A story goes that when the eminent German professor of ecology Helmut Lieth, I want to find evidence for a research, to look at Athens from above, through the first satellite photos of the time, saw a city without greenery. Like a rocky mass. It was the 1980s when this happened and since then things have clearly gotten worse. The latest data from the Municipality of Athens show that to each resident correspond to 6.84 sq.m. green, when the red line from the World Health Organization is at 9 sq.m.

The quarantine was the absolute poll: Residents of the wider center, looking for an escape, flooded Pedion tou Areos, Zappeion and Lycabettus, so that the routes quickly became routine and ended up rather boring, while they were divided into suburbs, either to the mountains or to the sea, I had something more opening.

The newly built Athens Garden Festival, organized by the European network EUNIC, is coming from 20 to 26 September, to stop the sustainable development of Athens and the relationship between citizens and green spaces. Actions with free entrance to parks, gardens and terraces.

In both cases, the happy ending is that “Park culture”, that is, the habit of spending time in the green spaces of the city, having a picnic, reading, not meeting friends and acquaintances, having fun. Conditions will change at the end of the pandemic but not alone, so what is left in the end?

“Parks and us,” he will answer in a fantastic dialogue Athens Garden Festival. This is a new festival (different from that of OPANDA), which comes at the right time to reflect – together with the participants – the sustainable development of Athens and the relationship between citizens and green spaces. Organized by EUNIC (Association of Cultural Institutions of the European Union), a network of cultural organizations with fourteen different nationalities in its body, so the program of the event is determined by diversity and international voices.

From the National Garden and Pedion tou Areos, to the rooftops of the institutes and the hill of Lycabettus, The city’s parks and gardens are celebrated from September 20 to 26. “The Athens Garden Festival aspires to act for every citizen a unique opportunity to appropriate the city’s gardens, in order to exchange ideas and knowledge, but also to fight stereotypes through culture, as well as through the discovery of innovative solutions to local and European challenges. concerning the future of our way of life “, states the official announcement.

Outdoor readings, dance and music events, documentary screenings and performances sought our interest in being in the cool spots of the center, while workshops call for (ecological) action and round table discussions raise issues such as circular design, urban planning. Admission to all events is free but for some of them they involve the registration or effect of a health certificate.

Detailed action plan and more information here.