PRONACUL 6th project meeting in Pyrgos, Greece

Day 1: 6th PRONACUL project meeting

Let’s talk “deliverables”…

On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, the 6th Project Meeting was conducted in the conference hall of Ilia Chamber in Pyrgos. Project partners who were unable to attend the meeting in person participated online, as did representatives from the Interreg – ADRION Program Administrative Authority.

Mr. Konstantinos Nikoloutsos, the President of Ilia Chamber, extended a warm welcome to all of the participants of the project meeting at the premises of the Ilia Chamber. He also invited Mr. Andraž Malovrh, the representative of Regional Development Agency Zasavje, the Lead Partner (LP) of the project, to the scheduled press conference, which was granted to the local media. During this press conference, the scope, the goals, and the outcomes of the project were presented to a wide audience.

Mr. Andraž Malovrh, who was in charge of the coordination of the meeting, presented a detailed project progress overview. This included an analysis of WPs, activities, and deliverables, as well as a review of assignments and deadlines for remaining activities and deliverables. Meanwhile, other WP leaders presented the tasks carried out and foreseen, in order to establish a roadmap of achieved deliverables and to indicate the areas in which the contribution of partners is requested.

Mr. Nemanja Tomić, on behalf of the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, presented the most recent developments in the framework of WP – Common methodology for management of natural and cultural heritage overview in period 5.1. He also provided additional information about how these results have already been or shall be used by respective partners for the elaboration of action plans and policy recommendations. 

Mr. Dimitrios Bakalis, speaking on behalf of the Ilia Chamber, provided the partnership with detailed information about the activities, which have been already and the ones scheduled to be carried out by the Ilia Chamber over the course of the next few months. He also presented the current state of the art in terms of the Policy implementation through the Virtual Chamber.

During the next section of the Project Meeting, Mr. Andraž Malovrh provided participating partners with a detailed overview of the communication activities that took place in period 5.1, setting the goals for the subsequent phases of the program. Mr. Jernej Lipar, also from the Regional Development Agency Zasavje, has presented the financial aspects of the project, with a particular emphasis on the cost management of each project partner, as well as additional information on the submission of the project report and requested, by some partners, major modifications.

Mrs. Evangelia Karpodini and Mrs. Jelena Kolić, representatives from JS, attended the meeting online and answered all questions, that have been raised by partners, concerning, inter alia, the budget, the reporting obligations and requested financial adjustments.

The next section of the meeting consisted of presentations of activities that had already been put into action by each of the project partners, as follows:

• Mr. Andrea Pio Di Leo took part in the meeting in person and presented the initiatives that VeGAL has put into action.
• Mrs. Tamara Kosanović and Mrs. Helga Sušanj participated in person and presented activities that were carried out by the Rijeka Tourist Board.
• Mr. Dimitrios Bakalis took part in the event in person and presented the actions that were carried out by Ilia Chamber.
• Ms. Alisa Gekić and Ms. Majda Penava attended in the event in person and presented activities that were carried out by the Entrepreneurship and Business Association LiNK.
• Mrs. Jasmina Đorđević, Mr. Igor Stamenković, Mr. Nemanja Tomić and Mrs.Tijana Đorđević all participated in person and presented activities that were carried out by the UNSPMF.
• Mr. Bojan Benderać, Mr. Ranko Biberdžić and Mr.  Slavenko Vukasović participated in person on behalf of the Trebinje Development Agency and updated the project partners on the activities that they have carried out so far.
• Mr. Roman Fekeža took part in the online event and presented the activities that were carried out by the Zagreb County Tourist Board.
• Mr. Srdjan Vasiljevic, Mr. Ljubisa Milovanovic and Mrs.  Natasa Markovic took part in person and outlined actions that the Municipality of Raška has put into action.
• Mrs. Laura Siena took part in person in the activities that were presented and implemented by the Metropolitan City of Bologna.
• Mr. Alberto Manzin participated in person and presented actions that were carried out on behalf of the Centre for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship Piran Ltd.
• There were no participants from the Region of Ionian Islands in this event.

Following these presentations, the LP and the project partners engaged in a discussion regarding the activities and budget of the Subcluster, whereby the meeting was adjourned with the formation of the project’s Quality Management Committee. This committee was comprised of Mr. Andraž Malovrh (LP), Mrs. Jasmina Djordjević and Mr. Dimitrios Bakalis and its mission was to evaluate the quality of the deliverables that have been produced during this reporting period.

Day 2: Study Visits

“Heritage” is the word…

The PRONACUL partnership has had a busy day today, September 21, 2022, as it has been filled with field visits in pilot areas of the Regional Unit of Elis, which is home to Ilia Chamber.

At first, the partners’ delegations were guided by Mr. Konstantinos Antonopoulos, Archaeologist – Ephorate of Antiquates of Ilia, to the area’s historic wealth and informed on best practices in cultural management during their tour to the Archaeological site and the Museum of Olympia.

The next event took place in the form of an excursion the NATURA 200 protected area of Kaiafas Lake, followed by a visit to the “Kotsanas”- Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, where participants had the opportunity to observe the practical application of the institution’s good practices in the promotion of cultural heritage, through a guided tour, an overview of the exhibition space and an evaluation of the museum’s high traffic flows, the latter being a cultural organization and an official non-profit organization that operates without any grant from any public or private body.

During the afternoon hours, a visit and guided tour of the Merkouri estate, its folklore museum and the estate’s chapel took place, with the purpose of highlighting agritourism and the showcasing of intangible cultural assets as a driver of economic development and the creation of employment opportunities.