The educational week started with a session of short lectures that occupied the first morning. An introduction of the participants and the experts opened the session, together with a discussion on the expectations the participants had from this educational week and the methodology that would be followed. Short introductory lectures followed, introducing terms, such as biodiversity, its elements and its values. The focus was on the special features of a Mediterranean landscape. The lectures were short and interactive and while the experts facilitated the discussion, the participants had the opportunity to add their own views. Next, the participants received an introduction to the area of Mt.Parnonas, where the main natural, social and cultural elements were presented.
Excursions were included, also, where participants discussed the main elements of the region, its management and the threats. The experts also presented a series of short lectures about the global threats such as climate change and the main policy drivers for mitigating their impact. The participants connected the global issues with the area of Parnonas and suggested ways to design local actions for global problems.
During the last day of the educational week, the participants design a strategy for sustainable development and conservation of nature for the area of Parnonas. First they summarized the elements and the values they had recorded during the field sessions. The stakeholders were connected with these values and conflict issues were described. Then, all participants prepared a long term vision (20 years), as well as medium term objectives (5 years) and proposed some activities serving these objectives.
The participants formed two groups. Each group had an assignment that would be delivered and presented. The two assignments were:
Group A: Develop a strategy for coordinating the various stakeholders involved in the Parnonas region, in order to achieve the best possible management of the region, combining biodiversity conservation and nature protection with social and economic development.
Group B: Develop a strategy for communication and raising awareness, addressing different target groups that will contribute to achieve the same management goals for the Parnonas region, mentioned above.
