The Social Cooperative Enterprise “Paths of Greece” and the AMKE “Diadrasis”, in collaboration with the Municipality of Skiathos, have initiated the implementation of the project “Heritage Paths of Skiathos,” funded by the Prasino Tameio.

The aim of the project is to protect, preserve, and highlight the cultural and natural heritage of Skiathos by upgrading its hiking network and actively involving the island’s residents. The results aim to support similar actions for the protection and promotion of unexplored cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, in other regions of Greece.

Contents

Identification of Heritage Paths

  • Community participation in identifying the cultural assets of Skiathos
  • Recording and evaluation of Skiathos’s cultural heritage
  • Analysis and evaluation of the accessibility of Skiathos’s paths
  • Identification and upgrading of the heritage paths of Skiathos
  • Protection of the heritage paths and the cultural heritage of Skiathos

Support for Path Maintenance

  • Training in preventive conservation of monuments
  • Promotion of the heritage paths and the cultural heritage of Skiathos

Website Upgrade and Promotion Events

  • Upgrading of the Skiathos paths and routes website
  • Events promoting the heritage paths of Skiathos
  • Project management and communication

Press Releases

  • Press Release 1
  • Visits and meetings with the community of Skiathos

Specific objectives identified to achieve the above aim include:

  • Identifying heritage paths that showcase the island’s cultural, historical identity, and natural beauty.
  • Preserving and protecting Skiathos’s cultural and natural heritage, including its paths, with the participation of the local community.
  • Promoting Skiathos’s cultural and natural heritage through the information and sensitization of residents and visitors.

Within the project’s framework and in collaboration with residents and citizen organizations, the island’s cultural assets (both tangible and intangible) and the routes that highlight Skiathos’s cultural and natural heritage will be identified. Municipality staff, residents, and organizations will be trained in preventive conservation work on monuments and paths. For the first time, an accessibility system for routes for people with disabilities will be developed. Information and sensitization actions to protect Skiathos’s cultural heritage will be carried out for children, residents, and visitors to the island, promoting a more environmentally friendly tourism model for Skiathos.

More specifically, the following actions will be carried out:

  • Research and documentation of Skiathos’s cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, and the collection of oral histories from the island’s residents. The results of this research will contribute to the creation of thematic cultural routes, and the collected material will be incorporated into the texts of existing signs.
  • Improvement of the existing path network through the development of cycling routes.
  • Organized inspection and placement of information signs for the accessibility of people with disabilities in the existing path network, following the official specifications of the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities, aiming to upgrade accessibility for the first time in Greece.
  • Training and sensitization of the local community on maintenance issues for both paths and cultural heritage to ensure the project’s continuity and sustainability.
  • Promotion of the overall initiative through the upgrading of the Skiathos paths website and parallel open events.

The ultimate goal of all the above is to adopt an environmentally friendly tourism model for Skiathos, based on the connection of the island’s cultural and natural wealth. The project will be implemented from October 2023 to October 2024.

The “Heritage Paths of Skiathos” project is part of the funding program “Natural Environment & Innovative Actions 2022” and specifically under the priority axis “Development and implementation of policies or actions for the protection and enhancement of the cultural environment with an environmental perspective.” The budget of €50,000 is funded by the Prasino Tameio with the Social Cooperative Enterprise “Paths of Greece” as the beneficiary, the AMKE “Diadrasis” as a partner, and with the participation of the Municipality of Skiathos.

“The project is based on the Guide developed by the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities (N.C.P.D.) under the project ‘Reinforcing protected areas capacity through an innovative methodology for sustainability’ (BIO2CARE), which was included in the Cross-Border Cooperation Program ‘INTERREG V-A GREECE-BULGARIA 2014-2020’ and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and national resources of Greece and Bulgaria.”