Taking as a springboard the citizens’ concern and interest in the landscape but also their inability to participate in the formulation of policies concerning it, from 2021 the LPPT project implemented a network of actions to facilitate their active participation. The nationwide survey conducted by MedINA on 23 Civil Society organizations confirmed this condition, with 77.3% of organizations taking action to protect and promote the landscape, but with less than 15% having participated in the formulation of policies that they concern it.
The LPPT project focused its pilot actions in three areas, where it implemented and created new tools, in order to strengthen Civil Society initiatives for the promotion, management and protection of landscapes.
In Prespa, in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of Prespa, a comprehensive approach lasting 2 years was followed. Through participatory workshops (1,2), interviews with citizens and institutions of Prespa and interdisciplinary research for the identification, recording and classification of the landscapes of the Municipality of Prespa, the changes that have occurred in the last 50 years were recorded and co-shaped with the target citizens quality and policy directions for the management of the Municipality’s landscapes, which were distributed to institutional bodies. This is the first comprehensive landscape study for the Prespa area, work that is unfortunately rare in Greece and has been done by MedINA for a few other areas of the country.
In Western Messinia, with the support of the Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation, special emphasis was placed on educational actions and a participatory workshop was organized that resulted in proposals for the preservation and enhancement of the rural landscape. At the same time, an educational program was held with 19 high school students in Filiatra, entitled “The landscape of our future”, in order for the teenagers to learn how they can participate in shaping their landscape and claim an active role in it.
In the area of Aoos, the landscape approach was applied to analyze specific interventions, recording the views of 50 citizens on the landscapes of the area and their assessment of the impacts of the construction of Small Hydroelectric Projects (SHP) on them. The tools used in the participatory processes in Prespes, Pylos and Aoos are hosted, among others, on a specialized website (created by MedINA to be accessible to citizens, organizations and researchers.
The conclusions and tools from the pilot applications as well as the nationwide research were presented to policy-making officials from the Ministries of Environment & Energy and Culture, at a meeting held in Athens, and led to the formulation of MedINA’s proposals for the implementation of the European Convention on the Landscape and the participation of citizens. Starting from the need to draw up a national strategy, as an overall policy framework for the protection, management and planning of Greek landscapes, these proposals cover three levels of reference (national, regional, local) and run through a series of policies (Spatial planning, Environmental policy, Water resources management, Energy policy, Cultural heritage protection, Agricultural policy).
As Thymios Dimopoulos, responsible for the project, pointed out on behalf of MedINA “Local communities and Civil Society in general have expressed in various ways their interest in participating in the management and planning of the landscape. It remains to create the institutional tools that will recognize this interest and systematize the dialogue between the state and citizens about the landscape.”
The project “Tools for citizens’ participation in the planning of policies for the landscape – LPPT” is implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund program, with MedINA as the implementing body and the Prespa Protection Society (EPP) as a partner.
The Active citizens fund program, amounting to €15 million, is financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) financial mechanism for the period 2014 – 2021, known as EEA Grants. The program aims to strengthen and strengthen the sustainability of civil society and to highlight its role in promoting democratic processes, strengthening citizens’ participation in society and defending human rights. The management of the grant of the Active citizens fund program for Greece has been jointly undertaken by the Bodosaki Foundation and SolidarityNow. Read more here:
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