On Friday, December 1st, 2023, the conference entitled "URBACT IV: CITIES@HEART Baseline Study visit" took place at the premises of the Development Organization "AMFIKTYONIES S.A.", in the context of the first onsite visit of the lead partner "The Greater Paris Metropolis” within the European Program Urbact IV, in which the Development Organization participates.
The chief expert, Mar Santamaria Varas, traveled with the wider team of the "The Greater Paris Metropolis” to visit the ten partners of the project located throughout the European Union, among them is the city of Lamia as well as the Development Organization "AMFIKTYONIES S.A.”, is partner of the cities network Cities@Heart. The Cities@Heart network is dedicated to sharing best practices and innovations to improve city center management. At this point it is worth reminding that the Development Organization "AMFIKTYONIES S.A.” participates in the approved cities network Cities@Heart with lead partner "The Greater Paris Metropolis" and partners from Poland, Spain, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia, Belgium, Ireland and Italy.
Following the completion of the keynote visit with the project partners, the findings will enable the network to move from knowledge to action, defining the roadmap for the next two years.
The participants of the workshop were the following, and they are part of the project team and the Urbact Local Group for the implementation of the European Program URBACT IV Cities@Heart:
- Léonie Yang – Lead Project Coordinator: Greater Paris Metropolis
- Mar Santamaría Varas – Lead expert: Greater Paris Metropolis
- Athanasia Koutsi – Project coordinator (AMFIKTYONIES S.A)
- Peri Adam – Communication (AMFIKTYONIES S.A)
- Ioanna Koutsokera – Communication (AMFIKTYONIES S.A)
- Eleni Akrivou – Member (AMFIKTYONIES S.A)
- Aphrodite Politopoulou – Representative of the Municipality of Lamia (ULG Member)
- Athanasios Kyritsis – President and Representative of the Fthiotida Chamber of Commerce (ULG Member)
- Christoforos Papavasiliou – Fthiotida Chamber of Commerce
- Athanasios Lykopoulos – Representative of the Technical Chamber of Greece Eastern Continental Department (ULG Member)
- Roula Kechri – Representative of the Region of Central Greece (ULG Member)
- Vasileios Plagianakos – Representative of the University of Thessaly (ULG Member)
In addition, a visit was made to the historical and commercial center of the city of Lamia. During the visit to the center, the points of intervention were identified and ways that could improve the daily life of the citizens were discussed. In addition, the commercial traffic in the shops was analyzed as well as the traffic problem during peak hours. The baseline study visit closed with the finalization of the plan and some guidelines by the Lead Expert for the URBACT program.
Lamia, through the work of the Development Organization "AMFIKTYONIES S.A." will have an excellent opportunity to network, collaborate with other European cities and produce work that will enhance the sustainable development of the place and the well-being of its residents.
With many and varied activities in progress, Cities@Heart has kicked off with excitement. Regularly check the LinkedIn page (LinkedInPage) and the website of the URBACT network (networkwebpage), as well as the LinkedIn page (LinkedlnPage) of the Development Organization "AMFIKTYONIES S.A." to be informed about the movements and findings of the project!