An environmental weekend at Stavros Niarchos Park.
Saturday, September 21, and Sunday, September 22: Talks & Discussions | Exhibitions | Film Screening | Music | Educational Workshops | Cycling and Recreational Activities for All Ages.
On Saturday, September 21, and Sunday, September 22, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) organizes for the third consecutive year the SNFCC Green Weekend, an exciting two-day event dedicated to the environment, inviting us to rethink our everyday lives and choices for a more sustainable future.
Creating a platform for discussion, idea exchange, information, and entertainment, SNFCC Green Weekend 2024 transforms Stavros Niarchos Park into a vibrant laboratory, aiming for collective action towards the harmonious and sustainable coexistence of humans and biodiversity within the urban center.
Visitors of SNFCC Green Weekend will have the opportunity to participate, free of charge, in a green festival aimed at all ages, featuring talks and discussions on key topics related to the future of urban life, exhibitions, a film screening, music, as well as a variety of educational and recreational activities, including multiple cycling events.
On Saturday, September 21, at 18:00, the opening speech will present the SNFCC as a Hub for Sustainability, with speakers Dimitris Protopsaltou, General Director of SNFCC, and Gabrialla Triantafylli, Director of Programming and Production. At 18:30, three distinguished speakers – landscape architect Elisavet Bargianni, Head of Urban Overheating for the Municipality of Athens, Alexia Spyridonidou, member of the European Commission’s Urban Mobility Expert Group, and Aris Tsagrasoulis, Professor of Architecture at the University of Thessaly – will present the “challenges of today’s cities” and propose solutions. The discussion will be moderated by journalist Natasha Mastorakou. Following this, at 20:00, architect Zisis Kotionis and psychiatrist-psychoanalyst Nikos Sideris will exchange thoughts on how the urban landscape affects the mental health of city residents. This discussion will be moderated by writer Vivian Stergiou.
On Sunday, September 22, at 18:00, the discussion begins with a panel moderated by journalist Sofia Christou on the “green aspects of the urban landscape,” featuring speakers George Apostolopoulos, Deputy Mayor of Environment and Green Spaces for the Municipality of Athens, Antigoni Goufa from the General Directorate for Sustainable Development and Climate Change of the Attica Region, and landscape architect Elli Pagkalou. At 19:00, the exciting new segment of the festival, “Green Slam,” will give the audience a chance to hear short statements from individuals who are making a difference in urban and environmental matters: Yannis Zoumakis (urban cyclist), Eleni Mougiakou (PhD candidate at the Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, and lead researcher for the project “URBAN HEAT WATCH”), Tasis Papaioannou (Architect and Emeritus Professor at the National Technical University of Athens), Nikos Patsavos (Architect and President of the Department of Architecture, University of Ioannina), Maria Peteinaki (Architect), Eleni Rapti (Director of Corporate Relations, Natural Gas Greek Energy Company), George Rymenidis (Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, University of Ioannina), Vasilis Stamogiannis (Organization Earth), Vasilis Sfakianopoulos (Save Your Hood), and Evelina Faliaga (Urbana). This discussion will be moderated by Elina Syrris, Electrical and Computer Engineer, and member of the first SNFCC Youth Council.
At 20:30, the festival’s highly anticipated keynote speech will be delivered by Maurizio Carta, urban planner, architect, and Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Palermo. He will speak on the challenges facing Western cities and how to manage them, with a focus on environmental protection and fostering an “alliance” between cities, nature, and inhabitants.
All talks and discussions will be held at the SNFCC Dome, with simultaneous interpretation in Greek Sign Language and English.
The SNFCC Green Weekend 2024, made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), also includes the interactive art installation Lightbattle X by Venividimultiplex (Light Art Collection, Netherlands), two photography exhibitions (“Uncovered” by Olga Deikou and “RIDE ATHENS” by Spyros Bakalis), an exhibition of architectural studies by young architects titled “Human Settlements – Sustainable Communities,” the screening of the documentary The Salt of the Earth by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, a concert by the Ergon Ensemble, an outdoor flower market Open Agora focused on the environment, cycling activities, as well as numerous creative workshops and recreational activities for both children and adults.
For more information, visit the SNFCC website at snfcc.org/GreenWeekend2024 and follow them on social media @SNFCC.
