G. Hatzimarkos: “South Aegean – From barren islands to front-line islands in sustainability and innovation” – 2024-04-18 07:34:47

by times news cr

2024-04-18 07:34:47

Astypalea, Chalki and Tilos. These small and remote Greek islands in the South Aegean share something in common: ambitious goals despite their small size.

The once barren islands are now attracting global attention for their green outlook and innovation-focused initiatives. The three islands are joined by Rhodes and Syros, the capitals of the Dodecanese and the Cyclades, and together they play a decisive role in shaping the future of the South Aegean and Greece as a whole.

In these islands we create our own plan for the next day, which can be adopted by the rest of the country and, possibly, by other countries. A plan that today already has brilliant examples of best practice to demonstrate.

In Greece, an “e-mobility on demand” service has been operating for 2 years, in Astypalaia, the butterfly-shaped island, with an area of ​​97 square kilometers and 1,334 inhabitants. Through the ‘Astybus’ mobile app, residents and visitors can call an electric bus, which is gradually replacing conventional municipal buses, to pick them up at a virtual stop.

The service is operated by the Development Organization of the N. Aegean Region “K2 S.A.” and in its first 150 days of operation, AstyBus made 24,370 trips.

Halki was the first Gr-eco island and a model, which evolved into a special NSRA financing program for the islands of the whole country, for net zero carbon dioxide emissions. What is particularly impressive is that, through the GR-eco islands program, the island is one of the few places in the entire world that have achieved a zero carbon footprint. Even more impressive perhaps in the age of the energy crisis is that its residents, through the opportunity given to them to participate in the energy community, must be the only residents on the planet, who see their electricity bills significantly reduced or even zero.

Tiny Tilos is a pioneer in the circular economy. In July 2023, it was declared the first island in the world with zero waste certification, while in just two years, it reduced its landfill rate from 87% to zero (0%)!

Just Go Zero Tilos, a pioneering integrated waste management program launched in December 2021, is implemented by the Municipality of Tilos in collaboration with Polygreen and the South Aegean Region, with the aim of making the island free of waste. Today, the island’s 780 residents have achieved the world’s highest recycling rate, a record that has attracted the interest of faraway Abu Dhabi.

In January 2023, Syros welcomed the Aegean Neorion Innovation Center (ANIC), a collaboration between the South Aegean Region, Onex Group & Technologies, Cisco and the University of the Aegean. The center was created primarily to research, design and implement innovative solutions to challenges facing local communities.

ANIC’s first project involved the transformation of Syros General Hospital into a safe, green and smart facility. Tablets and mobile phones have eliminated the use of forms, while sensors detect the number of visitors and prevent overcrowding. Smart meters monitor environmental parameters and help reduce energy consumption.

Finally, in Rhodes, with 2.5 million international visitors per year, we have the great ambition to pave the way for sustainable tourism. In collaboration with the tourism leader TUI and the TUI Care Foundation, the South Aegean Region took the initiative to research, design and implement measures to make sustainable tourism a present reality and not a distant utopia.

This ambitious program, to which we have given the title The Rhodes Co-Lab. Sustainable Destination, aims to create a holistic sustainable business model for travel destinations worldwide. Its originality compared to any sustainability program developed by public or private agencies, but also its great challenge lies in the holistic approach, not only in the individual issues of the environment, such as e.g. reduction of plastic, recycling etc. but in matters of Society-Tradition by strengthening social development and cultural heritage as well as in matters of the Economy by promoting inclusive economic development in the tourism sector.

Presentation of The Rhodes Co Lab to the Prime Minister

We know that each of these islands will certainly prove particularly attractive to eco-minded travelers, who are increasingly choosing destinations based on sustainability factors, but these initiatives aim to improve the quality of life primarily for their residents themselves. Because a destination will only be sustainable for tourism if it is first sustainable and pleasant for its inhabitants.

Tilos, Halki and Astypalaia are at the forefront of Greece’s sustainability and innovation efforts and are proof that small can certainly be powerful. At the same time, Rhodes and Syros are developing into incubators and “think tanks” for sustainable tourism and technology, the impact of which can be global.

Contact with visitors over the centuries has meant that the islanders have always been receptive to change, progress, development. This open-mindedness and willingness to adapt potentially point to a very bright future for the South Aegean and Greece as a whole.

Source energizinggreece.gr

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