Local stakeholders of the Region of East Macedonia – Thrace get to know the objectives and activities of CHORD

On Friday 28^th of May 2010, the Region of East Macedonia – Thrace, organized the first info seminar to the local stakeholders for the project CHORD / Cultural Heritage: Exploiting Opportunities for Rural Development. The info seminar took place as a parallel event of the 19^th Pan – Hellenic General Fair “Thrace 2010” in the International Fair Center of East Macedonia – Thrace. The project was presented to representatives from local authorities, cultural institutions, feminine cooperatives and entrepreneurs from the regional economy.

The aim of the seminar was to present the objectives of the project to the relevant stakeholders in order to get a first contact with them and gain their interest. The Head of the Directorate for Regional Planning and Development, Mr. Kostantinos Kaloudis, welcomed the participants and gave the floor to Mr. Sofoklis Larissis, project manager and Deputy Head of Unit C of the Intermediate Managing Authority of the Region of East Macedonia – Thrace. Mr. Larissis informed the participants about the objectives and the aims of the project with a short explanation of the expected outcomes and deliverables.  Mr. George Sgouros, officer of the Directorate for Regional Planning and Development, took the floor in order to present the promotional activities of the Region of East Macedonia – Thrace in the field of tourism in the previous programming period and the plans for the future. The event closed with a presentation from Mr. Emmanouel Ioannidis, Researcher of Traditional Culture, who spoke about the traditional culture (folklore, traditional dances and dresses) in the region and its exploitation as a tool for the development of tourism in the rural areas.

The participants were also provided with printed copies of the project leaflet and factsheet which contained all the information related to its objectives and the partners’ contact details.