Category: Success Stories

Xanthi, Greece – Alternative Tourism (the term has now been replaced: we are talking now about “special” tourism) is a broad term, necessarily so. It encompasses any type of activity where the visitor can experience part of the local culture. Traditional tourism—for Greece, sand and sun—has disadvantages: it only happens in the summer, and it doesn’t always attract the right people, with the devastating effect of creating social problems for the local communities that accept visitors. In Zakynthos, for example, British tourists come to get drunk nonstop, to do what they can’t do at home, and the local social network is almost broken. Now that tourism is the main industry in Greece, we’ve realized that there are many advantages to attracting tourists who respect the ecosystem, the residents, and the culture, while expanding the tourist season. Thus, Greece now markets itself as a 365-day destination.

The “New Agriculture for a New Generation” (NANG) program’s Alternative Tourism Program aims to make a name for itself in the industry. The highly competitive, year-long program accepts 100 students in total: 50 in Thessaloniki, 25 in Volos, and 25 in Ioannina. Trainees apply electronically, and their applications are reviewed by a three-member committee. They are selected based on strict criteria. Last year, the program received 350 applications for Thessaloniki alone. Applicants must be between 18 and 40 years old. Most are university graduates; many do not have master’s degrees and are looking for a second career path.

Last year’s trainees worked to redefine the tourist profile of the mountain village of Elatochori Pierias, which neighbors Katerini and Mount Olympus. Trainees and professors worked with the residents of Elatochori to expand and diversity the village’s tourism business, which in recent years had been overly dependent on its ski center. The trainees proposed an innovative tourism product that combined unique gastronomic experiences, outdoor activities, and creative workshops for adults and children. The proposed tourism product uses the flowers of the plant Sideritis Scardica as a brand since Greek mountain tea flourishes in the area. “A place can really flourish when the people who live and breathe there have a vision and a desire to work and make the best possible use of their region’s resources. This love for their home and care for its development is one of the first things one can perceive about Elatochori and its inhabitants,” said Antonia Galani, a biologist who worked on the project.

This year, 2018-2019 trainees decided to “adopt” the city of Xanthi and tried to utilize all of its resources—natural, cultural, and human—with the main goal of creating a holistic tourism product which combines the multiculturalism, the gastronomy, and also the natural wealth of the area.

“First of all, you have to convince the residents that you care about them and share their concerns. You can’t go in as an intruder or as an expert. This year, Xanthi was a greater challenge than Elatochori because it is a larger area, and Xanthi’s officials and agencies already have already included in their cultural agenda many activities and many plans with the aim of increasing tourism,” said Communications Coordinator Maria Soumelidou, who teaches in the program “Legal Framework and Ethics in Tourism.”

The final proposal came when the trainees and their trainers collaborated with specialized partners in the area, based, on the one hand, on the region’s rare breed of shorthorn cattle and on the other hand, on Xanthi’s Belle Epoque era. The trainees formed five working groups, each focused on a different activity like gastronomy, urban/cultural tourism, outdoor activities in the urban environment, marketing, and costing. Each group of 10-15 trainees collaborated with one or two trainers and one mentor from the research team that consisted of graduates from the same program. The trainees chose their groups according to their interests and experiences after carefully reading the feasibility study prepared by the research team.

We believe that the NANG program will bear more fruit if we build synergies between different sectors. The best way to highlight this collaboration is a two-day event that includes an international business conference, a culinary symposium, an interactive demonstration of new trends in wellness tourism and conference tourism, and finally, a dramatized tour of the history of the Old Town of Xanthi. At the same time, catering companies in Xanthi will cook for the first time the tasty meat of the shorthorn cattle and have recipes available to the public. These animals are monitored by animal scientists and veterinarians from the American Farm School while the butchering and maturing is done by a team of professionals and experts in Xanthi. In fact, this action will “travel” to other parts of Greece to highlight indigenous Greek cattle breeds.

The program also enables its graduates to work for two months in an alternative tourism-related businesses and/or organizations in Greece. “More than 60 businesses have requested to host one or two graduates,” Maria said. “These are businesses, municipalities, or organizations all over Greece who are either implementing or want to implement an alternative tourism strategy but don’t have the know-how. Today, 64 graduates work in these businesses, while many have been hired permanently. Like the Xanthi project, this experience places our trainees out in the real world, where there are many miles and obstacles between the birth of an idea and its realization.”

“After three years, we will have 300 enthusiastic graduates of this program. People from all different backgrounds who have the same dream,” Maria said. “I hope to see lots of collaborations, synergies, great ideas. I want our graduates to start their own companies and change people’s attitudes about what tourism means in Greece.”

Meet Serkos

Serkos Haroutounian is a Professor of Chemistry and Vice Rector of Academic, Administrative, and Student Affairs at the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA). He has recently become the scientific officer at AUA responsible for the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program.

Serkos served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization DIMITRA (ELGO DIMITRA) from 2013-2015. ELGO DIMITRA is the largest agricultural organization in Greece, responsible for rural research, training, and education in the agricultural sector; control and quality assurance of Greek agricultural products; as well as all controls in the meat and dairy circuit.

With a scientific background in chemistry, Serkos’s main area of study is biomedical research with a specialization in the study of estrogen hormones and the development of new anti-cancer drugs. He earned his PhD at AUA in collaboration with the University of Illinois, where he later returned as a postdoctoral researcher (1985-1987) and then as a visiting professor (1992-1993). When I visited him at his office at AUA, he showed me a framed diagram of his academic pedigree, a lineage of mentorship that goes all the way back to 15th century Italian doctors and 17th century French apothecaries.

“I often tell my students: In 30 years, 62% of jobs will concern specialities we can not even imagine today. Without a solid scientific background, you will not be able to succeed. Basic sciences like chemistry will give you a solid foundation for the future.” Serkos told me about his father, who started working as an electrician in the early 1950s. Originally, he was repairing jukeboxes, then radios. Then came the transistors, then the TV–first black and white, then color–and now the modern flatscreen. “If he had only learned the jukebox, we would have died of hunger!” Serkos said. He seems to have inherited his father’s appetite for challenges and new knowledge. He recently changed departments, joining the Department of Animal Production and Aquaculture Sciences. In addition to biomedical applications of organic chemistry, his research interests now include natural products, climate change mitigation, and the promotion and certification of Greek traditional agricultural products.

“Greece does not produce large quantities of its products,” Serkos said. “Productions are small. A medium-production winery in Greece produces 150,000 bottles, while one in California produces 3-5 million bottles. You understand the difference in scale economies and the impact on the final price. We cannot compete with them on price. Instead, we have to invest in the quality and uniqueness of our products.”

The Wine, Fava, and Tomataki of Santorini

Serkos has done much work to study and promote the local products of Santorini. Although the island’s particular soil-climate environment (volcanic soil, constant sunshine, poor water resources, and strong winds) is not conducive to agriculture, it offers some important advantages, mainly because crops must grow under such stressful conditions. To cope with these unfavorable conditions, the plants produce secondary metabolites, substances with significant bioactivity, For example, Santorini grapes are particularly rich in polyphenols, which are known to exhibit significant antioxidant activity and are used to produce a wide array of cosmetics, medicines, and dietary supplements. Similarly, Santorini wines are much richer in polyphenols than the wine of other regions.

And because Santorini, due to its geomorphology, can not sustain extensive sheep and goat farming, its inhabitants have traditionally cultivated fava as a source of protein. Although fava is grown all over the world, the variety cultivated in Santorini (Lathyrus clymenum) is unique. It is an ancient variety, rich in protein, which was thought to have become extinct. However, the discovery of fava remains in the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri, the ancient Minoan settlement that was destroyed by the explosion of the Santorini volcano in the 16th century BCE, enabled scientists to certify that the same variety was still being cultivated on the island. Santorini fava boils faster, has a soft, light texture, and has a special, slightly sweet taste. As a result, it’s much more expensive than other varieties of fava.

Finally, due to its particular soil, Santorini’s tomataki (little tomato) is much sweeter and healthier than those grown on mainland Greece.

Serkos has also been involved in the promotion and certification of a variety of other Greek agricultural products, including the tsipouro of Tyrnavos, the Vatikiotio onion, and the cheeses of central and northern Greece (Tsalafouti, Kaskaval, and Kalloni).

Exploiting the Knowledge of the Ancient Greeks

Serkos is also interested in the ancient Greeks’ knowledge of the pharmaceutical uses of plants. His research team has studied the work of Dioscorides, a Greek physician of the first century AD who studied medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them. Based on Dioscorides’ ancient texts, Serkos’ team published a journal article in 2015 that mapped modern plants to those mentioned by Dioscorides. Today, Serkos continues to study these formulations, but also their production using modern techniques. The knowledge gained from these studies helped Serkos implement the EU-funded research project LIFE-CONOPS to combat new species of mosquitoes that have invaded Greece and Italy as a result of climate change. Based on the ancient Greeks’ knowledge that juniper wood is not penetrated by insects, Serkos and his team studied all the juniper species in Greece to develop a new mosquito repellant that is expected to be released next summer.

“I started at AUA as a scientific collaborator in 1981, and this is my 38th year of teaching,” Serkos said. “Now when I tell my students how long I’ve served at AUA, they just stare at me.”

Serkos will attempt to make the NANG program at AUA more effective and open to new activities. To this end, he is collaborating with Professor George Papadakis from the Department of Natural Resources and Agricultural Engineering. “George specializes in energy efficiency, modern sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy sources, all of which will help promote innovation in the program,” Serkos said.

Meet Petros

Dr. Petros Vahamidis, 39, from Athens, completed his PhD at the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) in 2013. He studied in the Department of Plant Production and specialized in field crops. The main objective of his research is to develop alternative solutions for traditional agricultural practices in order to use resources more efficiently and increase crop productivity, quality, and sustainability. Regarding medicinal and aromatic plants, his research focuses on weed management and the optimization of fertilization and irrigation techniques. He has been working as a scientific collaborator at AUA since 2013. In the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program, he teaches weed management and fertilization practices in medicinal and aromatic plants.

“I wanted to become either an agronomist or a civil engineer, but life ultimately led me to serve agriculture, which I’m very proud of,” Petros said. “Agricultural science is a dynamic biological science. You learn something new every day, so every day is a challenge.” Petros loves teaching and problem solving. He dreams of being able to work as an agronomist with consistency and productivity for as long as possible.

By participating in a number of research programs, Petros has been able to travel to many different parts of Greece. He has met with farmers from all over the country, and they have learned from each other. “One of the things I love about this job is that I meet new people and am exposed to new ways of thinking. While many farmers have not pursued higher education, they are practical and innovative,” he said. “When you go into the fields, you learn the real problems that producers face. Then you return to the university and try to find solutions.”

The Malt Barley Project

“In 2013, I began researching malt barley as part of a collaboration between AUA professors Economou and Derka and the Athenian Brewery, where we introduced malt barley into Greece. Until 2008, there was no cultivation of malt barley in Greece. Malt barley is quite different from the barley used to feed animals. We used to grow feed barley in fields with low fertility, which can not be done with the malt barley varieties we examined. From the beginning of the program until today, our research team has evaluated over 30 modern varieties of malt barley. Choosing and cultivating the barley best suited to Greek conditions over the last 7 years has led to an increase in yields of 30 kg per stremata per year. From the early stages of our collaboration with Athenian Brewery, it became clear that in order to substantially improve the quantity and quality of malt barley, using high-yield varieties alone was not sufficient. For the last 7 years, we have been doing intensive experiments aimed at improving the cultivation technique for malt barley.”

Meet Maria

Maria Soumelidou, 56, was born and lives in Thessaloniki. Her family is Pontic Greek, from the Black Sea. She is in charge of the unit “Legal Framework and Ethics in the Tourism Sector” in NANG’s Alternative Tourism program at the American Farm School.

Maria has always liked animals, and as a 16-year-old student at Anatolia College, she joined the Skyrian Horse Club. As a member of the club, she started riding and learned more about the endangered horses. The Skyrian horse is a miniature horse found on the island of Skyros, one of the rarest horse breeds in the world. These were the horses that supposedly pulled Achilles’ chariot and were immortalized on a Parthenon frieze. Moved by a desire to save the Skyrian horse, Maria worked for the association and became its president after graduation.

“Not only did we aim to disseminate information about the Skyrian Horse, but we worked with public and private bodies in Skyros and Thessaloniki to raise awareness about the importance of this breed and how it could be used to shape the touristic identity of the island,” Maria said. “And though we didn’t have much money, we sent blood samples to American universities so that they could test the DNA and confirm that the horses were of ancient origin.”

Years later, as a graduate student in Farm Management in the Department of Agronomy at Reading University in the UK, Maria made the management of Skyrian horses the subject of her master’s thesis. Now there are different units on Skyros who are implementing her ideas, and they have managed to save the species. “It’s heart-consuming work,” Maria said. When she started work on Skyros, there were less than 100 horses. Now the breed exists not only in larger numbers on Skyros but at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki and on the island of Corfu.

Teaching at the American Farm School

After receiving her master’s degree, Maria worked in England for a few years before returning to Thessaloniki to work at the American Farm School (AFS) and at other agricultural enterprises. She worked at Tsantalis Winery, implemented EU policies with Euroconsultants, and lectured in seminars and forums funded by the EU in Northern Greece. Her first job in Greece was at AFS as a coordinator in the Thessaloniki International Training Program, which aimed at teaching educational leaders in Africa how to implement a model like the American Farm School. Maria then decided to go back to school and study law at Aristotle University. “I was 34, married, and pregnant with twins, and I had to take the bar exam in these tiny chairs!” she said. For 10 years, she worked as a freelance lawyer in her father’s notary office.

Maria has spent the past 8 years teaching Principles of Law, Management, and Marketing at Perrotis College, which is accredited by Cardiff Metropolitan University. For NANG, she teaches in the Alternative Tourism program and coordinates a project where each year, students propose a new touristic identity for a selected region in Greece. This project gives students the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned over two semesters in the program. They propose a plan to revitalize the site and expand the touristic period, which they present to the local authorities and business owners at the end of the spring semester. Last year, the program “adopted” the mountain village of Elatochori Pierias, which neighbors Katerini and Mount Olympus; this year, the program “adopted” the city of Xanthi in Thrace. The students designed and implemented a professional, international conference aimed at linking Xanthi’s gastronomic identity to a rare breed of shorthorn cattle, which they promoted as a social and cultural resource. They also proposed and demonstrated new trends in tourism, like the dramatization of Xanthi’s past and movement activities within the urban environment, and both were successful.

“I would like to see Elatochori and other destinations implement our plans and work towards solutions,” Maria said. “Tourism is now the main industry in Greece, and if we are to change people’s attitudes about what Greek tourism is, we need education. The Alternative Tourism program gives students the rare opportunity to meet people like them, to collaborate and create synergies, to implement exciting and innovative ideas together. They come from all different backgrounds, but they have the same dream. I want to see our students start new companies here in Greece or offer their specialized knowledge to serious alternative tourism businesses.”

Meet Katerina

Katerina Zagkretou, 26, grew up in Nea Moudania, Halkidiki. She graduated from NANG’s Alternative Tourism program at the American Farm School (AFS). Today, she leads hiking trips for Green Oliver, an alternative tourism and environmentally friendly activity office based in Thessaloniki. “Both of my parents love their jobs, and they taught me that it was very important to love what you do,” Katerina said. “I remember that when I was a child, I accompanied my father on walks in the woods and fishing trips. I watched him move comfortably in nature and became very familiar with it. I felt so free in the forest. It was so different from the courtyard of my house. I wanted to spend all my time  outside.”

In 2017, Katerina graduated from the School of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Environment at Aristotle University, specifically from the five-year Department of Forestry and Natural Environment. “In Greece, forestry is not valued as much as in other countries that emphasize sustainable development and increasing the quality of daily life, so I take every opportunity to stress the crucial role of this science in solving modern environmental and social problems. For example, urban green spaces are directly linked to our mental health.”

Experience in the Alternative Tourism Program

Katerina participated in the first cycle of the Alternative Tourism program at AFS. The program taught her the legal framework governing alternative tourism activities, current visitor trends, and practical training on how to design and market an alternative tourism experience using a natural resource. “One of the most valuable parts of the program was the time I spent exchanging ideas and knowledge with other participants,” she said. “It’s difficult to identify the potential of a tourist destination and to bring together the right people to get it off the ground. But now I have the background and contacts I need to launch my own alternative tourism experience.”

Katerina and the other beneficiaries in her cycle “adopted” the mountain village of Elatochori Pierias and used what they had learned to create a new, year-long tourism profile for the area, exploiting the natural resources of the region in the most sustainable way. They formed groups related to gastronomy, the natural environment, visual exhibitions, creative workplaces, and events that connected local cuisine with art. “I participated in the group on the natural environment,” Katerina said. “We organized a hiking trip on one of the many paths in the area with intense biodiversity and natural beauty, and we identified medicinal and aromatic plants that could be used in the kitchen and in the production of cosmetic and therapeutic products.”

Working as a Mountain Guide

When Katerina began her studies in Thessaloniki in 2011, she also joined the Mountaineering and Climbing Club. Gradually, through her studies and her mountaineering activities, she realized that she wanted to work to promote the natural wealth of Greece and to combine scientific knowledge with hiking and sports in nature. She just completed her studies at the State Institute for Vocational Training with the specialty of Mountain Guide. “Greece is a mountainous country with a very intense landscape,” she said. “I think I will always be impressed by how many different destinations our country has to offer in proportion to its size.”

She began working with Green Oliver after a hiking trip in 2018 where she and the organizers had the opportunity to get to know each other and to discuss the type of excursions that the office organized, which agreed with Katerina’s own philosophy. “I believe Green Oliver stands out not only in its choice of special hiking trails, but because of the character of its actions: the goal of our excursions is not always to reach a peak or to cover more kilometers, but to reap the maximum benefits of contact with nature and to return to our more ‘primitive’ roots.” As part of the Alternative Tourism program, Katerina completed a two-month, full-time contract with Green Oliver, which enabled her to take on a larger role in organizing the office’s outdoor activities.

One of Katerina’s favorite routes is on the Tzoumerka mountain range in Pindos National Park, starting from the mountain shelter in the village of Pramanta near Ioannina and ending at the peak of Strogoula at an altitude of 2112 meters. It is an unforgettable route because it offers a panoramic view that will convince even the unbelievers that Greece is much more than sun and beaches.

Katerina also had a few words to say about the exploitation of natural resources in Greece, which directly affects alternative and hiking tourism since both occur in rural areas. “Greece is a small country with a wealth of natural resources. As a result, large-scale projects like the gold mines in Halkidiki or the wind farm in Agrafa, with so much direct impact on the food chain and people’s quality of life, occur relatively close to residential areas and prevent the development of alternative tourism and the promotion of local agricultural and livestock products. I’m not saying that the Greek countryside should become an area of absolute protection, because sustainable development and, by extension, economic progress, exists when multiple purposes are served. But we should consider the needs of the inhabitants, who depend on the proper functioning of the ecosystem, now and in the future. And on a personal level, it is important to understand that we hikers are responsible for preserving the destinations we visit. During our excursions, we try to leave the smallest possible footprint on the paths and to create an environmentally friendly philosophy.”

Meet Ioannis

Ioannis Theodorou, 28, lives in a western suburb of Larissa and owns two bee hives. He is a beneficiary of the apiculture training seminars implemented by the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) as part of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” (NANG) program. He has two younger brothers, and his father works for TrainOSE. His grandfather cultivated olives in the village of Pyrgetos near Mount Olympus, and he too prefers to live outside the city where he can have direct contact with nature. “I don’t like the gray of the city with its apartment buildings like cages,” he said. “A man who’s closer to nature is more of a man.”

Ioannis graduated from the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Thessaly in 2015 with a degree in Business Administration. While in school, he developed an interest in beekeeping and making homemade honey products. He did some research online but ultimately decided to wait because he didn’t know anyone who could advise him and he needed capital to get started. “It seemed like a mountain to me, very difficult,” he said. So he did an internship at an accountant’s office and got a job as an accountant’s assistant so he could save up enough money to make his dream a reality.

He joined the Apiculture Club of Larissa and participated in a conference they organized at the Chamber of Commerce in April 2018. There he met Mr. Spyros, a beekeeper from Ambelonas who offered to teach him the trade. Ioannis visited his hives after work and on weekends all through the spring and summer. He learned that spring was the best time to buy bees so that they would have enough time to build their hives before winter. Mr. Spyros gave Ioannis two of his own bee colonies to put in the beehives that Ioannis had prepared and painted white with yellow trim. Ioannis kept the hives next to Mr. Spyros’s hives and learned how to tell what the bees needed by opening the hive and how to deal with issues like swarming, when a queen bee leaves the hive with a group of workers to start a new colony. With Mr. Spyros’s guidance, Ioannis harvested three kilos of wildflower honey from his hives in September. “I’d started from scratch, and after all the time and effort I put in, I felt a great joy and happiness,” Ioannis said. “It wasn’t a lot of honey, but the quality was good. I liked the taste a lot.”

Participating in the Apiculture Program

Ioannis spent a total of 300 euros on his first two hives. He has since moved the hives closer to his home in Larissa to reduce his expenses since he isn’t making a profit yet. He visits his hives once a week in the winter and every day in the summer. He’s been reading books on apiculture and following new developments in the field online. He plans to add two more hives at the beginning of May, but he’s awaiting further instruction from the seminar. “I bought stackable hives, and they are in my warehouse ready to go,” he said. “I’m starting slow because I don’t want to make mistakes—I want to make sure I have more than enough knowledge.”

Ioannis learned about the training seminars through the Beekeeping Club and thought it would be a great opportunity. “I feel really lucky,” he said. “Professor Harizanis knows so much about apiculture, and he’s even written a textbook about it! I’m learning all about the magical world of bees, like how they give off a chemical signal to enter into the hive, and what you should do in order to avoid stressing the bees. Pairing theory and practical training together is really important.” Ioannis loves quotations, and he recited one often attributed to Albert Einstein: “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.”

When he feels that he has learned enough, Ioannis wants to add more hives, then get a beekeeping vehicle so that he can transport them to his ancestral village in Pyrgetos. That area has some of the rarest and most unusual plants in the world. He wants to try putting some hives in the olive grove or among almond trees. He wants to experiment with making honey from lots of different crops: chestnuts, lavender, Greek mountain tea, oregano. In Pyrgetos, his family owns a stone house in the village that was built in 1927. Ioannis went there in the summer as a kid. It was built in the traditional style of Epirus, and his family has maintained the architectural elements. He wants to turn the house into a multipurpose venue with a beekeeping shop to sell his products, a place for apicultural and agricultural exhibits, an office, and an events space. Eventually, he hopes to own 200 hives.

“I want this to become my full-time job,” he said. “And I’d like to cooperate with other beekeepers in the program. I think that we all have the same goal in mind, and as the program continues, I hope we’ll keep developing our relationships and getting closer.” To close the interview, Ioannis shared one of his favorite quotes from Demosthenes, an ancient Greek politician and rhetorician from Athens: “Small opportunities often become the beginning of big and successful businesses.”

Meet Dimitris

Dimitris Theodorakis, 20, was born and lives in Larissa. He is a beneficiary of the apiculture training seminars implemented by the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) as part of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” (NANG) program. He is a third-generation farmer, and he and his father cultivate apples, cherries, and chestnuts on 20 stremmata in the village of Agia. “I’ve worked in the fields with my father and learned from him since I was a child,” Dimitris said. “Because of all the technology nowadays, young people are losing touch with nature. They can’t tell whether or not an apple is good.” Dimitris decided to become an agronomist to continue the work of his father. He is in his second year at the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Thessaly in the Department of Agricultural Engineering Technologists.

Dimitris and his father are trying to cultivate new crop varieties that he learned about at TEI since the price of apples has fallen in recent years. Larissa’s intense summer and winter temperatures also create difficulties for the farmers. Snow freezes the trees and hail can destroy a cultivation. “We’ve grown cherries for more than 50 years,” Dimitris said. “I also want to start growing dry nuts like walnuts.” He thinks that chestnuts are the best crop because they fetch a good price in the market. The chestnut trees are 20 years old and grow up on the mountain with a view of the sea. The family grows Smith and Gala apples in a separate, lower field. The oldest tree is 27 years old. “It will soon need to be replaced in order to produce a better quality and quantity of apples,” Dimitris said. “It takes 4-5 years for a young tree to yield a full production.” From May until October, he and his father work nonstop, harvesting first the cherries, then the apples, and then the chestnuts. “I’m happy to work in nature,” Dimitris said. “It calms me, and you never stop learning.”

Participating in the Apiculture Program

Dimitris developed his initial interest in beekeeping by watching videos online and talking with friends who work as beekeepers. “You can create many products with bees like honey and propoli,” he said. “When you grow apples, you only have apples. Bees can also improve the quality of our crops by pollinating them. I plan to have about four hives per stremma.”

Dimitris heard about the apiculture training seminars from an acquaintance. The seminars take place at Averofios Farm School, which is older than TEI and has bee hives that the program uses for demonstrations. “We started from the very beginning: how to set up and paint a hive,” Dimitris said. The 20 participants spent half their time inside the lecture hall learning theory and the other half outside doing practical training in the field. They each received a textbook written by Professor Harizanis that details everything they need to know about beekeeping as well as access to notes, internet resources, and over 55 instructional videos created by Harizanis and his lab. “When you’re learning something new, you need to read a lot. There’s no other way,” Dimitris said. He already has 24 hives, but he’s waiting for the next seminar before he gets his bees. “You need to gain the knowledge to do something right. You can’t go into it blind.”

“The first thing I want to do is to produce and perfect honey,” Dimitris said. “Then, with the help of my older sister who lives in England, I’d like to sell it abroad. My father will help me with the beekeeping. I’m excited to share my knowledge with him.”

Meet Anastasia

Anastasia Dimitriadou, 34, was born in Orestiada, Evros, and lives in Larissa. She is a beneficiary of the apiculture training seminars implemented by the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) as part of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” (NANG) program. She attended high school at the American Farm School for the first two years and graduated from the 1st High School of Orestiada. Later, she studied the Management of Tourism and Hospitality Businesses at the Alexander Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Thessaloniki. After graduating, she returned to Orestiada to work at her family’s hotel. In June 2017, she moved to Larissa when her husband, a police officer from Larissa, took a transfer back to his hometown.

Participating in the Apiculture Program

“When I first started, I didn’t know anything about beekeeping,” Anastasia said. “I couldn’t tell a bee from a wasp!” She became interested in natural food products while raising her children, a daughter, now 9, and a son, 5. “I discovered that the best products for kids are natural, and that’s how I got into beekeeping,” she said. “Propolis, royal jelly, and honey are like natural medicines. I want to make different bee products to sell and for my family. I hope it can become my full-time job.”

Anastasia found out about the apiculture program through a Facebook group for beekeepers in Larissa. “It was like fate,” she said. “When I decided that I wanted to get into beekeeping, here came the seminar.” The first four-day seminar, held in February from 9.00 to 14.00 each day, taught Anastasia and the other participants the basics of beekeeping, such as how to set up and paint a hive so that it lasts for 40-50 years. The 20 participants spent half their time inside the lecture hall learning theory and the other half outside doing practical training in the field. They also had the opportunity to meet some professional beekeepers from Larissa. “It was so helpful to have Professor Harizanis and Dimitris walk us through every step from the beginning,” Anastasia said. “I didn’t want the seminar to end!”

Most of the participants don’t have hives yet, though some of the participants have family background in beekeeping. They each received a textbook written by Harizanis that details everything they need to know about beekeeping as well as access to notes, internet resources, and over 55 instructional videos created by Harizanis and his lab. “I’m reading constantly,” Anastasia said. “But the life of the bees is so interesting that you want to learn everything.” She told me how even a bee’s sting has health benefits and can be used in certain therapies for patients who have blood circulation issues. “I’m not afraid of getting stung,” she said. “The queen bee releases a pheromone that makes all the worker bees gather around her, and if you smear that pheromone on yourself, the bees will swarm you. I’m a little afraid of that, but otherwise, I don’t have a problem with them.”

After the first seminar, she showed one of the bee videos to her children and husband. “My little son was fascinated,” she said. “I think that beekeeping is something I can teach my kids, something we can all do together, just like Dimitris was taught beekeeping by his father and grandfather.” After the March seminar, Anastasia will buy her first two beehives. “My husband and I found the perfect place to keep my hives. It’s in the village, not far from our house, in a place surrounded by trees,” she said. “My husband wants to buy hives now, but I want to wait until after the next seminar to make sure I have all the information I need to get started. My children are giving their input on what color they want to paint them. It’s a family effort.”

Meet Father Athenagoras

Father Athinagoras Loukataris, 41, was born in Eptapyrgio, Thessaloniki. He studied at the University Ecclesiastical Academy of Thessaloniki and the theology department of the Aristotle University. In 2004, he was ordained Αrchimandrite by the Honorable Metropolitan of Neapolis and Stavropoleos Dionysios. A year later, with the encouragement and blessing of the Honorable Metropolitan of Neapolis and Stavropoleos Varnavas, he established the “Faros tou Kosmou” (“Lighthouse of the World”) Youth Center in the neighborhood of Dendropotamos, Thessaloniki.

Located in the western part of the city, Dendropotamos is the biggest ghetto in northern Greece, home to many Roma families. Faros tou Kosmou serves as a day center for children in the neighborhood, dedicated to the protection and creative employment of minors. The center offers a lot of different activities: robotics, music, creative writing, basketball, swimming, painting, gardening, photography, dance. It also serves as a frontistiria, offering foreign language lessons, helping children with their classes, and providing warm meals and some medical services. Faros tou Kosmou stands beside all those in need and illuminates the road to growth and development.

For the past decade, Faros tou Kosmou has also prepared its children to attend schools in other neighborhoods. Children from the center have attended elementary and middle schools in Evosmos, then gone on to Anatolia or New York College. Over the past five years, Faros tou Kosmou has sent over 450 Roma children to school and has received recognition from the Council of Europe and the U.S. State Department.

Meet Vasilis

Vasilis Ismailoglou, 22, is Roma Muslim. He was born in Xanthi and moved to Thessaloniki when he was 12 years old. He did his nine-month army service first in Athens, then in Cypress. He was 19 when he finished his service and met Father Athenagoras. Athenagoras is a close friend of Vasilis’s godmother and took him under his wing, and that’s how Vasilis came to live at Faros tou Kosmou along with 16 other children who make up the Lighthouse family. “I have learned a lot from him,” Vasilis said. “I can’t say in words.” Vasilis helps out at the center. He is in his second year of high school, studying mechanical engineering: automobiles, motorcycles, anything related to machinery. He has two years left in school, and after that, he plans to take the Panhellenic Exams.

Participating in the Alternative Tourism Program

Vasilis is currently participating in the second class of the Alternative Tourism program at the American Farm School, a part of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program. Father Athenagoras encouraged him to apply. And while he may be one of the oldest at Faros tou Kosmou, he’s one of the youngest in the Alternative Tourism program. “There are so many interesting people in the program: foresters, lawyers,” Vasilis said. I’ve made many new friends from the program, and I’m learning a ton from them.”

“Since the beginning of the program, he has consistently attended his classes and has made great efforts with his duties and assignments,” said his instructor Christina Archonti. “He won from the beginning the sympathy, trust, and friendship of several of his classmates, and his integration into the program’s social and learning environment has been seamless.”

This year, the trainees, have decided to adopt the city of Xanthi for their rebranding efforts. In concert with highly trained experts and young people from Xanthi, they will design a holistic touristic product which will combine the multicultural mosaic of Xanthi with its unique natural beauty and fusion cuisine based on the city’s rare breed of shorthorn cattle. Vasilis is a part of the gastronomy group, and he is researching the food of Xanthi, the city’s history, and what the people like to eat there in order to recommend different recipes, including recipes with cows. “At first it was difficult for me to return to Xanthi because I left when I was so little,” Vasilis said. “But now it’s a little easier, and I feel grateful.”

Meet Tasos

Tasos Xristopoulos, 27 and newly married, lives in Vrinena Almiros, a village with 250 permanent residents located 60 kilometers from Volos. Tasos produces traditional Greek mountain tea, or tsai tou vounou (Sideritis raeseri). His family also owns 50 free-range cows, 300 free-range goats, and 400 sheep that they keep in the stable all year, cultivated in the traditional way. Both his parents and his mother’s parents are farmers, and the whole family works together in the fields. “We have 40 years of experience with the tea and with the animals. I helped in the fields and with the animals since I was little,” Tasos said. “I finished vocational high school, and after my military service, I took up work in the fields.” He owns 15 stremmata on Mount Othrys and rents 5 more. He is currently preparing 11 organic stremmata at 1100 meters, and the non-organic stremmata are at 600 meters. The entire production process is done by hand: weeding three times a year, the harvest from approximately 20 May – 20 June, drying the tea in a warehouse. They sell their tea to a trader, their milk to a creamery, and their meat to a butcher shop in Almiros.

Participating in the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Program

Tasos first heard about the medicinal and aromatic plant program from the leader of a seminar series for new farmers. Of the 20 tea producers from Vrinena Almiros who participated in the program, he knew only two beforehand. One was Christos Mylonas, whose fields neighbored his. “One important lesson I learned last season was how to propagate tea from seeds instead of by cutting a part from the mature plant. Every four or five years, the crop must be renewed. The second and third years have the strongest yields, and after that, the yield falls.”

Out of the 20 producers in the region, Tasos and Christos were two of the five selected to continue to the second phase of the program, where they will receive advanced training to turn their tea into an innovative product that they can bring to market. They intend to produce capsules with special blends of mountain tea and other local aromatic herbs that can be used in an espresso machine,[1]  and they are currently experimenting with various combinations of mountain tea with mint, chamomile, and other ingredients from Vrinena Almiros. “The second phase seems more difficult, but we have a great group, and I think we will do well,” Tasos said.

As a result of his participation in the program, Tasos has also connected with representatives from APIVITA, a company that makes natural cosmetics from organic Greek products and is interested in buying his tea. “APIVITA wants organic tea, which must be grown naturally without fertilizer or additives,” he said. “I’m transitioning my fields so that we can work together. The process takes three years, and this will be the second.”

“Tasos has made an effort to get into organic farming,” said Falia Economou, director of the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Program at the Agricultural University of Athens. “Now he’s found an entry into the market.”

“I would like to have a stable production and be able to sell my tea at a good price,” Tasos said. “I am very thankful for all that the program has given me. I’ve learned many new things, and the teachers and my collaborators are great. I hope to continue working with them.”