News

Here’s a new interview of the President and Co-founder of Helidoni, Dimitris Georgakopoulos, to Capital.gr. Dimitris is unfolding his life’s roadmap from the time he was studying in the U.S. till today. He talks to Eleftheria Piperopoulou about his major milestones;

◽ the establishment of Buildium and the 15-year course until its acquisition

◽ the creation of Outseta – an experiment in organizational design and purpose at the startup ecosystem

◽ his return to Greece, the impact investments through Helidoni Group and the philanthropic work of Helidoni Foundation.

To read the interview, click here.

In Spring 2024, the Ecogenia team will again be putting boots on the ground to lead their first disaster management pilot. This project will combine ecotourism program impact (trail maintenance and revitalization work) with disaster management (wildfire fuel reduction, fire breaks, community engagement). Litochoro will serve as the homebase for the project and will include work in the foothills of Mt. Olympus National Park.

Ecogenia’s next cohort members will be equipped with the essential skills in order to support local efforts in ecotourism infrastructure projects, as well as implementing community-based disaster preparedness and prevention.

The program is part of a strategic partnership with the U.S. Embassy Athens and in collaboration with the California Conservation Corps and the Dion-Olympus Municipality. For the month of November, Ecogenia has set out to raise €15.000 through their #PathToOlympus campaign. Every contribution, big or small, will take them closer to their goals for a resilient Greece and a protected Mt. Olympus!

https://ecogenia.org/donate/

The results of the first "Close the Food Cycle" pilot, a program designed and implemented by InCommOn, are very encouraging in terms of its impact to the local community (see relevant post).

The project aimed to inform and activate the citizens, businesses, students and local authority of Papagou-Holargos around the proper management of food waste, so as to gradually shift them towards adopting the separation-at-source habit and the use/expansion of the brown bin network.

The ICO team tested different tools and actions from a wide range of activities to explore what works best and concluded to a guide that can be applied on organic waste (and possibly other recycling streams as well) and be replicated to other Municipalities.

A big thanks to InCommOn for contributing to the transition to a more circular everyday life for all, through a series of inspired and effective programs!

Where do ancient knowledge, medicine, humanities, spirituality and art meet? How can we collectively create an ecological civilization?

In the framework of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, the groundbreaking international symposium titled “How to Change Our Mind, to Change the World” takes place on 27, 28 & 29 September in the old IRIS factory, with the participation of distinguished speakers, researchers and artists from all over the world.

The central theme deals with the different ways of evolving, both on an individual and social level, towards a higher level of consciousness, in order to address contemporary global challenges and contribute to the protection of life on our planet. In parallel, the audience has the chance to participate in exciting discussions, experiential workshops and artistic activities.

The event is organized by the World Human Forum and is the first in a series of annual meetings aiming to re-establish Elefsina as a point of reference on a global scale in matters of consciousness, self-development and connection with the self, with others and with nature.

We’re very excited to be co-sponsoring the symposium and working closely with the World Human Forum's inspirational members!

Helidoni behind the scenes – “The purpose of life is a life of purpose”

Dimitris Georgakopoulos, our Foundation’s President and Co-founder, was invited by the Innovative Greeks to tell his personal story, from his journey to the U.S. 25 years ago until his return to Greece.

In episode 16 of the Innovative Greeks Talks, Dimitris recounts his life milestones & learnings, his values and life perspective, the reasons why him and his wife, Sarah, decided to found Helidoni.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBvTYsKkdcI

Listen on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Pdc7cY

After 7 months of ongoing activities, InCommOn's “Close the Food Cycle” project at the Municipality of Papagou-Holargos came to its end.

During this time, the InCommOn crew has been spreading the message of organic waste behavioral change through a series of actions, such as: workshops, awareness actions and campaigns, community building activities at neighborhoods & playgrounds, meetings with businesses, and more.

The project involved all parties of the local community (citizens/households, businesses, schools, Municipality) and its objectives were to:

♻ inform and engage the community about organic food waste and the correct use of the brown bin.

♻ develop tools so that the Municipality can continue the project and adapt it to other streams of recycling or increase the intensity of actions in the field of organic food waste.

♻ create a pilot system that can then be adapted and implemented in other Municipalities.

Another wonderful partnership for our Foundation! This time with The American College of Greece (ACG), where we support them on the kick-start of the following project.

ACG joins forces with Healing Lesvos and the University of the Aegean to implement the "Lesvos Mission Blue Project" (LMBP); a research initiative that engages science and society to protect, preserve, and revitalize the Aegean Sea. It will focus on promoting the conservation of the Mission Blue Avlaki Hope Spot in Lesvos and on establishing Mission Blue as a lighthouse of education, sustainable development, and social impact. Additionally, the first Citizen Science Hub in the North Aegean will be created.

A team of ACG students and professors visited Lesvos as part of field activities. During their stay they:

✔explored and made a first attempt of mapping the biodiversity of the island, namely: environmental and ecosystem services mapping, coastal plant identification, geological exploration, birdwatching, testing underwater equipment for the monitoring of fish populations.

✔established contacts and collaboration with the Department of Oceanography and Marine Research of the University regarding the future steps of the LMBP.

✔worked closely with Eleni Atsikbatsis, founder of Healing Lesvos and of the LMBP.

✔interacted on coastal monitoring activities with students of the Lyceum of Petra, where they also organized an educational activity on the SDGs with an emphasis on the most relevant to the project.

✔linked social and humanitarian issues with ecosystems of the island through exploring the migration pathways that bring birds and humans in the island of Lesvos.

Counting 1.5 years of being operational, Ecogenia has thus far achieved many of its key milestones, a fact that validates our primary intuition that this team is a winning team which can make great things happen! After the successful completion of the first two pilots in 2022 (Ecotourism in Dorida & Education in Chania), it’s time for the second iteration of the Ecotourism program;

as we speak, the new cohort members –"the fantastic 8️"– have already received 55 hours of training and they are now on the field, cleaning and opening trails. Last year, 7 cohorts –Ecogenia’s first trailblazers– managed to revitalize 5.5km of trail. This year, the aim is to not only maintain that piece of trail but also to add 10 more kilometers.

On top, cohorts & Ecogenia plan a Community Volunteer Day for June 17, will host 20 students from Tulane University for a media project, and much more! It’s worth mentioning Ecogenia’s long-term commitment to Dorida region which involves the revitalization of 60km of trail network, connecting several villages and stimulating a small ecotourism economy for the locals.

Our engagement with sustainable mobility begins and we couldn’t have a better ally on that rather than Cities for Cycling!

Cars are dominant on the streets, creating unfriendly livelihood for the citizens and impacting heavily on the environment. What if we could say no to the extensive car use and make room for alternative mobility solutions such as the bicycle?

After all, it’s a fact that the majority of the daily car routes in Athens are less than 2km. True, our city lacks the adequate cycling infrastructure, nevertheless a big part of the road network consists of narrow, low-traffic roads that you can safely bike to.

Cities for Cycling – an official member of the European Cyclists' Federation and the National Coordinator of EuroVelo for Greece – has a long course promoting the use of bicycle in the Greek cities and the development of cycling tourism through a series of actions and programs.

Now, it has designed a lovely project – that we’re proudly funding – called “Cycle into History and Art”; placing parking spots to museums, galleries & cultural destinations and providing directions for safe and easy connections between these places is a win-win for everyone:

+ for the reduction of CO2 emissions + for accessibility to cultural spaces through a fun ride + for our health and wellbeing + for community building and socializing + for economic development

Our special thanks to Spiros Papageorgiou who – with his optimism, deep knowledge and lust for cycling – made us feel that we can overcome barriers and help towards the expansion of micro mobility in Greece.

The annual conference Philanthropy 2.0 is coming up in a few days and HIGGS has prepared a very interesting agenda for it.

The theme of the conference is the importance of social impact and its practical application. Key members from civil society organizations, charitable foundations, businesses, public institutions, universities and experts from Greece and abroad will share their knowledge and experiences on social impact as a growth driver for society and the country at large.

Happy to be co-sponsoring such a nice initiative, we look forward to it!

10-11 May 2023 | Serafio City of Athens | Free admission