The Rural Tourism Support Network e-paithros and the JolnOuT project were presented on Friday 26 May 2023 at the Sitia Municipality Polycentre, as part of the 4th International Conference of UNESCO World Geoparks in Greece and Cyprus. “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION IN THE WORLD GEOPARKS OF GREECE – CYPRUS”, which took place in Sitia, Greece, from 25 to 27 May 2023.
The presenters from the e-paithros cluster and the JoinOuT project, Nikos A. Draconakis and Dr Chrysa I. Pagalou, outlined the vision, actions and results of the projects, which operate in a complementary manner to support and manage rural tourism in Crete and, in future, throughout Greece. Through a spatial and thematic categorisation of rural tourism products and services, they also highlighted the projects’ contribution to the promotion of the Sitia and Psiloritis Geoparks and called on the managers of the Geoparks to cooperate in developing geotourism in Greece, within the framework of the e-paithros cluster.
It is worth noting that the conference was organised by the UNESCO World Geopark of Sitia and the Municipal Organisation for Socio-Cultural Development of Sitia (DOKAS), in cooperation with the Greek Geoparks Forum, the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO, the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency and the Greek National Commission for UNESCO. The Region of Crete and the Municipality of Sitia were co-organisers.
The project entitled “Joint Innovative Activities for Outdoor Tourism” and distinctive title: “JolnOuT”, is implemented within the framework of the Action “Cooperative Innovation Formations/SCC” - 2nd Call: Businesses” and is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by National Resources in the context of the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EPANEK)” of the NSRF 2014-2020″ (Project code: ΓΓ2CL-0359457).
