Current problems facing young people considering living in the Amfilissos Area


The Amfilissos area has many attractions as a place to live for people of all ages, particularly those associated with its natural beauty and ecological diversity. But deciding to live in the Area means confronting many problems., which intersect the physical and sociocultural layers of the Amfilissos Area flow grid. The people who experience these problems most intensively are young: in their 20’s and 30’s. Paradoxically these are the people whom it is most important to attract to the Amfilissos Area, as they will be the main motivators and achievers in its revitalization and development.


Fourni islands from Balos Beach
Specific problems and emerging solutions

The following problems are those most frequently cited by the young people in 2009. These are also the problems which motivate the Amfilissos Network in designing and implementing the projects in the Amfilissos Project Compendium to overcome them.

Internet access.
This lack has made difficulties for both work and leisure activities, which increasingly rely on live high speed digital connectivity. However all this has now changed with the provision of 3G broadband wireless networking for the Amfilissos area by Cosmote with continually increasing coverage.

Creativity containment.
Previously, there have been few resources or projects encouraging creativity within the Amfilissos Area - this will now begin to change with development of Spritivity projects, encouragement of an influx of creative professionals bringing their own resources and creative briefs, together the establishment of a branch of the London Multimedia Lab for Audiovisual Composition and Communication in the area. Studios and workshops will also be set up through local initiatives to provide resources for creative practitioners.

L
ack of any educational and professional development.
Apart from the schools for primary and secondary education in Skoureika and Koumeika there are no facilities on institutes supporting life-long educational and professional development in the area. Provision of such educational facilities is a major aim of the projects that will establish the Amfilissos Centre and Laboratory for Revitalizing Villages and the Ecological observatory planned to be developed at Neochori. Implementation of Summer Schools, intensive courses, on-line resources and graduate internships will be encouraged. There is also a plan to develop teaching components of the International Baccalaureate in the Amfilissos Area,

Destruction and pollution of the Area’s physical environment and impairment of natural water supplies.
This has become a steadily increasing problem within the Amfilissos Area as building development and tourism increases, without substantial infrastructures. The Amfilissos Flow Grid has been designed to promote development, and provide for the growth of tourism within an ecological framework, but constant vigilance will also be necessary to pre-empt local activities that can lead to destruction of natural and heritage resources.

Path leading to the water supply source pool for Neochori

In 2006, with ancient paving stones intact ........................ In 2009: Path widened. stones gone, surface rutted by water