Greek cuisine; Seafood cuisine; Monastic cuisine; Cuisine of unforgettable homelands; and Mediterranean cuisine. The festival is a good opportunity to promote the local food because around 100 representatives of the press and tourist offices from 7 European countries visit the destination every year.
The last good practice Women’s cooperatives was presented by the Varvara Agricultural Association. After the members of the association talked about the cooperatives, project partners could join the live cooking with the women from Varvara. They cooked Hilopites, which is a traditional Greek pasta.
Session 2 - Local discussion
During session 2, partners discussed the presented good practices with their local stakeholders, focusing on the similarities and the possibility of transferring the GPs of Aristoteli.
Session 3 - Plenary closing Session
In the plenary closing session, partners shared and discussed the lessons learned from local round tables. They also collected further questions for the Greek partners to answer on Day3 of the study visit.
Day3 – 03/11/2021
On Day3 of the Study visit to Aristoteli, project partners deeply discussed the good practices, and their previous questions were answered by the presenters of the good practices.