The President of the European Commission, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, referred to the island of Kythira, during the conference Rural Pact. More specifically, he stressed the importance of supporting innovative and smart actions, such as precision agriculture and the certification, which is currently taking place on the island in the framework of the Terra Kytheria.
The conference is currently taking place in Brussels, on 15 and 16 June, and aims to bring together politicians at all levels, local authorities and social and economic actors to plan governance and achieve the objectives of the European Union's common vision for rural development. The President chose to refer to the Kythera programme as a good practice among many other projects and actions implemented in the European Union.
This reference has resulted from the participation of Kythera as a «smart village» in the action SmartRural 21. The smart village strategy developed for the island focuses on rural development and the creation of opportunities for young people. In this context, it has been extensively presented the Terra Kytheria and the cooperation with the Agricultural University of Athens (Smart Farming Technology Group) in data acquisition with drones by Katerina Kasimatis (MSc, Agricultural University of Athens), as national expert of the SmartRural 21 project for Greece and by the coordinator of the Terra Kytheria project, Rigas Zafeiriou (MSc, MedINA, KIPA).
MORE INFORMATION & LINKS
Terra Kytheria - Sustainable Agriculture in Kythera: The Terra Kytheria project aims to support olive growers and promote Kythera olive oil. It is based on a cultivation and certification system, which is adapted to local methods and preserves the biodiversity and traditional agricultural landscapes of the island.
The programme is implemented by the Kythira Foundation for Culture & Development (KIPA) and the Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Man (MedINA) in cooperation with the Agricultural Olive Oil Cooperative of Potamos, the Agricultural Cooperative of Livadi, and the University of the Aegean. It is an extension of the programme Terra Lemnia in Lemnos coordinated by MedINA.
More information: MedINA website, CFS website, Terra Lemnia
