Mendoni: With projects of one billion euros, the contribution of the Ministry of Culture to development

​The catalytic role of culture as a tool for development – local, regional, national – and the visible reflection of this dynamic at the level of the production process, with benefits for employment and the well-being of local societies, was developed by the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni, speaking in the Olympia Forum III.

In a dialogue with the journalist Sotiris Polyzos, the Lina Mendonithrough the objective evidence of cultural projects, which are currently being carried out throughout the territory, presented the contribution of culture to the local, regional and national economy.

“Culture is directly intertwined with regional development. Greece has recorded – until today, as new ones are revealed every day – 21,000 immovable monuments and archaeological sites. This dispersion of monumental stock results in culture acting as a tool for regional development. It is a catalyst of economic and social prosperity for local communities. In 2019, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis included the Ministry of Culture and Sports in the productive Ministries, precisely because the role it can play in the regional and national economy is very important. The development potential of culture is now visible. The international literature independently presents the economy of culture, it recognizes culture as a distinct economic sector, because culture uses resources with which it produces products and services, creates income and jobs, attracts and causes investment. In this sense, it has a strong development potential.

The Ministry of Culture and Sports implements a major project programme. Through the NSRF Regional Operational Programs 2014-2020, it implements 399 projects with a total budget of 424,000,000 euros. Through the Recovery Fund, the services of the Ministry implement – until today – a program of 114 projects, with a budget of 317,000,000 euros. We have secured more than 500,000,000 euros from the Recovery Fund. By the end of the year, the remaining projects will have been included, with a total budget of approximately 200,000,000 euros. We also run a program of 188 projects across the Territory, either through programmatic contracts or by participating in third party projects. The total budget of the cultural projects of these three distinct units exceeds 1 billion euros. More than 4,000 workers are employed in these projects, especially those carried out independently by the services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. If the projects carried out with contractors are taken into account, it is easy to understand that the Ministry of Culture and Sports is one of the largest employers. These numbers are the objective proof of culture’s imprint on the economy. Also, let’s not forget that cultural heritage elements create goodwill in any project, public or private. With absolute implementation of the provisions of the archaeological law, the protection of our cultural heritage goes perfectly with investments and with public utility projects. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture, through the projects it implements, contributes decisively to the competitiveness of the tourist product and absolutely strengthens cultural tourism, which is proven to cover 40% of tourism revenues, in general. Investments in the promotion and restoration of cultural heritage lead to higher level and income visitors”.

With reference to underwater archaeological tourism, the Minister of Culture and Sports spoke about the four shipwrecks in Pagasitikos that have been given to the citizens as visitable underwater archaeological sites, highlighting the identity of the area and attracting high-level and income tourism.

For the utilization of the former royal estate in Tatoi, Lina Mendoni, stated that the Ministry’s Services are already carrying out a model project, all resources have been secured from the Recovery Fund, the NSRF, from private sponsorships and national resources. By the end of 2025, a very large part of the estate will be given to citizens. With the aim of the estate’s contribution to the local development and economy, at the level of operation and management, the expertise of the Prince’s Foundation is to be utilized at Dumfries House.

The previous day, participating in the thematic Forum “Holistic study of the reconstruction of Ilia with a focus on Ancient Olympia”, the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni, developed the Ministry’s strategy in managing the effects of the climate crisis on cultural heritage and the model of cultural routes as a means of connecting the monumental and natural wealth of Ilia with an active role of the local community and local entrepreneurship.

Regarding the climate crisis, Lina Mendoni said that “we are implementing a coherent strategy for the issues of the effects of the climate crisis on cultural heritage. The development of adaptation plans for specific archaeological sites and monuments to the climate crisis is underway. By 2025, these plans for 19 major archaeological sites will be completed. At the same time, we are preparing – and it will be completed by 2025 – the National Plan for the protection of cultural heritage from the effects of the climate crisis. In the recent European Union report on the effects of the climate crisis on cultural heritage, Greece appears as the only country with a National Plan to address these effects.

Regarding the utilization of the standard of cultural routes in Ilia, Lina Mendoni pointed out that “it concerns both the State and the local community. Ilia has unique natural and cultural wealth. But this wealth participates little, for now, in the local economy and development. Obviously, the Ministry of Culture will create the required infrastructure. But also the local entrepreneurship, if it wants to manage the tourist product competitively, should adopt the wealth available in the region and promote it, so that cultural routes can be created that will have as main poles the already known and popular archaeological sites and monuments or natural landscapes. In conjunction with them, new emerging tourist destinations should also be organized. Thus, the new routes will play an essential role in the creation of experiences, thus participation in the economy of experiences”.

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