RESTOR Mills Days in Greece: 24-26 April 2015

April 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment

RESTOR Mills Days

RESTOR Mills Days in Greece: 24-26 April 2015

pictAThe RESTOR Hydro Days in Greece took place from Friday until Sunday, 24-26 of April 2015 in Naoussa, Greece. The specific location has been selected, since there are many mills in the area, and the case studies examined during the RESTOR Hydro project are all located there. Apart from that, the local people are in favour of such sites and are willing to further get involved on the main concept that the project promotes. The poster for informing the public for this event is shown on the right.

The invitation, the program and the speakers are given next. A seminar has been organized on the 24th of April, where the speakers presented the local mills and discussed the possibility of operating such sites for electricity production. The discussion was focused on the active involvement of the public and the historical/cultural aspects of old mills. Focus was also given on environmental issues. The Vice-Mayor of Naoussa City also gave a speech on the utilization of existing mills and their refurbishment. The seminar ended with a short film with title “Water as energy source”, in collaboration with the “Naoussa International Film Festival (NIFF)”. A dinner followed, ending the first day.

pictBOn the second day of the event (25th of April), the presentations started from early in the morning. Six local mills in total have been presented (of various sizes), while an interesting workshop has been organized in the afternoon of the same day. Site visits to few mills were also possible, in order to have a close view of the existing mills (some are still operating).

In parallel, educational activities took place relevant to mills in the cultural center of the city, such as “The secret of the river”. Moreover, local products have been exhibited and provided to the public, such as wines and sweets. A small theatrical play took place on Saturday afternoon, while the day continued with the speeches of Prof. Dimitris Papantonis (NTUA), concerning the technical improvements of water mills and of Associate Professor Dimitris Manolakos (NTUA), presenting the overall activities of the RESTOR Hydro project, the RESTOR Hydro Map, and the project objectives.

pictCOn Saturday evening, some additional speakers presented relevant issues, such as the operation of mills and their maintenance, and mills as museums promoting the traditional features of every area.

The third and final day of this event (26th of April) started with more site visits to local mills and to a local museum with a small break during noon. The activities continued in the afternoon mostly with cultural activities, such as with songs for water, ballet dancing, and wine tasting.

pictDThere were about 100 participants in total in the events. The main conclusion is that this event was successful, attracting the interest of the local public, as well as some organizations relevant to mills and hydropower in Greece (such as the Hellenic Small Hydropower Association, and the Environmental Educational Centre of Naoussa). The main target of this event was to promote the project concept and present the mills sites to the public. This was succeeded, which was evident from the intense participation to the site visits.

 

The event has been promoted through various channels, while some photos and information can be found in the following links:

 

Filed Under: Project Public News, RH Days

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