UNIVERSITY OF IOANNINA, GREECE

The University of Ioannina (UOI) is a higher education institution at the forefront of scientific knowledge, technological research and innovation in Greece for over 50 years with a proven international record in excellence and the management of EU projects. UOI is a self-governing body supervised by the Ministry of Education. The institute’s activities are supported by its full time highly qualified personnel, staff members (500) most of them holding MSc / Phd & high-quality expertise in EU projects for regional development.

UOI is a multi-faceted institute that assists in the development of sources for new technologies & a driver of economic development not only for Epirus, but also for Greece & Europe. UOI accumulated a great experience from previous projects in the areas of Higher Education & Training approaches; Natural & Cultural heritage; Development of Geo-Informatics & Environmental devices (including GIS & WebGIS development); Design & Development of IT Applications promoting cultural/touristic content (including Cultural content digitization; Creation of thematic routes & interactive maps using GIS; Creation of Data Bases; Development of web portals).

UOI also has created a strong network of collaboration with all the local & regional authorities & key stakeholders (business associations, chambers of commerce & the tourist & cultural industry sector).

Laboratory of Knowledge & Intelligent Computing (est. 2006) covers the Educational, Teaching, Research and Development needs of the Department of Informatics & Telecommunications of the University of Ioannina (DIT-UoI) that are related to the scientific fields of: Algorithms; Data Processing, Analysis & Mining; Time Series Data Mining; Knowledge Processing, Representation and Management; Data Technology, Security and Cryptography; Advanced Image/Signal Processing Algorithms; Complex Systems Modelling and Simulation; Optimization and scheduling; Machine Learning, Machine Vision, Computational Intelligence and Knowledge; Artificial Intelligence, and Intelligent Computing in general. KIC-LAB greatly contributes to the fields of the Software Engineering, Virtual Reality, Augmentative Reality, Mechatronics and Industry 4.0 along with GeoInformatics and Environmental Informatics (Enviromatics) as well as Environmental Policy and Environmental Education. As a highly innovative research laboratory, the KIC-LAB:

• Develops numerous collaborations with Greek and foreign academic institutes and research centers from all over the world, as long as their scientific goals coincide with, correlate with and complement the Laboratory ones

• Creates synergies and strong collaborations with local and regional public and private bodies and organizations, and provides support to private enterprises

• Organizes scientific events invites eminent Greek and foreign scientists, and publishes research results and books

• Participates in Regional, National and EU Funded R&D projects.

Institutional website of Lead Beneficiary: https://kic.uoi.gr/en/

MUNICIPALITY OF IGOUMENITSA, GREECE

The Municipality of Igoumenitsa (2011) a strategic point for tourism and commerce in northern Greece with the port of Igoumenitsa aiming to become a top cruise destination in the region of Epirus. PB2 participates in 7 Networks most notably the Covenant of Mayors; EFUS; Euromed Cities Network; ESN; European Cities and Regions for Culture – Les Rencontres Forum of Adriatic and Ionian Cities. In the last and current PP, the Municipality has it has acquired systematized knowledge in the management of 8 EU projects (GR-AL; IPA Adriatic; URBACT; ADRION; GR-IT etc..). Fully aligned with the RIS Strategy of the Region of Epirus, the Municipality views in SMARTiMONY a platform for the innovation of heritage offers and the entrepreneurship in Cultural and Creative Industries in peripheral centers of production. Experience: Inter-Connect (ADRION Interreg 2014 – 2020) carbon-responsible mobility; DOCK-BI (Greece – Italy 2014 – 2020) is a connection of the ports of Brindisi and Igoumenitsa; “Re-grow City”, (URBACT III) focuses on the development of interventions that built on local capabilities to arrest and reverse long term social, economic and environmental decline.

Institutional website of Project Beneficiary 2: https://igoumenitsa.gr/en/

PREFECTURE OF GJIROKASTRA, ALBANIA

The region’s surface is 2880 km². In its administrative division, Gjirokastra Prefecture has 3 districts (Gjirokaster, Tepelene, Pemet), 6 municipalities (Gjirokastra, Libohova, Permeti, Kelcyre, Tepelena and MeMalliaj), 26 Commune and 271 villages (Figures 6, 7). The south east borders mainly of Gjirokastra and Permeti district are political borders with Greece, whereas all the other border is an administrative one and it goes in the west and southwest with the district of Saranda and Delvina, in the northwest with that of Ballshi, in the North with Berat and in the northeast and east with the districts of Skrapari and Kolonja.

Gjirokastra Prefecture has a favorable geographical position. It is situated in the center of southern Albania and it is passed through by the two most important valleys of southern Albania, the valley of Upper Vjosa and the valley of Drino River. Here, in these valleys is concentrated the greatest part of Gjirokastra Prefecture population and at the same time these are the main economic and industrial parts of the region, in which are concentrated the main agricultural crops, industrial and administrative centers.

Gjirokastra Prefecture is located in south east of Albania and it has a central position in the southeastern Albania. The area of interest is the Drino river valley and the Hosi resource. Gjirokastra District is located in South-east Albania and is one of the 3 districts of Gjirokastra Prefecture. Gjirokastra district from the administrative point of view consists of two municipalities (Municipality of Gjirokastra and that of Libohova), 11 Communes (Antigone, Cepo, Dropull i Siperm, Dropull i Poshtem, Lazarat, Libohove Qender, Lunxheri, Odrie, Picar, Pogon, Zagorie ) and 95 villages. Traditionally Gjirokastra town is the center of Gjirokastra Prefecture.Gjirokastra town is 400 m above sea level. Gjirokastra prefecture has a population of 169.908 inhabitants and surface 2880 km² and average population density 59 inh/km², that is to say half of the population is concentrated in the hilly relief especially on the lower hilly relief 300-500m above sea level, than the other heights of 100-300m. Natural increase of the population varies in wide limits and it issues such that shows about different influences and reasons. In Gjirokastra town this increase of the population is 14-15%. The tendency is towards the lowering of this coefficient. The average age is 27 years. Gjirokastra district has a population of 77.409 inhabitants and surface 1137 km² with an average population density 68inh. /km². Gjirokastra municipality has a population of 35.293 inhabitants and surface 3.6 km² and average population density 89 inch. / km². The population on the villages is 42.116 inhabitants spread in 95 villages. The number of families on district level is 17.989.

Institutional website of Project Beneficiary 3: http://prefektiqarkutgjirokaster.gov.al/

REGIONAL CENTER FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION, ALBANIA

The Regional Centre for Development and Cooperation (RCDC) is a non-governmental organization established in 2007 in Tirana, Albania as a non-profit center, which mission is to contribute to sustainable development of regions through the provision of services of design, implementation and management of projects that contribute to the creation of an environment that will encourage investment and market expansion in the following domains:

• cultural and historical heritage & tourism development
• human resource development, employment & gender equality
• environmental protection

The strategic objectives of RCDC include:

1. Provide consultancy and advice for regions at all levels of government in order to create the necessary infrastructure to facilitate their participation in European programs;
2. Support the exchanges in the field of art and culture and promote the internationalization and understanding of peoples;
3. Coordinate efforts for the development of tourism in Albania focusing on creation and development of cultural and natural heritage product based on community inclusion and support;
4. Cooperate with other governmental and non-governmental agencies/institutions under the purpose of developing cultural and natural heritage tourism;
5. Promote cultural exchange and social dialogue, encouraging respect for diversity, sense of stability, security, and mutual understanding;
6. Promote and implement sustainable development of special interest tourism or active tourism which ensures economic growth and quality for the involved beneficiary communities;
7. Support the development of the regions, through transfer of technology and innovation;
8. Strengthen social relations, involvement and charitable activities for vulnerable groups;
9. Improve the environment and biodiversity, regulation of human relationships with the environment and support a strong economy and environmentally sustainable; Within a timeframe of 10 years RCDC has built a respectable professional profile on facilitating projects in various fields such as: tourism and hospitality (education/training), community livelihood development, art & cultural event development & management, eco-tourism and culture oriented tourism product development, national park/protected area development/management, etc.

Institutional website of Project Beneficiary 4: https://www.rcdcalbania.org/