Location: Thessaly, Greece
Website: http://thessaly.gov.gr/
Contact person: Mrs Stamatia Papadimopoulou
e-mail: s.papadimopoulou@thessaly.gov.gr
Phone number: +30 2413506239
The organization was established as a public authority in 2011 (Law N. 3852/2010), after the merger of the area’s four Prefectures (Larissa, Magnesia, Trikala and Karditsa) and among other things is responsible for the design and implementation as a Managing Authority of ERDF Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 in the area. It consists of the following departments:
- Directorate-General for Development Planning, Environment and Infrastructure
- Directorate-General for Internal Operation
- Directorate-General for Regional Agricultural Economics and Veterinary
- Directorate-General for Development
- Directorate-General for Transport and Communications
- Directorate General for Public Health and Social Welfare
In addition the Region’s priorities are:
- The development planning of Thessaly focuses mainly on rural development, economic growth, and employment, sustainability of tourism and improvement of the region’s infrastructure. In particular its priorities are:
- Sustainable rural development in terms of sustainable environmental solutions
- Development of cultural cooperation and further promotion of sustainable and alternative tourism (i.e. sport, agro, cultural, gastronomic tourism)
- Protection and sustainable use of the natural and man made environment as well as proper management of natural resources
- Protection of local production methods and promotion of its agricultural products that are part of the PDO (Protected Designation Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) EU schemes to domestic and international markets
- Participation in EU initiatives for the integration of immigrants
- Improvement of the competitiveness of products and services of Thessaly through digital convergence
- Amelioration of the region’s infrastructure and establishment of a dense transport network
The Region’s contribution to WetMainAreas project will be on the one hand to assess Thessaly’s wetland connectivity beyond the boundaries of protected areas and national borders, in order to improve knowledge on ecological connectivity and transnational ecosystems’ integration in the BalkanMed territory and on the other hand to support policy and action plans by integrating scientific knowledge into guidance documents, available to everybody and thus improve the capacity of authorities, spatial planners, and developers to take informed decisions and to cooperate towards ecosystem integration and sustainability.