Project partners meet educator and volunteer coordinator Anastasia Ioannidou
How are active citizens formed – people who take the initiative, care for their place and inspire those around them to get involved?
This question was at the heart of the meeting organised by Fotoessa last May as part of the European Erasmus+ project “Guardians of the Coasts”. It brought together the Portuguese partners Rita Sousa of Aequalitas and Rafaela Fortunato and Beatriz Pereira of Impactrip, together with Anastasia Ioannidou, an educator and volunteer coordinator, founder of the group “Young Volunteers in Action” and of the “Antonios Ioannidis” Library of Saronida, an official supporter of the project.
With more than three decades of continuous community service, Ms Ioannidou has dedicated her work to empowering the local community through volunteering, education, environmental awareness and social solidarity. The activities she coordinates cover a wide range of initiatives, from beach and forest clean-ups, tree planting and educational programmes to social action supporting vulnerable families, caring for stray animals and strengthening local social cohesion.
The discussion focused on the importance of education as the foundation of active citizenship. It highlighted that environmental awareness, volunteering and civic participation are not behaviours to be taken for granted, but values cultivated through knowledge, personal experience and ongoing contact with the community.
As Ms Ioannidou put it:
“Education is the basis of everything. Without education there is nothing.”
These words sum up one of the core principles of the Guardians of the Coasts project: protecting the coasts begins with nurturing citizens who understand the value of the commons and feel that they can actively contribute to preserving them.
The discussion also highlighted the importance of personal responsibility as a prerequisite for collective action.
“If you don’t do it yourself, then unfortunately we can’t expect others to do it.”
Active citizenship is not limited to expressing opinions. It is expressed through personal involvement, consistency and everyday contribution to the community.
Particularly moving was her reference to the values of equality and human dignity:
“What you need is exactly what the other person needs too. Colour, religion or country do not matter.”
This approach is directly linked to the principles of intercultural education and social cohesion that run through both the work of Fotoessa and the Guardians of the Coasts project, which promotes cooperation, dialogue and participation as key tools for building sustainable and resilient local communities.
Through meetings with people active in education, science, local government and civil society, the project partners are gathering experiences, good practices and different approaches that will feed into the project’s educational Toolkit and help empower coastal communities in Greece and Portugal.
The meeting with Anastasia Ioannidou was a reminder that active citizenship does not come about by chance.
It is cultivated.
Through education.
Through example.
And through people who devote their lives to building a society that is more participatory, more caring and more humane.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
