Oct 30 2023
0

GRAPE project: A Green Social Action Plann for Sifnos island

By | Actions, News | No Comments

The climate crisis is getting worse. Extreme weather events are hitting many regions of the planet with intensity and frequency attributed to the accelerating collapse of the climate. Characteristically, the Secretary General of the UN declares: “the climate crisis is over, we have entered the time when the world is boiling”. The climate crisis and the threat of extinction of many species come to meet the islands with a series of other problems: over-tourism, over-building, weak social infrastructure, a rapidly changing landscape, water problems, occupation of beaches by sunbeds and coastal degradation ecosystem, an agriculture that is shrinking for many reasons and increasing the risk of a food crisis.

And yet there are suggestions and solutions. In this logic, the Wind of Renewal – the social cooperative enterprise for the promotion of the green and social economy – prepared through a participatory process a comprehensive proposal for a GREEN SOCIAL ACTION PLAN for Sifnos, as a proposal for the transition of the island to a more green and socially just and resilient model, with the role of the social economy being particularly important. The GREEN SOCIAL ACTION PLAN for Sifnos was formed within the framework of the GRAPE – COSME program in which ANEMOS ANNEOSSIS and the Municipality of Sifnos participate.

The GREEN SOCIAL ACTION PLAN for Sifnos was prepared by ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL as a proposal to the Municipality, the stakeholders, institutions and citizens of Sifnos but it can, when completed, be a pilot for similar action plans for other islands. The proposal is the result of diagnosis, SWOT analysis, research, several discussions, workshops and conferences, for 2 years, but also the utilization of good practices from other similar regions, especially the regions of the GRAPE program partners and small islands participating in the SMILO network.

The objective of the Action Plan

The aim of the Action Plan is to launch a debate on strategic issues for the future of Sifnos and in general small islands that have similar issues. And to help address them through a strategic green and social transition towards a more sustainable and resilient model.
What we know as a small island, society, landscape and environment is in a process of transition and change without having discussed the various dynamics that drive the changes nor in which direction the citizens of Sifnos want these changes to be directed. The same is true for many other islands.
The Action Plan includes findings and proposals that may be familiar to many residents as they are widely discussed and captured in the SWOT analysis, but these issues must be addressed in a systematic, organized and coherent manner.
Evidence is presented regarding the impact of the climate crisis on the Eastern Mediterranean and Sifnos (reduction of rainfall, reduced crop yields, heat waves, increase of sea temperature etc.) as well as phenomena that have not yet discussed among the local community, such as the gradual expansion of invasive species in the marine ecosystem of Sifnos, such as the German-salpa fish with toxic fins, the lionfish and the toxic lagocephalus sceleratus that are likely to dominate other fish species in the future and shrink the algae. Also presented are data, obtained from a recent on-site recording in the context of a research program, for the shrinkage by 50-89% depending on the areas examined, of the Posidonia meadows as a result of the moorings of tourist boats in the bays of Sifnos (Faros, Platy Gialos, Vathi). Further research is also needed on the long-term effects on the marine ecosystem from the recent increase in sea temperature. And of course, a strategy and good practices for climate adaptation is very urgent.
Key elements of the Action Plan of concern are: the landscape, land uses and the gradual reform of the tourist model from summer tourism (which will shrink in some years due to the heatwaves and high temperatures that will prevail in summer), the uncontrolled and unplanned promotion towards a sustainable “cool tourism”, mainly in spring and autumn, which will respect the island’s strengths and will mainly focus on forms of:
– ecotourism , given that the in good condition and unique for an island NATURA area, the network of 200 km of paths, the water paths (springs, wells, watermills, gournes  / water tanks, the traditional fair and sustainable water sharing system etc) and the numerous herbs and aromatic plants of the island are a material basis that can support such a model,
– agritourism, which will also help in the recovery of agriculture, using the important tradition of gastronomy and cultivation of local seeds and varieties, a model of traditional agriculture that is very close to those of ecological agriculture and the european strategy “from farm to fork”
– cultural tourism, following the paths of pottery workshops, ancient towers, windmills and watermills (and their technology), traditional – bioclimatic settlements, buildings of great importance (agricultural buildings, churches and monasteries) as well as numerous mines.
There are suggestions for:
– regenerative agriculture in Sifnos, the importance of local seeds but also the contribution of olive cultivation, the preservation of drystones and the protection of nature and healthy soil to climate protection,
– new environmental roles for farmers and other professions in the context of the green transition.
The climate crisis and adaptation to the new climate conditions – Energy transition
The Action Plan also includes serious issues that have hardly been discussed in Sifnos, such as the effects of the climate crisis in the Mediterranean and consequently in Sifnos based on the most up-to-date studies and findings of scientific studies and international organizations. Or about the need for organized preparation and adaptation of Sifnos (and of course not only Sifnos and the islands) to the new climate conditions that are becoming more and more extreme and will affect all aspects of life and the economy in the coming decades.
2023 is a turning point. In the summer and autumn of 2023 we experienced very intense weather phenomena in various Mediterranean (and not only) countries. Greece is also affected by very high temperatures, by wildfires and large floods that tested the strength of all the country’s structures as well as its infrastructure. The social and economic damage is enormous and a large part of the country (Evros, Thessaly) will need years to recover, while other areas have suffered unprecedented disasters in recent years (Evia, Rhodes, etc.). After 2023 nothing will be the same. In other words, we have entered the era where crises are the new normality and societies have not prepared for it.
In the Action Plan, proposals are formulated for the participation of Sifnos in the energy and green transition, and the exit from fossil fuels by 2035.
In addition to the proposals made for the acceleration of energy efficiency and the shift to adapted applications of renewable energy sources, as well as the signing of cooperation agreements between the Wind of Renewal and the other partners of the program in matters of energy and green transition, social  resilience and agro-food sector, two innovative proposals are also made for the creation of:
– an open climate ecological laboratory where the changes that take place in the island ecosystem and especially in the NATURA region due to the climate crisis will be monitored systematically and over time, and good climate adaptation practices will be researched, utilizing solutions based on nature based solutions)
– an open laboratory for the search and testing of energy applications of renewable energy sources that are best suited, adapted to the characteristics of small and medium-sized islands.
The role of drystone in relation to regenerative agriculture, soil protection, groundwater enrichment, defense against extreme weather events and cultural heritage (SMILO MED project)
The Action Plan highlights two new approaches:
– Recovery of cultivation and agriculture in general in Sifnos, through highlighting its role in climate protection (e.g. absorption of greenhouse gases through olive cultivation or healthy soil) as well as in the restoration of nature and the preservation of genetic diversity (recording and strengthening the cultivation of local seeds and varieties that we have recorded under the SMILO-MED program and the Action Plan under GRAPE)
– Maintenance of the drystones walls network in the context of an essential policy of climate mitigation and adaptation, tackling the climate crisis and strengthening the defense against extreme weather phenomena (resilience) . However, the local society needs training, transfer of know-how and knowledge as well as  (new) financial and other tools for the maintenance of a network of 2-3000 km of drystone walls which is the work of several thousand years (since antiquity) but also of tens of thousands of people. The knowledge and techniques of drystone walls have been included in the Intangible World Cultural Heritage of the relevant UNESCO list.
One of the proposals being explored is the creation of an “autumn school for drystone walls techniques” for the theoretical and practical training of those interested, based in Sifnos, and the organization of similar actions in other islands. This proposal comes to respond to the need not to lose the still existing knowledge and experience but also to the “demand” that exists for such an institution, as shown by the 3-day workshop and the discussions on drystone walls its importance organized by Wind of Renewal in Sifnos 24-26/10/2023, with the participation of at least 40 interested parties from other islands of the Cyclades.
Protection and sustainable management of the natural wealth and the NATURA area of ​​Sifnos

Sifnos has a very interesting natural area (NATURA 2000). The Action Plan highlights proposals so that its protection and management contribute not only to the preservation of the important ecosystem but also to the creation of green jobs and the well-being and sustainable future of the entire island.

The great importance of the social economy for the green transition, strengthening social structures and upgrading the capabilities of the local community
The Action Plan contains proposals regarding the role of the social economy in support of:
– climate policy
– regenerative agriculture,
– social services, especially the creation of new care services for the elderly who face many problems,
– resilience to new health threats accompanying climate collapse,
– the green transition, environmental infrastructure, eco-tourism and guided tours, protection and management of the Natura area and natural resources
– the shift towards a more sustainable model of tourism, guided tours and the creation of new itineraries (cultural, local production, ancient technology, etc.)
– supporting structures for the local community and finding financial tools to support the changes required in terms of education, training, investments for the green transition, exploring (new) sources of funding for green infrastructure and social structures.  
The next steps

The Action Plan was made public in early August for comments and additions. It was sent to over 100 people who had participated in various phases of consultation. It was made known through the Newsletter that Anemos Anenoiosis sends to approximately 4000 people as well as through social media.

Key elements of the Action Plan were also presented publicly at various opportunities:

– Conference “Agriculture and new farmers” – Sifnos 15-17 of September: presentation: “Regenerative traditional agriculture, cultivation of local species, conservation of drystones walls: their contribution to mitigating the climate crisis and protection against extreme weather events – Proposals in the framework of the GREEN SOCIAL ACTION PLAN for Sifnos – GRAPE and SMILO-MED programs”

– 3 days events for  maintenance of dry stone walls (workshop on the field, films presentation and discussions) – Sifnos 24, 25,26 of October,

– Conference on Landscape of Sifnos – 27 October 2023).

Articles about the Action Plan were published in local news sites such as:

– kaipoutheos here and here

– other sites here, here, here, here, here 

The full text of the Action Plan on a local news site here

After new observations and integration of the proposals submitted after its publication, the final GREEN SOCIAL ACTION PLAN for Sifnos will be officially presented to the new Municipal Council that takes over from 1/1/2024 and hopefully will be discussed in February 2024.

Proposals to the European institutions

The proposals contained in the GREEN SOCIAL ACTION PLAN for Sifnos do not bind the Municipality but only the authors nor the European Commission.

Taking into account the corresponding Action Plans of the other partners participating in the GRAPE program, a document with proposals and recommendations will be drawn up and addressed to the European Commission and the European Parliament. It will also address European networks related to issues discussed in the Action Plan, while also including good examples from Sifnos and other islands that could be used by the members of the SMILO small islands network.

About the COSME – GRAPE programme

The GRAPE project, “Local Social Green Action Plans for Small and Regional Places”, aims to collaborate on social and green resilience strategies to promote local solutions to local problems. It is co-financed by the European Commission under the Single Market Program (SMP-COSME). It started in May 2022 and will be completed in October 2023.

It includes 4 small European municipalities from rural, mountainous and island areas: Malegno (Italy), Mirabella Imbaccari (Italy), Bonares (Spain), Sifnos (Greece). Each municipality is supported by a local social and solidarity economy body: Sol.Co Camunia (Malegno), Fondazione di Comunità di Messina (Mirabella Imbaccari), COOPINTE (Bonares) , Wind of Renewal / Anemos Ananeosis (Sifnos). These local partnerships are further supported by a European network, REVES – European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy and FAECTA , the Andalusian network of cooperatives. This consortium is headed by the Community Foundation of Messina / Fondazione di Comunità di Messina (Sicily, Italy).

The project aims to identify and promote resilient strategies to address economic, energy and climate crises at the local level and chart pathways for a sustainable and equitable green and digital transition, developing local solutions for local needs. In this context, the Social and Solidarity Economy contributes to “territorial resilience” through the experimentation of innovative solutions based on solidarity, mobilizing local actors to cooperate and use their resources to adapt to the challenges they face.

The project “GRAPE – Local Social Green Resilience Action Plans for small and peripheral territories” is supported by the european program SMP-COSME-2021-RESILIENCE-SEM (G.A. 101074093).

                       
Oct 02 2023
0

GRAPE PROJECT – FINAL CONFERENCE: Local Social Green Resilience Action Plans for small and peripheral territories

By | Actions | No Comments

 

GRAPE PROJECT – FINAL CONFERENCE
Local Social Green Resilience Action Plans for small and peripheral territories

SMP-COSME-2021-RESILIENCE-SEM (G.A. 101074093)

Introduction

The GRAPE project aims at experimenting the co-construction of local plans for the green, social and digital transitions in four small and marginalised territories engaging social economy actors.

Indeed, effective resilience to the climate, social and economic crisis is inherently local and in the EU there are some 121 000 small municipalities (EUROSTAT, LAU2) often located in deprived area, with low budget and administrative capacities and far away from mainstream public development policies. Here, often Social and Solidarity-based economy (SSE) actors have a primary role in creating and managing economic and social activities and services and may therefore contribute to the territorial resilience.

Consequently, the project has joined 4 small complementary territories in 3 countries: Mirabella Imbaccari (IT), Malegno (IT), Bonares (ES), Sifnos (GR), together with an experienced European public authorities and SSE actors, a network (REVES) and a regional cooperative network (FAECTA). For each territory, in addition to the respective municipalities, an SSE organisation has been involved: Fondazione di Comunità di Messina (leader partner) in Mirabella Imbaccari, Sol.Co. Camunia in Malegno, COOPINTE in Bonares and Anemos Ananeosis / Wind Of Renewal in Sifnos.

The conference will offer the opportunity to share and discuss the main results of the processes that brought the 4 communities to draft their local Social Green Resilience Action Plans and analyse their implications at a more general level for any remote and rural area, also introducing a digital toolkit for small communities interested in implementing the same participatory processes.

The conference will be entirely held in English. You can receive a link for your participation in the conference, sending your request to: windofrenewal@gmail.com

SMP-COSME-2021-RESILIENCE-SEM (G.A. 101074093)

PROGRAMME
16 th October 2023 online conference
9.00 – 9.15 Introduction to the conference

Mr. Giacomo Pinaffo (Fondazione MeSSInA)

9.15 – 10.30 Examples of transition priorities in the target territories
                     Mr. Ismael Medina Claros (Bonares) – renewable energy communities and ecological transition
                     Mr. Gio Lodovico Baglioni (Malegno) – recovery of abandoned lands and agro-biodiversity preservation
                     Mr. Nikos Chrysogelos (Sifnos) – climate mitigation and adaptation strategies; diversification of economy and sustainable, cool tourism
                     Mrs. Giulia Miotti (Mirabella Imbaccari) – local development through renewable energy communities and slow tourism

10.30 – 10.45 Break

10.45 – 11.00 Presentation of the policy recommendations

Mrs. Erdmuthe Klaer (REVES)

11.00 – 12.30 Public policies for the social, green and digital transition in remote and rural communities
                  Alexia Rouby, European Commission, DG AGRI (tbc)
                  Alberto Cottica – UNDP Accelerator Labs
                  Maria Cristina Morsellino, “BREED – Building community REsiliencE and sustainable Development through social economy” (tbc)
Mr. Chris MM Gordon, Irish Social Enterprise Network/Social Enterprise Exchange (tbc)

12.30 – 13.00 Presentation of the digital toolkit for small communities

Mr. Luigi Martignetti (REVES)

Sign up in advance for this conference: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqd-qvqTksGdYeJqfC1uKEZkPe0wyCGyPD
after registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the necessary information to enter the conference

Sep 12 2023
0

WELCOMMON HOSTEL: Sustainable tourism, accessibility, inclusiveness, job integration, social economy and innovation

By | about us, Actions, News | No Comments

 WELCOMMON HOSTEL

The social economy, in its various forms, has a historical track-record of supporting the full integration of people with special needs across all aspects of life, from education, training, housing, job opportunities to access to information, leisure, sport, cultural activities, products and services. Thanks to the social economy’s defining values and characteristics – favouring the social objective over profit, the centrality of the person, acting in the interest of its members and users and/or the general interest, having democratic 7 governance, reinvesting its profit into the enterprise – it is best placed to offer equal opportunities for socially excluded individuals, including people with disabilities, migrants, refugees, long term unemployed focusing on skills, support and full participation. Many actors of the social economy, such as cooperatives, social enterprises, work integration social enterprises (WISEs) and associations, include marginalized, vulnerable and disable people in their daily operation and governance structures, allowing for their participation also in the decision-making of the enterprise or organisation. This idea embodies the approach of the social economy in relation to the inclusion of marginalized and often vulnerable individuals: instaed of exclusion or relief approach, participation through empowerment. Empowerment is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights. The social economy cultivates this by acting not only for vulnerable people but also, and most importantly, with them.

Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal

Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal was founded as a social cooperative enterprise in Athens in 2014 by a number of environmental and socially active citizens. Born out of a desire to promote social and green innovation and economy, sustainable tourism, climate protection, energy transition, environmental awareness, intercultural dialogue, welcome refugees – providing safe accommodation and social inclusion, . We wanted to implement – not only to propose – innovative solutions for the social and environmental problems of Greece (and Europe). WELCOMMON HOSTEL is an innovative and inclusive hostel open to all the different kind of travelers created and run by our cooperative.

What does accessibility mean for our organization

For Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal accessibility means equal access not only to a building or site but also to social, political, and economic life, it means not only physical access but also access to the same tools, services, organizations and facilities for all, disabled or/and other vulnerable people and non-disabled people

Our organization’s activities cover various areas of activity, but in this article we narrow the information presented below to activities provided in the field of sustainable tourism sector services, which are profiled due to the aspect of accessibility and / or take into account the employment of people with disabilities.

Our Welcommon Hostel is an innovative and inclusive hostel for sustainable tourism in Athens, Attica region, Greece. It is a seven-floor facility building in the center of Athens that offers accommodation for people of all ages and places, a hostel for sustainable tourism, a proposal for accommodation of social, cultural and environmental active groups and persons during their stay in Athens. The WELCOMMON HOSTEL is something more than just a nice hostel with social impact. It is also a place for social gathering and experimentation, a center for innovation and art, as well as a centre for social and green innovation and economy, for social and job integration for Greek locals, migrants and refugees.

Our guests are all different travelers (tourists, volunteers, Erasmus students, nomads-workers, newcomers, refugees. migrants). Our vision is to bring close people from all over the world without discrimination, to enable them to communicate, to be entertained and to explore the creative side of Athens. Our guests have the opportunity to participate directly and indirectly in green, social, humanitarian and inclusive – intercultural projects, events and activities. They can also contribute with their ideas and experience. WELCOMMON Hostel means welcome in common – together. We communicate about our offers at EU and global level as our guests are 95% people from EU and the rest of the world.

We try to stay innovative and adapt to new requirements, despite the crisis (financial, health, energy, climate, social)

The vision for the Welcommon Hostel is to be a sustainable solution to host all the travelers without discrimination based on inclusiveness and participation. Welcommon Hostel means welcome in common, together. We are flexible and be ready to stay innovative and adapt to new situations. WELCOMMON HOSTEL was named as the most EXTRAORDINARY Hostel Hero announced by HOSCARS awards 2021, organized by the international network HOSTEL WORLD. Why; As of June 2020, even the sustainable tourism collapsed and at the same time thousands of recognized refugees and asylum seekers in Greece were left homeless in the midst of a global pandemic, we decided to host a number of refugees, the most vulnerable between them, such as survivors of sexual violence, torture and ill treatment, the elderly, people with chronic diseases, pregnant and mothers with new borne babies. At the same time although the impact of COVID-19 and the restrictions measures have a serious impact on us (reducing -80% of our income, almost zero tourists, restriction of in person activities, need for increased and costly health protection measures etc), we continued on offering social empowerment and non-formal education courses with the participation of refugees and volunteers.

We try to adapt our offer, the hostel/the building as such and our activities and services,  accessible to all people (whether they have a disability or not) without discrimination. The hostel is accessible to disable persons. There is also a special designed room for 3-4 disable persons. The elevators and the rooms for activities as well as our bar and places for intercultural events are all accessible. Our guests are all kinds of travelers, including disable persons from all over Europe. We offer interactive, inclusive, intercultural, non formal education and courses (language lessons, art, environmental and climate awareness, music) and green and social economy workshops open for all: volunteers, refugees, migrants, travelers, nomads workers, Erasmus, locals with the support of more than 370 volunteers from all over the world.

We are proud we have hosted between others many individuals and groups of disabled persons as well as activities for disabled persons (for example a group of 50 participants, for an international Erasmus Project, from 19/10-26/10/2019, hosted by IKKAIDO,  an innovative European disability sports organisation) and of course many disable individuals as tourists, refugees and participants / students in our intercultural courses (language, painting, photography, music lessons).

If you’ve ever come into Welcommon you probably felt that it is a special place, a place where you can meet people, learn from them… it is a community. Special place, people, values.

Our services are designed to be accessible to everyone. Our vison is to offer appropriate accommodation and room for interaction and participation, but not only this. Our vision is to bring close people from all over the world, to enable them to communicate, to be entertained, to offer and gain knowledge and experience, and to explore the creative side of Athens. Everyone can contribute with his/her own ideas and experience.

Anemos Ananeosis/Wind of Renewal has a strong commitment to building a better world through social and green innovation and the cooperative business model.  We try to improve the working environment as we have always a diverse workforce (unemployed persons, refugees, long-unemployed persons, young persons without job-experience) and many volunteers with different background. This diverse workforce as well our model of sustainable tourism is an added value for our Hostel; there are many clients they decide to book a room or organise an event in our hostel bacause of this social responsible model.

We have discussed with an organization working for the enhance of disabled persons to host a number of employees with disabilities as our hostel and our workplace is friendly to disabled persons, but COVID-19 postponed the plan. Our main task is to train our employees with or without disabilites on digital and social and green skills, for positions like receptionists, communication, environmental management, communication with clients, procurements, barista, cook and serve local and ethnic dishes, energy efficiency, installation of solar systems etc.*

The training on job is undertaken by more experienced staff of Anemos Ananeosis or collaborators of the cooperative. We host also internships and practitioners, as well as European Young Entrepreneurs. As a social cooperative enterprise we have experienced exclusion and unfair practices related to covid-19 support measures by the national and regional authorities. Therefore, we try always to be flexible, innovative and responsible in our plans and practices,

The most expensive investment is regarding training of our personnel that must combine professional with social and environmental skills, capacities and knowledge. During COVID-19 the most expensive investment was not firing the employees, keep the workforce, as the income from tourism was almost zero.

We collaborate with networks and NGOs working for the rights of people with disabilities, with organizations like Hidden Athens (a town guide aimed at tourists who want to witness the special parts of Athens and learn beforehand whether a place has something special to offer, whether it is accessible to people with disabilities etc https://www.hiddenathens.com/?page_id=7800) as well as with European social networks.

COVID-19 has postponed our networking with accessible tourism clusters, but we are very interesting in participating in such clusters in the near future and collaborate with social investors and social funds as well as with green funds, solar energy companies etc

We have a close cooperation with many universities, social enterprises, research centers and civil society’s organizations and networks.

Anemos Ananeosis participates in many events, seminars. workshops and projects concerning disable persons, and is a partner of the Erasmus project “SESYCARE- Social Entrepreneurship Skills for Young CAREgivers of people with chronic Illness”.

The main idea for the creation of the Welcommon Hostel was that the income from sustainable tourism will finance both the operation of the hostel and our social / ecological projects. We operate ‘for good and not-for-profit’ which means our clients’ stay should be cheaper while contributing to something amazing like social empowerment, social inclusion, green transition, music, cooking and language lessons, art-therapy, climate projects. Any surplus of funds will be reinvested in affordable hosteling, new jobs and social / green projects, not shareholders.

Of course during COVID-19 and as a result of collapse of traveling, our financial situation was hard. Enterprises of social economy are facing many obstacles and discrimination concerning the governmental measures for support during the COVID-19 and recovery from the crisis. Energy crisis, the rising of the prices for goods and services as well as the impact of the war in Ukraine are additional problems for activities like ours which need stability and long term planning.

We don’t received any grant or public support for the accommodation of vulnerable homeless refugees during the pandemic of COVID-19. Some individuals and small NGOs contributed a bit to the costs for the accommodation of a vulnerable person or a family.

We have started a crowdfunding campaign. People they want to support our social work can find more here: https://welcommonhostel.gr/slider/helpus2020/

The key success factors for our business

We have a vision, a mission and an innovative social/green business plan. And there are many people ready to share with us their commitment for a better and fairer world. Our philosophy is that we want to be part of the social change we want to see happen. Anemos Ananeosis/Wind of Renewal has a strong commitment to building a better world through social and green innovation and the cooperative business model. We want to influence the direction of our society to become more sustainable and ecologically and socially fair. And of course we are open for all the travelers and people, we are inclusive and we want to “teach” and “learn”. Our activity is based on social and green values: special place, people, value (the moto of LE MAT Europe network of social enterprises for sustainable tourism). We are very happy to participate in a network of many hostels and other accommodations with social aims and goals, values and social/green activities. We already know some and we try to be in contact with them..

What is the estimated average annual turnover of the business activity (in Euro)

The estimated annual turnover for our financial sustainability is about 500.000 euro. As the hostel is a new one (we opened it in July 2018) and we have spent an amount of more than 400.000 euro for the renovation of the building and for infrastructure (based on a re-use and energy efficiency /climate friendly  and zero waste approach), we were not able to succeed in financial sustainability before COVID-19. Our business plan was to reach financial sustainability in 2,5 years, that means by the end of 2020. We were on a very good path achieving our goal, but COVID-19 changed everything. Now we are looking for social and green investors to participate in our project.

Our social model, our values and our innovative approach are the strengths of our commercial communication. On 26th of April 2021, our Welcommon Hostel was recognized as the “most EXTRAORDINARY Hostel Hero” and one of the 5 “Extraordinary Sustainable Hostels”  by leading Online Travel Agent (OTA) focused on the hostel market, Hostelworld.

Representing Greece, Welcommon Hostel was crowned most EXTRAORDINARY Hostel Hero by a panel of expert travel judges and more than 20,000 votes by hostel travelers all around the world. Since 2016, we have received 11 international and european awards, prizes, distinctions, special recognitions. Please see here: https://anemosananeosis.gr/en/11-awards_wor/

We are indeed asked many times and we can see the possibilities of replicating the solutions developed by our organization in cooperation with entities in other countries. With pleasure.

If you would like to learn more about us and support our project, please visit:

Welcommon Hostel: www.welcommonhostel.gr

Wind of Renewal: www.anemosananeosis.gr/

www.facebook.com/daysofwelcome

www.instagram.com/welcommonproject

www.Instagram.com/welcommonhostel

www.facebook.com/windofrenewl.socialcooperatives

Social change in our community: www.welcommonhostel.gr/social

Our history: www.welcommonhostel.gr/slider/you-can-feel-the-history-of-welcommon