About us!

Directorate of Secondary Education of Pieria - Katerini, Greece - Office for Mobility and European Projects

The Office for Mobility and European Programmes within the Directorate of  Secondary Education of Pieria was in charge of all elementary and secondary and advanced secondary school in the region of Pieria near Thessaloniki.

The Office for Mobility and European Programmes developed and piloted new teaching and learning methods, continuing training programs for teachers, implements new methodologies for the inclusion of parents into school education and supports lifelong learning activities for all citizens in Pieria. The region has a high number of migrants. Thus, integration of migrants into mainstream education services is another major goal of the office. Further programs support mobility and cultural exchange activities.

Within the COMPASS consortium, the Office for Mobility and European Programmes have conducted needs analysis and integrated young migrants into the project. All project products will be directly included in mainstream educational service provision in Pieria and will be forwarded to Greek administrative authorities for further distribution. Highly qualified experts of the Office for Mobility and European Programmes developed a high-quality curriculum for the urban orienteering race where Greece will serve as lead partner.

The Office for Mobility and European Programmes in Pieria was  also partner of the Kids2Talk-Lingua project for the promotion of multilingual education in early childhood (www.kids2talk.eu).

We were Project Coordinators of a Youth program, Type Action 1 with reference number  1.1/R5/2006/24 bearing the Title “Racism, Xenophobia and Social Exclusion” in 2007. Our project goal was to bring in contact teams of young people with different background, who will work together in a wider social and natural environment. The multicultural society of our town – Katerini- and of our region – Pieria- has inspired us to realize this special project. We used an informal educational procedure innovating multilateral actions. We dealt with the phenomena of racism, xenophobia and social exclusion. This project has adopted educational, cultural and athletic events. The main event was a final music concert with the participation of school bands from all over Greece which attended about 6.000 pupils of our region.

The Office of Mobility and European Projects due to our student’s sensitivity on the battle against prejudice which derives from the different ethnic and social backgrounds, students in our school have, has decided to implement an educational project on racism, xenophobia and social exclusion in education, culture and the field of athletics. As a result, it creates activities whish are presented through a special Festival by the title “European Youth Actions in Mt. Olympus” combating the negative feelings caused by racism, xenophobia and social exclusion.

This way, our students, teachers and all other social sectors had the chance to join their voices against all these negative phenomena whish infest our multiethnic / multicultural societies and present their opposition in any type of social distinction.

Our aim through this Festival was to help society become more open-minded in the national, physical and variety of its citizens. For that reason, we have planned this Festival aiming at the enjoyment under the prism of an educational process. Our Actions intertwined in an educational process through multicultural activities, education through the enjoyment of our participants who are actively involved by proposing, taking part and drawing conclusions on the actions of thematic units. We follow the following educational methodologies: Observation, Supervision, Dialectic and Multicultural, through a Hand-On Experience.

As partners we have send young people to participate in other Youth projects in Turkey (Antalya) with the title:  “Universal peace and freedom Park”, and “Let’s protect our beautiful Nature”and in Serbia with the title: Don’t Hesitate! Go Explore!
 

Brief description of the city of Katerini (from the cultural environmental, architectural, historic, economic point of view)

Central Macedonia - Greece

Katerini is a town in Central Macedonia, Greece, the capital of Pieria prefecture. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, at an altitude of 14 m. The town, which is one of the newest in Greece, has a population of over 70.000. It is near the city of Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, which has been beneficial for Katerini's development over recent years. Katerini is accessible from the main Thessaloniki–Athens highway GR-1/E75 (with two interchanges near the town) and the Egnatia Odos to the north. It is served by both Intercity and local trains on the main railway line from Athens to Thessaloniki and there is a comprehensive regional and national bus service with its hub in the town.

District of Pieria

A popular tourist destination, Katerini is close to the sea (6 km) and to several archaeological sites of great interest such as the ancient city of Dion (5th century BC, 17 km away) and the Venetian Castle of Platamon. The beaches of Korinos, Paralia and Olympiaki Akti are visited by both Greek and international tourists during the summer. The roots of Mount Olympus (it was the first area to be declared as a national park in 1932. It is a UNESCO heritage site as well) and the town of Litochoro, are in a distance of around 20 kilometres away from the centre of Katerini.

The city of Katerini itself has its own distinct character. Several years ago its high street was repaved with brick and dedicated only to pedestrians. Today, the pisodromo (as we call the high street) is full of shops and cafes and gets very busy in the morning (when everyone is out doing their shopping) and in the evening (particularly during summer), when everyone is out having a drink.  Katerini has also a famous park resort with thousand of tree and plant species and a cultural centre and library that provides any kind of events and cultural opportunities. 

Over recent years, a major effort by the Greek government, using European Union cohesion funds, was made to redistribute Greek tourist activities in terms of time and space. At a local level, those policies led to the development of the Elatohori ski resort. In that way, tourist accommodation started being developed in the interior of Pieria. Tourism is an activity which is significantly developed. Foreign tourists comprise 70% of the total tourist figures. As well as mass tourism from abroad, several forms of tourism are being developed, with second home development playing a key role in the growth of the local economy. The easy accessibility of nearby urban centres enables another form of tourism, that of daytrips and school excursions, etc. Total accommodation provision consists of forms of supply beyond hotels and second homes. The number of organized campings, hostels etc. is equally significant. A large number of pretty villages surround Katerini are worth a visit. Most of the people living in the villages work in agriculture (tobacco, cotton, etc.).