The Municipality of Central Corfu and the Diapontian Islands is very pleased to announce its award at the “GREEK GREEN AWARDS 2022” awards, which took place in parallel with Greece’s largest specialized exhibition on environmental technologies, the circular economy, and smart cities which took place from 18 to 20 March 2022 at the MEC of Paiania.

The Municipality was honored with the Award “Best Practice for the Marine Environment” and was essentially awarded for its overall efforts to protect the environment of the island and especially the marine and coastal environment.

The award was received on behalf of the Municipality by the Deputy Mayor for European Programs, Development and Digital Governance and Project Manager of the local ICC team – “100 Intelligent Cities”, Panagiota Tzanne, and the Scientific Advisor and Assistant Project Manager of the local ICC team, Victor Dimoulis.

We kindly remind our visitors that the Municipality of Central Corfu & the Diapontian Islands, from September 2019 until today has entered into various collaborations with several organizations (Laskaridis Foundation, Lidl Hellas, AQUAHELP Foundation, etc.) that focus their efforts on the protection of the environment, with the most stable one this with the Aegean Rebreath team.

The newly established Municipality of Central Corfu & Diapontia Islands, in December 2020, signed a Cooperation Agreement with the Corfu Port Authority and Aegean Rebreath which provided:

  • The implementation of the seabed and coast cleaning actions in selected areas of the Municipality. 
  • the collection and storage of marine litter, which will then be recycled or recycled. 
  • undertaking awareness-raising actions on issues related to the protection of the marine environment. 
  • the implementation of research activities. 
  • education and training of fishing professionals. 
  • raising the awareness of the local community in the field of marine litter management. 
  • the development, strengthening, and exchange of best practices and know-how.

From the implementation of the first underwater and coastal cleanups in the Municipality in the sea areas of Anemomylos and Paleokastritsa and in general from the creation and operation of the 1st outdoor Marine – Coastal Waste Collection Station (SSTHA), which was created in the implementation of this integrated marine decontamination program, based entirely on the principles of the circular economy, the following findings emerged by the end of 2021:

2,383 pieces of plastic
801 pieces of glass
1,310 pieces of aluminum
130 kg of decommissioned nets (ghost nets)

which were led to recycling but at the same time offered the opportunity to draw conclusions about the sources of a burden on the marine environment of our Municipality.

The next underwater and coastal cleanups in overcrowded areas of the Municipality have already been planned for 2022 and it has already been agreed upon the creation of a 2nd Marine – Coastal Waste Collection Station (SSTHA) within the administrative boundaries of the Municipality, which will substantially help marine areas of the island and the collection of a larger amount of marine litter which can then be brought for safe management and recycling.

The culmination of the efforts of the Municipality of Central Corfu and the Diapontian Islands for the protection of the marine environment of the island was the proposal for its participation, as one of the founding members, in the first network of Municipalities for the protection of the marine environment in Greece which consists of the island and coastal municipalities of the country, under the name “Network of Blue Municipalities” which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Energy and soon acquires a legal entity.

Finally, it is noted that the specific actions are part of the participation of the Municipality of Central Corfu and the Diapontian Islands in the program “100 Intelligent Cities Challenge” of the European Commission (100 Intelligent Cities Challenge), where the Municipality participates with the main theme “Waste Management and Circular Economy”.