A clear step towards the institutionalisation and financing of stone terraces was marked by the workshop «Stone terraces in ephemeral island streams», co-organized by the Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Man (MedINA) in cooperation with the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Insular Policy of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy. The State, through the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Island Policy of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Island Policy, has expressed its intention to proceed with the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry and Civil Society Organisations for the formulation of an institutional framework and roadmap for the purpose of elaborating an integrated proposal for the terms and conditions for the integration of traditional practice in projects or local strategies within the framework of the new Multiannual Financial Framework 2028 - 2034, paving the way for its widespread implementation on the islands. This initiative is included in the Consolidated Government Policy Plan and the Ministry's Action Plan for the year 2026, which reinforces the institutionality of the actions.
Representatives of the government, the scientific community, local government and public administration agreed that stone terraces, a practice that nowadays combines traditional knowledge with modern science, constitute an essential Nature-based Solution for the proper management of water, flood protection and enhancing the resilience of island ecosystems.
Greetings were given by the Deputy Minister of Shipping and Island Policy, Mr: Petros Varelidis, Secretary General of the Natural Environment and Waters, Manolis Koutoulakis, Secretary General of the Aegean and Island Policy, and Ioannis Golias, Professor Emeritus of the National Academy of Sciences. and Governor of the Eugenides Foundation, stressing the importance of cooperation for the promotion of Nature-based Solutions in the island area and the possibility of including corresponding initiatives in the planning for sustainable water resources management, with the appropriate institutional and financial framework.
In the scientific part of the conference, Dimitris Emmanouloudis, Professor of the Department of Natural Environment and Climate Resilience at the University of Thessaloniki, noted that the Mediterranean is among the most affected areas, with an estimated temperature increase in the Aegean Sea of 2-4.5 °C by 2060, pointing out that Nature-based Solutions contribute to flood protection, the reduction of soil erosion and the safeguarding of water resources.
In the same context, Nikos Georgiadis, Head of the Land Programme at WWF Hellas, stressed that the abandonment of traditional practices and the increase of artificial surfaces have disturbed the natural water runoff, intensifying the flooding phenomena on the islands, while Alkmeni Paka, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, pointed out that the island landscape has not only aesthetic value, but is a complex functional system that for centuries provided for the needs of communities, and sounded the alarm about the rapid changes of the last decades as a result of uncontrolled building.
Fanonikos Sakellarakis, Coordinator of the Water Project at MedINA, presented the applications of stone terraces from 2020 to date in Kythera, the Paros, the Ios and the Sifnos and the approach to developing methodologies for their optimal siting, taking into account the topography, geological background and hydrographic network of the catchment area.
The Mayor of Ios, Gikas Gikas, confirmed that the construction of 50 stone terraces in the stream of Mauroudi in 2024 has already contributed to flood protection and the strengthening of the water table of Ios, calling on other municipalities of the Cyclades to invest in similar interventions. At the same time, the Director General of Forests, Vangelis Gountoufas, presented the first implementation of stone terraces by the State as an anti-corrosion measure where in a landmark development, after the July 2025 fires in Kythera, 290 stone terraces were constructed and for the first time the technical specifications and budget for their construction were determined.
Grigoris Koutropoulos, founding member of «Boulouki» stressed the need to spread the technique and informed that in the framework of the participatory actions of the construction of stone terraces in Ios, Paros and Sifnos, more than 20 people were trained - including three members of the Technical Service of the Municipality of Ios. Angeliki Pariotis, from the Environment Directorate of the General Secretariat of the Aegean and Island Policy, called, for her part, for cross-sectoral cooperation for the training of local communities and the training of engineers and contractors of private projects.
In this context, the Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Antonis Giannikouris, referred to the Chamber's intention to draw up technical specifications for the inclusion of the practice of stone terraces in the context of public works studies and the training of their members. Stavroula-Villy Fotopoulou, Director of Modern Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, informed that the Ministry of Culture is proceeding with the creation of two apprenticeship schools for traditional building which will be an important step in strengthening the art of dry stone with young craftsmen.
At a time of increasing pressures on island ecosystems, the use of traditional knowledge, combined with modern science, can provide effective solutions that enhance the resilience of landscapes and local communities.
