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ECHOCITIZEN Contest for young talents 15-22 years old

ECHOCITIZEN Contest for young talents 15-22 years old

  "My City, sounds and emotions" Contest for youngsters 2017 In the framework of the ECHOCITIZEN action a contest amongst young people 15-22 years old, is taking place.  2017...

Join SDMed at EUGIC 2017 Budapest

Join SDMed at EUGIC 2017 Budapest

SDMed becomes endorser of the 2nd European Urban Green Infrastructure Conference ! Thus, SDMed Members can now receive the discount ticket of 200 EUR (from 300 EUR) for both days and...

About Green Infrastructure : Europe, Greece

About Green Infrastructure : Europe, Greece

On the TV Antenna of the Greek Parliament, in "Member Card" coordinated by Matroni Dikaiakou, Stella Kyvelou is talking about "Green Infrastructure" in Europe with the presence of Dimitris...

Forum on Economic Impacts of the Cruise Industry

Forum on Economic Impacts of the Cruise Industry

               «Economic Impacts of the Cruise Industry on Coastal, Insular and River Destinations» Ancient Olympia,...

MARINESCAPE FORUM PIRAEUS

MARINESCAPE FORUM PIRAEUS

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CISD : Natural Resources and Small Islands

CISD : Natural Resources and Small Islands

   Το Παρατηρητήριο Πολιτών για την...

Eco-neighborhoods : Where are we in Greece ?

On the occasion of  "World Environment Day 2012", the Greek-French and international SDMed Association ( www.sd-med.org) together with Panteion University-Laboratory of strategic spatial...

Conference of the Pioneers of the Local Authorities in Energy Cost Reduction

Conference of the Pioneers of the Local Authorities in Energy Cost Reduction

  Conference of the Pioneers of the Local Authorities in Energy Cost Reduction - organised by the ERFC with the participation of SDMed 31th March 2015, Athens, Greece VENUE : NATIONAL...

Nature and culture-based strategies and solutions for cities and territories : an idea whose time has come !

Nature and culture-based strategies and solutions for cities and territories : an idea whose time has come !

       On the occasion of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, SDMed Observation, Planning & Eco-innovation presents the International Conference "Nature &...

Greek ESPON-on-the-Road on press !

Greek ESPON-on-the-Road on press !

   BLOD.GR : http://www.blod.gr/lectures/Pages/viewevent.aspx?EventID=408  

Presentation of ESPONTrain, Brussels, Committee of the Regions,10 October 2014

Presentation of ESPONTrain, Brussels, Committee of the Regions,10 October 2014

Promoting the Use of European territorial evidence in practise. The ESPON National Contact Points capitalising efforts at transnational level This session  gave the stage to the...

ESPON Day ‘What European Territory Today and Tomorrow?’ 10 October 2014, Brussels

ESPON Day ‘What European Territory Today and Tomorrow?’ 10 October 2014, Brussels

10 October 2014, 8h30 – 16h00 Aim and Structure of the ESPON Day The ESPON Day ‘What European Territory Today and Tomorrow?’ aims at presenting mainachievements on European territorial...

Workshop on Smart Blue Growth, Nafplion, 4 june 2014

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  European seas and coasts are important drivers of the economy. In 2012 the EU’s blue economy represented 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under €500 billion per year2. In...

SDMed participates in the CreativeMED Conference

SDMed participates in the CreativeMED Conference

The CreativeMED project, capitalising five successful projects of the MED programme 2007-2013, aims to deliver a bottom-up smart specialisation framework leveraging the creativity and...

Balancing acoustic comfort with energy performance, air quality               and fire protection in buildings

Balancing acoustic comfort with energy performance, air quality and fire protection in buildings

The ECHOPOLIS 2013 e-Proceedings are now available !!  see among the articles published :  Kyvelou S., Floros C., : Building sustainability through integrated design process :...

ESPONTrain Final Transnational Conference

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"Territorial Development Opportunities in Europe and its Neighbourhood - Fostering Global Competitiveness", 5 - 6 December 2012

How to foster Europe’s competitiveness and integration through cooperation with neighbouring territories? Under this headline the first day of the Internal ESPON Seminar held in Cyprus on the 5...

SDMed hosted a major event:

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Demain la ville

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Urban regeneration and city branding: is memory an asset or an obstacle?

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Athens, Greece, June 19-23, 2010      "URBAN REGENERATION AND CITY BRANDING:IS MEMORY AN ASSET OR AN OBSTACLE?" 40th Annual Conference of the Johns Hopkins International...

Action plan for sustainable building and construction in the Mediterranean

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The SBC Report : Action plan for sustainable building and construction in the Mediterranean was produced based on the outcomes of the SB05MED&Expo Conference and presented by...

SDMed becomes member of SBC Italia

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2nd French-hellenic Meeting on sustainable development

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SDMed-IFA Event  2009

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SB08MED&Expo: The mediterranean city facing climate change

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2008 : SB08MED&Expo : "The mediterranean city facing climate change : innovation, investment, governance for a low-carbon city" for further information, please download : Video-spot of the...

What the others say for us !

What the others say for us !

  Contributing to the international movement for progress There are two ways of going about integrating the environment into an activity. One is to evaluate the quality of a product; the...

  • ECHOCITIZEN Contest for young talents 15-22 years old

    ECHOCITIZEN Contest for young talents 15-22 years old

    Sunday, 12 November 2017 10:36
  • Join SDMed at EUGIC 2017 Budapest

    Join SDMed at EUGIC 2017 Budapest

    Saturday, 04 November 2017 13:03
  • About Green Infrastructure : Europe, Greece

    About Green Infrastructure : Europe, Greece

    Tuesday, 02 May 2017 12:59
  • Forum on Economic Impacts of the Cruise Industry

    Forum on Economic Impacts of the Cruise Industry

    Sunday, 31 May 2015 14:05
  • MARINESCAPE FORUM PIRAEUS

    MARINESCAPE FORUM PIRAEUS

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  • CISD : Natural Resources and Small Islands

    CISD : Natural Resources and Small Islands

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  • Eco-neighborhoods : Where are we in Greece ?

    Wednesday, 25 March 2015 09:24
  • Conference of the Pioneers of the Local Authorities in Energy Cost Reduction

    Conference of the Pioneers of the Local Authorities in Energy Cost Reduction

    Friday, 06 March 2015 18:01
  • Nature and culture-based strategies and solutions for cities and territories : an idea whose time has come !

    Nature and culture-based strategies and solutions for cities and territories : an idea whose time...

    Wednesday, 25 February 2015 16:33
  • Greek ESPON-on-the-Road on press !

    Greek ESPON-on-the-Road on press !

    Thursday, 11 December 2014 21:23
  • "Integrated development through land-sea interaction: dimensions and perspectives of blue growth...

    Wednesday, 23 July 2014 07:49
  • Presentation of ESPONTrain, Brussels, Committee of the Regions,10 October 2014

    Presentation of ESPONTrain, Brussels, Committee of the Regions,10 October 2014

    Sunday, 12 October 2014 12:01
  • ESPON Day ‘What European Territory Today and Tomorrow?’ 10 October 2014, Brussels

    ESPON Day ‘What European Territory Today and Tomorrow?’ 10 October 2014, Brussels

    Wednesday, 24 September 2014 09:46
  • Workshop on Smart Blue Growth, Nafplion, 4 june 2014

    Workshop on Smart Blue Growth, Nafplion, 4 june 2014

    Saturday, 21 June 2014 04:19
  • SDMed participates in the CreativeMED Conference

    SDMed participates in the CreativeMED Conference

    Monday, 31 March 2014 10:59
  • Balancing acoustic comfort with energy performance, air quality               and fire protection in buildings

    Balancing acoustic comfort with energy performance, air quality and fire protection...

    Monday, 23 December 2013 09:11
  • ESPONTrain Final Transnational Conference

    ESPONTrain Final Transnational Conference

    Monday, 08 April 2013 10:35
  • "Territorial Development Opportunities in Europe and its Neighbourhood - Fostering Global...

    Thursday, 13 December 2012 14:23
  • SDMed hosted a major event:

    SDMed hosted a major event: "EchoPolis Athina 2013"

    Thursday, 17 January 2013 22:02
  • SB05MED&Expo-LIFE SB-MED Event

    SB05MED&Expo-LIFE SB-MED Event

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  • Demain la ville

    Demain la ville

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:10
  • Urban regeneration and city branding: is memory an asset or an obstacle?

    Urban regeneration and city branding: is memory an asset or an obstacle?"

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:08
  • Action plan for sustainable building and construction in the Mediterranean

    Action plan for sustainable building and construction in the Mediterranean

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:08
  • SDMed becomes member of SBC Italia

    SDMed becomes member of SBC Italia

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:06
  • 2nd French-hellenic Meeting on sustainable development

    2nd French-hellenic Meeting on sustainable development

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:05
  • SDMed-IFA Event  2009

    SDMed-IFA Event 2009

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:03
  • SDMed at the Building Green Show

    SDMed at the Building Green Show

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:01
  • SB08MED&Expo: The mediterranean city facing climate change

    SB08MED&Expo: The mediterranean city facing climate change

    Saturday, 07 July 2012 21:59
  • What the others say for us !

    What the others say for us !

    Friday, 06 July 2012 07:18

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Nature and culture-based strategies and solutions for cities and territories : an idea whose time has come !

ECHOPOLIS 2018      

On the occasion of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, SDMed Observation, Planning & Eco-innovation presents the International Conference

"Nature & Culture-based strategies and solutions for cities and territories"

An idea whose time has come !

26, 27 & 28  November 2018

Main Venue : Panteion University, 136, Syggrou Ave., Athens

Click here to check the sponsorship opportunities 

Conference Website now OPEN ! : www.echopolis.eu

The rich natural and cultural heritage is a defining element of place identity.It brings communities together and builds shared understandings of the places we live in. It is also a very useful territorial resource,  key component of the territorial capital of regions that can enhance social cohesion, employment and economic growth and stimulate place-based policies. Since 2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage, events are planned all over Europe to encourage people to discover and engage with Europe’s cultural and natural attractions, so as to enhance our sense of a European belonging. The European Year is an occasion to reflect on the place that cultural and natural heritage occupies both in our lives and for territorial development and to often alert about the need to protect such unique values for the future generations.

It is thus evident that nature and culture as an indivisible whole is an idea whose time has come ! This means that natural and cultural heritage should be recognized, understood, planned and managed together !  This may be besides create efficeincy of place-based policies.  In this context, natural and cultural attractiveness of cities and territories and the achievements of culturally and nuturally creative cities, territories and nations  will be fully discussed in the international Event entitled "Nature and Culture-based strategies and solutions for cities and territories : an idea whose time has come !" organised by the international non-profit entreprise “SDMed Observation Planning and Eco-Innovation” and supported by Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences and the School of Applied Arts and Culture of the University of West Attica, on 26, 27 & 28 November 2018, in Athens. 

Nature and culture-based solutions are often less costly, more resilient and more effective in the long term, they can create jobs and economic growth, they can promote frugality of cities and territories.

The event is not strictly European. All the nature and culture science, policy and business world meets here ! It brings together scientists and cities and territories from all over the world that plan or implement innovative nature and culture-based solutions, to create a world-wide forum of exchange. Scientists, academia, policy-makers, representatives of cities and regions together with entreprises, private and social ones and citizens will meet in order to discuss key themes like :

    1. Natural and Cultural Heritage (tangible and intangible) as Strategic Territorial Development Resources
    2. Linking natural and cultural heritage 
    3. Natural and cultural heritage : planning, management, governance, marketing, funding
    4. Marine natural and cultural heritage - Maritime spatial planning and cultural values
    5. Cultural heritage, archaeological sites, monuments and lighting
    6. Soundscapes, Lightscapes, Nightscapes as elements of the culture of the places
    7. Shaping places with nature and culture
    8. New mapping and surveying technologies

Special emphasis will be given to the Mediterranean region with its rich natural and cultural diversity, both terrestrial and marine.

Thus, the Conference will also host the MED Social & Creative community featured by TALIA (Territorial Appropriation of Leading-edge Innovation Actions), the Interreg-MED Programme's horizontal project promoting the coherence and impact of modular projects addressing the topics of Cultural and Creative Industries and Social Innovation. The community aims at connecting social and creative innovators in the Mediterranean to consolidate and share new models of development. Besides two other INTERREG-MED projects namely BLUEISLANDS and ALTER ECO endorse the Event and will actively participate by organising an special SESSION.

Furthermore, a key issue to be discussed is about soundscapes considered as part of natural and cultural heritage also as a follow-up of the ECHOPOLIS International 2013 & ECHOPOLIS National 2017 forums organised by SDMED in the past years. 

The heritage and identity character of urban soundscapes and landscapes has been recognized recently. An example is the inscription of the Jemaa El Fna Square on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage that has introduced or encouraged a new heritage register based on the consideration of oral expressions as they unfold in the urban space. More generally, sounds are part of the cities and the places, part of their sensorial landscape, of their identity. They are one of the urban markers, just like the visual landscape. The relationship between soundscapes, heritage and attractiveness (including tourism) remains to be further explored.

The Conference is addressed to scientists and practitioners from all the traditional disciplines dealing with natural and cultural heritage ob earth and in the marine environment (territorial planners, architects, landscape architects, engineers, light and sound designers, geographers, historians, oceanographers…) but also to computer scientists/engineers, digital humanities researchers, creative industries-heritage professionals, museum specialists, human-computer interaction practitioners, and creative industries professionals.

To open a wide public discussion on these issues and reveal best practices, the International Meeting is calling for contributions, that is papers on research/technological development and concrete case-studies in the following areas :

Thematic areas 

The event will be developed in 3 full conference days 26, 27 & 28 November 2018  with the following 8 thematic areas :

v             1st Thematic area : Natural and tangible and intangible Cultural Heritage as   Strategic Territorial Development Resources

  • Natural and cultural heritage as strategic territorial resources
  • Natural and cultural heritage as resources that can boost economic growth and jobs 
  • Territorial aspects of natural and cultural heritage – role in territorial cohesion 
  • Societal aspects of natural and cultural heritage – role in social cohesion
  • Natural and cultural heritage to encourage dialogue between different cultures
  • Natural and cultural heritage to encourage dialogue between generations
  • European Green Belt and TEN-G (Transeuropean Networks- Green)

v             2nd Thematic area : Linking natural and cultural heritage 

  • Culture as ecosystem service
  • Culture as main driver in influencing ecosystems and biodiversity and in shaping landscapes
  • Natural and cultural heritage as defining element of European identity.
  • Natura 2000 Network and ecosystem services
  • Natura 2000 sites associated with cultural sites
  • Natura 2000 and tourism, recreation and/or spiritual reflection
  • Natura 2000 and historical and archaeological sites
  • Natura 2000 and cultural sites in cities
  • Natura 2000 and Green Infrastructure 
  • Spiritual value of Natura 2000 sites
  • Inspirational values of Natura 2000
  • Natural and cultural tourism
  • Natural and cultural values of landscapes
  • Natural and cultural heritage and regeneration of deprived areas

v              3rd Thematic area :  Natural and cultural heritage : legal frameworks, planning, management, governance, marketing, funding

  • Harmonised legal frameworks for protection
  • Integrated management approaches, plans and planning tools
  • New information technologies
  • Synergies and collaboration opportunities in terms of planning and management
  • Modes of management of integration of nature and culture across Europe
  • Evolutionary governance and Natura 2000
  • Innovative approaches to raising public awareness of nature conservation
  • Natural and cultural heritage and the role of non-governmental organisations
  • Engagement and empowerment of local residents and stakeholders
  • Monitoring impacts of activities ( e.g tourism) on the overall sustainability
  • Natural and cultural heritage and city/region branding
  • Natural and cultural heritage and urban/territorial attractiveness
  • Educational and volunteering issues linked with natural/cultural heritage interplay
  • Participatory governance of natural and cultural heritage
  • Biodiversity and culture in terms of policies and funding opportunities
  • Methodologies to better integrate biodiversity and cultural landscapes management
  • Natural and cultural tourism

v            4th Thematic area : Marine natural and cultural heritage - Maritime spatial planning and cultural values

  • Marine natural and cultural heritage, planning and management
  • Maritime Spatial Planning and marine antiquities 
  • Maritime Spatial Planning and cultural values
  • Marine antiquities and diving tourism  
  • Marine Natura 2000 and Marine Protected areas
  • Marine Protected Areas in the Areas Beyond National Juridictions
  • Marine natural and cultural heritage and marine tourism
  • Marine cultural heritage and local development of insular communities  
  • Marine ecosystems and underwater noise pollution 

v             5th Thematic area : Cultural heritage, archaeological sites, monuments and sensory landscapes  

  • Lighting design of archaeological sites and monuments
  • Lightscapes and cultural / archaeological sites
  • Sound, soundscapes and cultural / archaeological sites
  • LED and low-cost lighting in archaeological sites
  • Lighting and highlighting of artworks, lighting and museum spaces
  • Presentation of realized projects for the rehabilitation and promotion of archaeological sites - Emphasis on sensory landscapes ( lighting, sound design..)

v             6th Thematic area : Soundscapes, Lightscapes, Nightscapes as elements of the culture of the places   

  • Innovations to Improve and create natural and cultural attractiveness
  • Sound and Lighting environment of monuments
  • Noise and light pollution and their Impact on natural and cultural attractiveness and tourism
  • Soundscapes, Lightscapes, Cultural Heritage and Tourism
  • Sound and Lighting Cultural Heritage and Soundscapes / Lighscapes
  • Acoustic ecology and protection of biodiversity and of natural and cultural heritage
  • Urban innovations involving specific population groups (eg immigrants and refugees) to promote dialogue between cultures.

  7th Thematic area : Shaping places with nature and culture 

  • Cultural capital of public space
  • Public space  and cultural differences
  • Designing public space with nature and culture
  • Connected public spaces
  • Digital networking of public spaces
  • Media facades/active facades
  • Lighting in public space
  • Acoustics in smart cities - urban soundscapes
  • Small urban spaces
  • Smart urban equipment
  • Urban mapping / visual maps, sound maps  
  • Cultural heritage and sustainable developement - use of RES
  • Urban Green infrastructure
  • Green gentrification 

   8th Thematic area :  New mapping and surveying technologies for natural and cultural heritage – Geographic Information Systems

  • Digital and 3-D reconstruction /modeling
  • Computational photography  
  • Virtual augmented reality and other techniques in cultural, historical and natural heritage
  • Mixed reality and gamified interaction technologies in cultural heritage and creative industries
  • Integrated historical maps and archeological data using digital technologies
  • Underwater and submarine photography – Marine diving technologies.
  • Earth observation systems, tools, data – GIS - PPGIS

Please submit your abstract in the format specified below through the e-mail:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to the attention of Mr Nikiforos Zampetakis. The submission of the abstracts is now open. Deadline of submission [Extended] : July 14, 2018

For the Abstract Submission Guidelines, the Selection criteria, the full papers and other details please visit the ECHOPOLIS website : www.echopolis.eu 

Publish your full paper !

Due to time constraints, it will be possible for the full papers to be submitted after the completion of the conference in order to be included in the electronic and/or printed version of the Conference Proceedings that will be issued on January 2019. Other possibilities of publication of the presented arcticles were agreed as follows

 1. Policy-oriented papers will be selected and published in European Quarterly of Political Attitudes and Mentalities in the EQPAM Special Issue of January 2019. EQPAM is a peer-reviewed open access research journal, which ensures archiving and indexing of published papers and online visibility. More information is available on EQPAM’s website.

 

2. Tourism-related papers will be selected and submitted to the International Journal of Tourism Studies, EMERALD. A Thematic Issue of IJTC will be published in 2019.

 

3. Territorial and regional development oriented papers will be selected and submitted to the Regional Science Inquiry Journal.

 

Please download below : 

Call for papers       WORD icon        PDF icon   Press release     WORD icon      PDF icon

Read more...

ECHOCITIZEN Contest for young talents 15-22 years old

 Untitled

"My City, sounds and emotions" Contest for youngsters 2017

In the framework of the ECHOCITIZEN action a contest amongst young people 15-22 years old, is taking place. 

2017 topic : "Athens: my city is a Soundream"

"What is the heart of a city ? The soul of a city? (...) How do we know a city ? How do you know your city ? " is wondering the writer and essayist Georges Perec. City dwellers certainly experience that : the city narrates our dreams, our desires, our sorrows, our daily joys. The city is made of emotions and sounds that tell us how to live together… 

If you are 15-22 years old, 

  • You are then invited to tell us about your city’s sounds, emotions and images and all this in one minute’s time : this is the challenge that we now offer to you, the youngsters of Athens. With only one constraint, to use your mobile phone to tell us about your city and its sounds from the most positive to the most negative ones… 
  • The instructions are simple :
  • Fill in the registration form, then sign the arrangement and send it back to SDMED using the e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Send us your soundscape (audio file) or video either in Mp3 or in Mp4 to the ECHOCITIZEN e-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • You can register until  November 22, 2017 (22: 00 CET) and send to us your video until  December 8 (22: 00 CET). Sponsored by the Hellenic Radio & TV Channel ERT, the contest "My City, sounds and emotions" will also be directed by a jury of artists, audio specialists, representatives of civil society, city professionals, architects, planners and sociologists/psychologists who will decide to award 2 prizes: 
  • Best Soundscape  
  • Best Scenario   
  • Prizes will be awarded to the winners on December 18, 2017 by the ECHOCITIZEN SDMed team and its partners, during an award ceremony that will take place at Panteion University.

What the others say for us !

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Contributing to the international movement for progress

There are two ways of going about integrating the environment into an activity. One is to evaluate the quality of a product; the other is to conceive a product and bring it into being. The HQE procedure clearly implies the second of these ways, though it must of course be supplemented by verifying that the procedure conformed with the reference method and that the environmental goals are plainly stipulated. A sense of responsibility is thus built in to HQE: it places the works controller, at the front, and it enables the various elements of the operation, the implant site, the project's precise character, and the stakeholders' environmental policy, to be properly integrated.

International approaches, and in particular those which ISO works involve, are of a universal nature, and can be applied in many different contexts. This is the thinking behind the HQE procedure, though the building sector is essentially a very local one. HQE is the fruit of mature reflection and French experiments. While it derived great benefit from studies and international action in the early 1990s, it is also anchored in building culture and the building profession, as these have developed in France . It was therefore very important to bring this approach face to face with various different practices - for which its potential extension to the Mediterranean basin offered rich opportunities. Ten years after it was first put into practice in France , the HQE procedure is well worth thinking about, in view of the improvements made to it and the adaptations of it to new contexts. Thus the Mediterranean viewpoint is a valuable aspect of HQE.

Worldwide, there are a whole host of approaches to building these days, and the progress made is regularly highlighted at conferences. This is an issue which affects normalization, both in Europe and globally, since it deals with environmentally 'heavy' domains as well as with economic and social factors. An important stage in this movement of international progress is to compare and contrast national methods and to progressively and collectively work out regional approaches, keeping the universal and the local elements carefully separate. The SDMed procedure study on applying sustainable development to the building sector is a valuable contribution by the SDMed initiative, and a notable 'first'.

Dominique BIDOU

Honorary President of the HQE Association (1996-2006)

President of CIDB


 For further reading : SDMed Process for buildings

 

SB08MED&Expo: The mediterranean city facing climate change

2008 : SB08MED&Expo : "The mediterranean city facing climate change : innovation, investment, governance for a low-carbon city"

WEB GR

for further information, please download :

Video-spot of the event  

SB08MED Event  Guide

Book of abstracts 2008 

SDMed at the Building Green Show

December 2008 : SD-Med presents its activities at the "Building Green" Show in "Expo Athens".

DE734E2F4E3A4349AD8CCC5005368AB4 ionia shapeDSC03492DSC03494

 

 

SDMed-IFA Event 2009

SDMed-IFA Joint Event  2009

Invitation :

Dear friends and colleagues, 

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the "2nd French-Hellenic Meeting for Sustainable Development" initiated by SD-Med on the theme "Mediterranean basin, territorial cohesion and sustainable development : the outcomes of the french presidency" 

The meeting will be held in Athens on 16 and 17 March 2009 in the auditorium of the French Institute of Athens. The event will take place under the auspices of the French Embassy in Greece,  the support of the Hellenic Parliament and the aegis of the Ministries of Interior, of Economy and Finance and of Culture  aims to present the results of the French Presidency on the issue of territorial cohesion and to contribute to the development of dialogue and synergies on " mediterranean response" in view of the Green Paper on territorial cohesion which was published on 7 October 2008 by the European Commission.

The initiative for this event is taken by the SD-MED Observation, which is a Greek-French initiative and works for the cooperation between the structures of various levels (local, regional, national, international) and those of civil society who are actively integrated into the issues of territorial cohesion and sustainable development in the Mediterranean basin. The event is not just a convention, but a great public debate under the coordination of journalists and will be transmitted by the media: it will focus on the specifics of Balkan and Mediterranean environments, natural, social, economic... and will approach policies and programs aimed at enhancing territorial cohesion, putting in the heart of debates the coastal, island and mountainous regions.

Host of the event - to bring together professionals, experts, academics, researchers, senior government and local authorities and politicians, but also citizens and non-governmental organizations- is the strategic spatial planning and sustainable development Laboratory of Panteion University in cooperation and networking with the University of Paris I-Pantheon-Sorbonne and other universities in Greece, the Eastern Mediterranean Region and the Balkans (Italy , Spain, Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria ....).

The Congress languages are French and Greek with simultaneous translation.

On behalf of the organizing committee, we hope to see you soon in Athens!

Sincerely,

Dr Stella Kyvelou

Assistant Professor, Panteion University