The Mitato of Amorgos had a wonderful and creative start to 2024! We had the opportunity to take part in the highly interesting Community Mapping Workshop that was organised by Youth Active Minds and Boulouki teams in Kallithea, Aitoloakarnania, Greece, from 2 to 7 January 2024. For four days, we worked with an active team of young people, of various geographical and scientific backgrounds, and we discovered one more beautiful corner of Greece.
The Workshop was part of a wider project of reviving the walking route that linked Kallithea, Aitoloakarnania, with Proussos, Evrytania, an important commercial, pilgrimage and educational passage in the past. The path was rendered obsolete when the road was opened in the 1980s and the wild, lush landscape eliminated most of its traces. The Youth Active Minds team located and cleared a large part of the path the weeks prior to the Workshop and so this particular project focused on the cultural axis of reviving the route and the active participation of the local community in doing so. To this end, a series of theoretical and practical steps was followed.
On the first day of the Workshop, the activities aimed at bonding the team and presenting a theoretical introduction to concepts such as cultural landscape and community mapping. Coordination was realised by Panagiota Karametou from the team of Youth Active Minds and the lectures were presented by Georgia Kanellopoulou and Grigoris Koutropoulos from the team of Boulouki.
On the second day, the team of Boulouki presented community mapping projects that have been completed in other areas, in order to complete a more concrete framework of working goals and results. In the afternoon of the same day, the working team met with residents of the area of Kallithea and worked together on the base of a satellite image of the path under study. Among others, insights on the history of the route were given by the last muleteer alive, a former pupil of the Katsambios School in Proussos, who had to follow the route in order to go to school, a merchant who keeps trade and transportation documents dating as far back as in 1939, the current owner of the former inn in Kallithea, as well as other residents, each of whom had their own memories from the path to share.
On the third day, supported by unexpectedly excellent weather in the heart of the continental winter, the team hiked part of the path, passing by points of interest that had been identified during the meeting with the residents the previous day, such as two inns. The route was registered on the map and several points of interest were surveyed. In the afternoon, the team gathered the notes of the morning walk and a conversation took place based on the impressions from the route, as well as their correlation with the information noted by the residents the previous day.
On the fourth day, the team drove to Proussos, Evrytania, the end of the route under study, passing by some more points of interest, such as the old watermill. In the afternoon, the conversation was focused on merging the impressions and information gathered and deciding on the following steps in planning the cultural route.
Apart from the thorough educational process and specialized training in the field of planning a cultural route, we were happy to experience the unique hospitality of the organizers, the delicious meals prepared by Alexandros Karagiorgos (Youth Active Minds) with the help of volunteers, and getting to know Yamochori, an open space in the beautiful surroundings of Makria Longa, near Kallithea, where the team of Youth Active Minds promotes an alternative model for education, cooperation and coexistence with nature.
We warmly thank the organizers for their generous hospitality and the experiences we shared and we will be happy to meet again in following projects!
Ending 2022 with the completion of "The History of Water"
In December 2022, a beautiful project undertaken by the Mitato of Amorgos, in collaboration with “Nissos Amorgos” – Association for the Environment and Culture, was completed. “The History of Water” involved the restoration of the water tank in the area “Chorio”, outside the village of Langada on Amorgos Island. The works gave the organisers the opportunity to address water management issues through ...
read moreThe Mitato of Amorgos participates in the 4th islander's forum (PAROS ISLAND, 28-30/10/2022)
The Mitato of Amorgos participated in the 4th Islanders’ Forum which was successfully organised by the Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF) on the island of Paros, from 28 to 30 October 2022.
The Forum was attended by 45 participants, representing 30 organisations from 17 islands, from the Cyclades and beyond.
The presentations realised during the first two days aimed at introducing the people and organisations ...
Another succesful completion of the Dry Stone Workshop "The Amorgian Craftmanship" for the second consecutive year
This year, from 10 to 14 October 2022, three local masons, with the assistance of 35 participants that attended the works on site, have created 14 new cobblestone “kadenes” (steps), with a total length of 33 metres, and restored 10 parts of sustaining dry stone walls, with a total length of 39.30 metres.
read more2nd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” 10-14 october 2022
The Mitato of Amorgos is extremely pleased to announce the 2nd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship”, taking place from 10 to 14 October 2022 on Amorgos.
Following the great success of the 1nd Dry Stone Workshop in October 2021, which was realised under the auspices of ...
“The history of water” wins first prize at the celebrate islands 2022 contest
It was with great pleasure and pride pride that we attended the online award ceremony held on 18 May 2022, for the video contest “My project in 120 seconds” which forms part of the event Celebrate Islands , once more organised by ...
read moreCompletion of the dry stone workshop “The Amorgian craftsmanship”
The first Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” was successfully completed on Friday 15 October 2021. The Workshop was organized in the area of Langada by the Mitato of Amorgos, a group whose goal is the preservation of the natural and cultural environment of Amorgos and the Cyclades in general.
During the Workshop, four local craftsmen ...
Participation in the 17th International Congress on Dry Stone Walling, Kovanle, Croatia 2021
The International Scientific Society for Dry Stone Interdisciplinary Study (SPS) organized the 17th International Congress on Dry Stone Walling in Kovanle, Croatia, from 1 to 3 October 2021. The event was realized in continuation to...
read moreDry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” 11 - 15 October 2021
We are happy to announce the Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship”, organized by the Mitato of Amorgos from 11 to 15 October 2021 on Amorgos.
The purpose of the project is to promote dry stone masonry through the experience of local craftsmen, the passing of knowledge to the younger generation of professionals (builders, producers etc) and the presentation of the craft to a wider audience, emphasizing on pupils and youth...
Participation in the Social Dynamo empowerment program of Bodossaki Foundation
We are very proud and happy that The Mitato of Amorgos has been selected among the 44 environmental organizations to participate in the Empowerment Program of the Social Dynamo initiative of Bodossaki Foundation.
read morePath clearing – Cultural route 2, Chora-Katapola
On 28 February 2021, a beautiful sunny day and as a farewell to winter, we organized the clearing of path number 2, between Chora and Katapola.
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