As part of the WE GO COOP project, ANATOLIKI S.A. organized, on September 18, 2025, a meeting with the Municipality of Delta, and on September 26, 2025, a Symposium at Porto Palace with the stakeholders of the Axios Delta wetland.
At the meeting with the Municipality of Delta, the Project Manager of WE GO COOP, Ms. Naya Tselepi, met with the Mayor, Ms. Gerakina Bispina, the Deputy Mayor for Civil Protection, Mr. Konstantinos Vervitis, the Deputy Mayor for Technical Services and Urban Planning, Mr. Dimitrios Kamanas, the Secretary General of the Municipality, Mr. Thanasis Pazarloglou, and the Financial Affairs Advisor, Ms. Maria Anagnostou. During the meeting, Ms. Tselepi presented the WE GO COOP project and its predecessor, TUNE-UP, within the framework of which, in 2021, the Municipality signed a Memorandum of Understanding to achieve a Local Contract in the Axios Delta Marine Protected Area (MPA). Afterwards, a discussion took place on the problems of the Axios Delta wetland area, and further possibilities for cooperation between ANATOLIKI and the Municipality were explored in order to address them.
A week later, on September 26, the Symposium took place at Porto Palace, with the participation of many of the stakeholders who had signed the Memorandum of Understanding, such as the Region of Central Macedonia, the Fisheries Department, EYATH (Thessaloniki Water Supply and Sewerage Company), the National Centre for Habitats and Wetlands, the NGO i-Sea, as well as other representatives from Universities and technical companies.
The Symposium opened with a welcome by the General Director of ANATOLIKI, Ms. Vaso Papadopoulou, followed by greetings from the Mayor of Delta, Ms. Gerakina Bispina. Then, Ms. Naya Tselepi, Project Manager, presented the WE GO COOP project, explained the content of Wetland Contracts and the Community of Practice and referred to the importance of the two Memoranda of Understanding signed in 2021 under the previous TUNE-UP project by stakeholders from the Axios Delta area and the Region of Central Macedonia. Next, Dr. Lydia Albanou, Biologist, presented the Axios Delta area and the role of the Organization for Natural Environment & Climate Change (OFYPEKA) in Wetland Governance and the Community of Practice.
In the second part of the Symposium, a workshop was first held to map the Axios Delta area and analyze its strengths and weaknesses regarding governance issues. In the following workshop, participants discussed in groups the challenges of collaborative governance and their proposals regarding climate change, environmental degradation and pollution, and the impacts of these on the Axios Delta.
In conclusion, the Symposium was another step toward meaningful dialogue and cooperation among the stakeholders involved in nature conservation issues at the level of local communities, through collaborative governance.
Partnership:
- Organization for Local Development, ANATOLIKI S.A. (Greece)
- The Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative (France)
- Roma Tre University – Department of Architecture (Italy)
- Andalusian Federation of Towns and Provinces (Spain)
- Public Institution Nature Park Vransko jezero (Croatia)
- Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (Albania)
- RCDI – Development and Innovation Network (Portugal)
The Region of Central Macedonia participates in the project as Associated Partner and will support ANATOLIKI S.A. in the exchange of practices at the regional level and will be involved in the Community of Practice activities.
Project Budget: 999.784 €
ANATOLIKI S.A. Budget: 156.260 €Website:https://wegocoop.interreg-euro-med.eu/
