Life in the countryside beyond the romanticised image: Ten years ago, a group of young people set up “Psila Vouna” (High Mountains) to support the repopulation of mountainous areas, and today they are striving to make decentralisation a sustainable way of life.
*By Maros Paraskevoudi
It was one of those days on holiday when I found myself wondering how I could make this feeling of bliss last forever. To wake up beneath Mount Olympus, surrounded by nature, with the sea in the distance as the first thing I see. There are many who have decided to leave the cities behind and become mountaineers. However, behind the romantic image of a house in the mountains, of tranquillity and a different pace of life, lies a much more complex reality.
Decentralisation is not simply a decision to leave the city. It is a whole process linked to housing, work, services, transport, human relationships and, ultimately, a place’s ability to provide a life with perspective.
“There is no single reason why someone decides to ”take to the mountains”,’ explains Christina Papakyritsi from “”Psila Vouna”, a social cooperative enterprise based in Eastern Zagori, founded in 2016 with the aim of revitalising and promoting the integrated, liveable development of mountainous areas.
For some people, it is the need to be closer to nature, whilst for others it is the desire for a different pace of life and for a daily life with more meaningful relationships, where you get to know your neighbours and feel as though you can play an active part in what is happening around you.
The important thing, however, is not to view decentralisation as a means of escaping the city. For someone to truly live in a mountainous area, they need work, housing, social connections, basic services and time to integrate into the local community. “These are precisely the conditions We are trying to strengthen this through “Psila Vouna”,” she says.
Everyday life in the mountains, just as it really is
For her, one of the most intense feelings that life in the mountains evokes is an awareness of the place itself. The seasons, the weather, the light, the distances, even the silence take on a different meaning compared to the city. There are moments of great tranquillity and freedom, but also a sense of vulnerability. When you realise that, in order to access healthcare, treat an injury or even meet a day-to-day need, you may have to travel a considerable distance, you view the concept of safety differently.
In winter, in bad weather or when you are in a village with few inhabitants, this feeling becomes even more intense. At the same time, however, this reality brings you closer to the place and the people around you. You learn to organise yourself differently, to take the weather and distances into account more, but also to rely more on the relationships you build with the community. “Life in the mountains has a great beauty, but with it also comes a reality that we should not gloss over,” she notes.
In Demati, where the headquarters of Psila Vouna and the Psila Vouna Support Centre Given where she is based, there is hardly ever a truly typical day. Her daily routine involves office work, online meetings, coordinating activities and constant contact with people in the local area.
A day might begin with computer work and online meetings, and continue with a meeting with local residents or people from neighbouring villages, or with the organisation of an initiative, a volunteer group or a programme. And because it is a very small mountain village, work and everyday life are much more closely intertwined. You can welcome someone who comes to get to know the area, talk to a local about a need or an idea, or simply stop for a chat that turns out to be just as important as a scheduled meeting.
Housing is one of the biggest issues
In many villages there are closed houses, but this does not mean that they are available to rent or that they are in a condition that allows them to be lived in straight away. Then there is the matter of employment and access to services, transport, health, education for a family with children, and even simple things like the daily shop.
There is also the social aspect. Settling in a place is not simply a matter of renting a house. It takes time to get to know the community and become part of it. That is why, through “Take the Mountains”, “Psila Vouna” tries not to present a romanticised image, but to help everyone understand what life is actually like in the place they are interested in.
An interesting contradiction in the Greek periphery
Christina Papakyritsi finds that, on the one hand, there is a genuine interest, particularly amongst younger people, in a life outside major urban centres. This is reflected in the enquiries that “Psila Vouna” receives from people looking for villages, housing and opportunities for remote working, career opportunities or a different way of life.
On the other hand, interest alone is not enough to reverse demographic decline. Many villages continue to lose their permanent residents and services. Consequently, there are people who wish to move to the periphery, whilst at the same time there are places that find it difficult to accommodate them.
To bring about a real change in this situation, there needs to be a commitment on the part of both institutional bodies and local authorities. Decentralisation cannot be based solely on someone’s individual decision to leave the city. Policies, infrastructure, services, access to housing and employment, and an overall plan are needed which make it possible to settle in and, most importantly, to stay there.
At “Psila Vouna”, they are seeking to contribute precisely to this end, by developing proposals and policies that are shared with regions and local authorities and which, where there is a common will, are put into practice. One such proposal is for the creation of Population Attraction Offices, primarily in mountainous municipalities but also in municipalities within the region that do not have a large urban centre as their administrative headquarters and face intense problems associated with population decline and the weakening of local communities.
The idea is to have a stable local mechanism which will capture the true potential of each region and be able to support people interested in settling there, connecting them with available housing, work, services, local organisations and the community itself.
In this way, decentralisation ceases to be an individual endeavour and becomes a systematic policy of welcoming and helping new residents settle in. “This is the real challenge for us: to turn the interest in decentralisation into a genuine opportunity to settle and live in the region.”
What “Psila Vouna” have already achieved
This work is already yielding some measurable results. “Psila Vouna” is endeavouring to document the impact of its activities on mountain communities in an increasingly systematic manner. An important part of this is the Network of Decentralisation Ambassadors, which currently has 57 members across different regions of Greece. These are people who volunteer to act as local liaisons for those considering a move to the countryside. Drawing on their own experience, they offer practical information, guidance and an initial link to the local community.
To date, “Psila Vouna” has supported more than 20 people and families to make a fresh start in the countryside. At the same time, they have supported the establishment of, and provided advisory services to, more than 30 businesses and organisations within the Social and Solidarity Economy, helping groups to organise and develop activities that can create jobs and economic activity in small communities.
In the primary sector, they have created a network of 27 producers who will take part in the Socially Supported Agriculture model in the Ioannina region. The aim is to strengthen the link between small-scale producers and consumers and to create shorter and fairer supply chains for their products. At the same time, they have hosted more than 200 volunteers from all over the world and have carried out numerous initiatives in mountainous areas with the aim of supporting cooperatives, strengthening the primary sector and promoting community-based tourism.
Their aim is, through these initiatives, to forge new partnerships, create new career opportunities and establish better conditions so that people can stay or set up a new life in the countryside.
Local authorities also have an important role to play in this endeavour. Their involvement depends on the location and the specific action, but local government can play a decisive role, as many of the issues affecting life in mountainous areas – infrastructure, services, supporting the local economy and creating opportunities for young people – require cooperation with local authorities and institutional bodies.
In Zagori, “Psila Vouna” has established a strong partnership with the local council through joint initiatives and European programmes relating to sustainable development, tourism, local entrepreneurship and community development. They also collaborate with other mountain municipalities and local authorities on initiatives relating to education, the social economy, primary production and community-based tourism.
The goal, as Christina Papakyritsi points out, is that these collaborations should not be confined to isolated events, but should develop into a sustained endeavour and lead to substantial interventions, new services and better conditions for people who already live in, or wish to settle in, mountainous areas.
When decentralisation takes hold in the sector
One of the areas in which they seek to provide a practical response is sustainable agriculture, through a social innovation model based on Socially Supported Agriculture. The aim is to create a shorter, fairer and more transparent link between small-scale producers and consumers. The idea is to connect the output of a network of small-scale producers with households seeking fresh, seasonal and local produce. In this way, producers gain access to a more stable and organised distribution channel, whilst consumers have a clearer understanding of where their food comes from and who they are supporting through their purchases.
Although no strict mileage limit has been set, the basic principle is that the route from production to consumption should be kept as short as possible, without the model losing its economic and operational viability. The first implementation is planned for the Ioannina region, with producers mainly from the mountainous regions of Epirus and the Pindos. “We are now ready and willing to put this model to the test in practice.”
The network includes fruit, vegetables and seasonal fruit, pulses, cereals and flours, herbs, mushrooms and other produce, honey and beekeeping products, eggs and cheese, as well as small-scale processed products, such as pasta, bread and baked goods. Through the Community-Supported Agriculture model, these products can be collected at weekly hampers and delivered directly to households, in line with the seasonality and actual availability of produce.
A very fine example is the experimental greenhouses of “Psila Vouna”, which are now run by a couple who moved to the village with their daughter and have started growing vegetables such as tomatoes, green beans and peppers. It is a small but very telling example of how decentralisation can, in practice, be linked to production and the creation of new economic activity in a mountainous area.
For “Psila Vouna”, the ideal outcome of all these initiatives would be for mountain villages to once again become a genuine and sustainable lifestyle choice. A young person considering leaving Athens or Thessaloniki should not have to start from scratch, but should be able to find information about housing and work, meet people who already live there, and have access to basic services and know that there is a network that can help them as they take their first steps.
At the same time, people already living in the villages should be able to remain there with dignity, with an income, services and prospects. ” The aim is not only to attract new people, but to create the conditions for communities to become vibrant, functional and sustainable once again. “
So, can mountain villages be revived?
Christina Papakyritsi’s answer is yes, but not if we expect this to happen of its own accord, nor with the idea that all villages can return to the population they had fifty years ago. Success may mean something more realistic: a village which currently has few permanent residents but is attracting new people – couples, families and groups – who choose to live and work there, creating new business ventures and partnerships, providing meeting places and basic services, and bringing more life to the village throughout the year.
In a very small place, even just a few new facilities or initiatives can fundamentally change the daily life and prospects of the community.
There are now possibilities that did not exist before, such as teleworking, digital services, new forms of social entrepreneurship and different models of tourism and production. But these are not enough on their own.
Decentralisation requires policies on housing, access to work and basic services, appropriate infrastructure, active local communities and institutions willing to welcome and support new residents. It also requires a mechanism capable of linking all these needs and opportunities together.
On the rare occasions when I visit my mother’s village in Phocis, I am overwhelmed with nostalgia and a bittersweet feeling for the past. I don’t know whether this particular village will manage to offer a future for the younger generation, rather than simply being a meeting place for 15 August. What is certain is that life in the mountains is not merely a romantic notion for a few days’ holiday, but a conscious, realistic and sustainable choice for people who want to live, work, create and become part of a community.
“If we work systematically to address these issues, then many mountain villages will not be able to return to the way things were, but will instead secure a new, sustainable future”,” concludes Christina Papakyritsi.
Food for thought for all those times we think about heading for the mountains.
Source: news247.gr