BLUE CULTURE HUB PORTAL_Press release _ 1.10.2020
BLUE CULTURE HUB PORTAL
Press release / 1-10-2020
The Decentralised Administration of Peloponnese, Western Greece and Ionian, is pleased to announce that the BLUE CULTURE HUB PORTAL is available online, on http://blueculturehub.nmp-zak.org. The initiative was organized in the framework of the project “Climate-Smart Coastal Practices for Blue Governance”-BLUECOAST, funded by the Interreg IPA CBC Cross-Border Cooperation Programme “Greece – Albania 2014 – 2020”. Details for the project are available at http://bluecoast-cbc.eu/.
The portal is addressed to scientists, teachers, Management Agencies of coastal and marine protected areas, state bodies, local authorities and environmental, cultural and educational organizations as well as to every concerned citizen. The effort is to integrate the necessity and the goals of sustainable Blue Development with the seed of the cultural values developed over time in the coastal areas to make the sea the common beginning of different people with similar experiences and to move forward with the common goal of developing economic activities in balance with the marine environment.
The Hub seeks to support initiatives that promote “blue culture”. It involves how culture can be a powerful tool for the protection of the environment, emphasizing common responsibility for the preservation of the bioenvironment and the mobilization of every citizen and the wider society.
Such an initiative is the Digital Photography Exhibition launched by the Organising Committee of “BLUECOAST” project. The Exhibition is available on line at http://blueculturehub.nmp-zak.org/?phort_post=blue-culture-hub-photo-exhibition. The Exhibition theme was “Blue Culture” of the cross-border area of Greece and Albania, focusing on Zakynthos and Himara. The two countries were bridged on the occasion of this unique exhibition, dedicated to the beauty and mystery of sea life, the coastal and island heritage, the promotion of the primordial connection of human with the sea. The exhibition had great success due to the high interest of the citizens and the participation of distinctive scientists from various organisations such as the Management Agency of the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, the Hellenic Ornithological Society, Helmis Natural History Museum of Zakynthos, the UNDP Albania, Himara municipality, the Club UNESCO Zakynthos, the Biopolitics International Organisation, the Environmental Education Center of Lithakia Zakynthos, the Hellenic Oceanographers’ Association, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Center of Culture and Development AVANTGARDE, Regional Administration of Protected Areas/Vlora Region/Albania, Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage Vlore.
The Blue Culture Hub Portal was created in order to provide the wider society with the information on current environmental challenges which gradually become more and more part of our daily life as well as with the vision for a transition to a climate-smart society and the achievement of a resilient future for blue growth.