On Wednesday, November 27, 2024, an open day was held at the Chamber of Commerce of the Cyclades on the topic ‘The South Aegean and the actions of the new programming period,’ organized by the Social Inclusion Observatory of the South Aegean Region. The event is part of a series of informational events organized by the Observatory, aimed at contributing to the promotion of social inclusion, labor market inclusion, and overall inclusion.
The event was attended by representatives of the Community Centers of the South Aegean Region and the Special Management Service of the South Aegean Region, as well as executives from the Counseling Centers of the Region and members of the local community.
At the beginning of the event, a brief greeting was addressed to the participants by:
Ms. Louizana Vakondiou, General Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the Cyclades,
Ms. Kyriaki Kyritsi, Head of the Social Inclusion Observatory,
Mr. Georgios Leontaritis, Deputy Regional Governor of the Cyclades, from the South Aegean Region, and Ms. Christiana Papitsi, Deputy Mayor of Tourism of the Municipality of Syros-Ermoupoli, who sent a written greeting,
Mr. Georgios Karamanolis, Co-Founder and CTO/CIO, and Mr. Michael Psallidas, Co-Founder and Managing Director of the company Crowdpolicy, which supports the operation of the Observatory,
and finally, Mr. Iakovos Gryllis from the company Exelixis, which collaborates to support the project in the Dodecanese.
Next, for the thematic session on Good Practices in Accessibility and Inclusion, the floor was given to Mr. Nikos Roussos, Entrepreneur from Syros, who spoke on ‘Challenges and Accessibility in Syros’; Ms. Moscha Kontorousi, from the Center of Creative Activities for Children with Disabilities (KDAP) in Syros-Ermoupoli, with the topic ‘Discovering Possibilities: The Contribution of KDAP for People with Disabilities to Society’; and finally, Ms. Tsambika Karageorgi, Educator specialized in Intercultural Education, and Ms. Sofia Dika, Psychologist, from the Community Center of Rhodes with the Roma Branch, with the topic ‘All Different, All Equal’.
The Open Day continued with the thematic session on the actions of the Social Inclusion Observatory, where Kyriaki Kyritsi and Georgios Karamanolis presented the new digital applications, such as the ‘Social Profile of Municipalities in the South Aegean,’ and the tools that are to be developed in the new programming period, including the ‘Citizen Social Card’ and more. The Observatory’s executives, Konstantina Kourkoumari and Theodora Symeonoglou, presented ‘The Findings from the Regional Income & Living Conditions Survey of 2023’ and ‘The Field Surveys of 2024 in the light of the 4 Thematic Areas for the Cyclades,’ while Eva Tsakiti, a collaborator from the company Exelixis, presented the findings of the field surveys for the Dodecanese. The session concluded with the presentation of the public relations activities of the new programming period by Despina Dourou, Operations Manager at Crowdpolicy.
The event concluded with the thematic session on Good Practices in the Labor Market and Social Inclusion, where Ms. Varvara Markaki, from the Center for Gender Rights and Equality DIOTIMA, spoke about ‘Remote Employment Counseling: A Proposal for Access to Support Services,’ Ms. Kalliopi Magoula, from the Counseling Center of Syros, elaborated on the topic ‘Employment Counseling as a Good Practice,’ and Mr. Dimitris Panopoulos, Economist, Data Analyst, Head of the Labor Market Research and Documentation Unit, Directorate-General for Labor Relations, Health, Insurance, and Employment Integration, gave a presentation on ‘The Labor Market and Smart Social Inclusion.’
An open discussion followed, moderated by researcher Georgia Tseva, and the event concluded with many ideas for collaboration, as well as an invitation for a conference with all the Social Inclusion Observatories of the country, an initiative that will be undertaken by the South Aegean Observatory and will take place in the first half of 2025.
Here you can watch the detailed video of all the presentations and speeches: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1L9UOqHjV9MbIWE8MXn9Zn?si=a825916dc03a4220&nd=1&dlsi=8239288ad15844d9&fbclid=IwY2xjawHQz7BleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHeU54i8z0ALdCbNGTpY5f92kgZxYP3vHtJjQmMoGsltVVm0WUWHat_m3bw_aem_biqRefrmQ_PWgFg6X7oVSA
We would like to warmly thank all the participants, as well as the speakers.
