The main axes of planning for its protection, promotion and utilization monumental wealth of Attica, presented by the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and the Regional Governor of Attica Nikos Hardalias.

The projects will be financed with resources from the NSRF 2021-2027 and in particular from the “ATTIKI” Regional Program.

They relate to Cultural Heritage and are planned to be included in an Integrated Spatial Investment (ISP) of Culture prepared by the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with co-competent agencies.

The planned interventions have a total budget exceeding 170 million euros, of which more than 60 million are planned to be drawn from the PEP Attica 2021-2027 and the rest from the NSRF Sectoral Programs 2021-2027.

It is pointed out that the projects to be financed by the NSRF 2021-2027 are added to those already planned and implemented by the Services and Agencies of the Ministry of Culture, with funding from the Recovery Fund.

50 of them budget of more than 240 million euros, focus on the Attica Regionsuch as the works of restoration, maintenance and enhancement of the monuments of the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora and the Ceramics of Athens, the reconstruction of the former royal estate of Tatoi and the Museum of Enalien Antiquities.

The Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni in her speech she emphasized the importance of Culture not only as a comparative advantage of Greece, but also as a critical strategic factor for its economic and social cohesion and development, as well as a privileged field in which the Greek economy and society can, with high claims , to support their development and progress. The Country, as a whole, to internationally consolidate its offer, visibility and influence in Europe and the world of the 21st century.
He then referred to Attica and its imprint on Culture, given that three quarters of the gross added value of the cultural sector comes from Attica, where 58% of businesses are based, 60% of workers are employed.

“Attica, continued Lina Mendoni, has the lion’s share of the most popular monuments and archaeological sites, museums and large cultural infrastructures of all kinds, gathering over 40% of the respective visitors. For these reasons, the Minister of Culture underlined, the starting point of the Ministry is a new vision for the overall effective management of the natural and cultural Attica landscape as a major tourist destination and development capital with specific strategic objectives: Protection and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage with an axis viability, sustainability. Enrichment, improvement of the quality and attractiveness of infrastructure and services. Reorganization, decentralization, diffusion, dispersion and targeted and balanced redistribution of tourist traffic and visitation throughout the Region with the aim of de-saturating and mitigating the seasonality of tourism through the emergence of new decentralized poles of attraction and the organized networking of points of interest” .
The planned Culture projects in the Region of Attica funded by the NSRF 2021-2027 concern both Contemporary Culture and Cultural Heritage and serve the same common goals.

An extremely useful tool for the implementation of local territorial/spatial strategies in a systematic way, added the Minister of Culture, is the model of Integrated Spatial (OCE) or Territorial (EOI) Investment, which offers the possibility of maximizing the potential of a wider area based on a single and integrated development plan, which implements interconnected and complementary actions in different sectors, while at the same time making coordinated and targeted use of available financial resources and digital technology.
Lina Mendoni also referred to the utilization of the possibilities offered by the model of Integrated Spatial Investment in the Culture Sector, which is at the center of the extremely fruitful and creative cooperation that the Ministry of Culture has developed with the Region of Attica in recent years. “From a total budget, the Minister emphasized, which can reach 170 million euros, in the field of Cultural Heritage, we hope that within the framework of the OCHE we will be able, with the cooperation of the Region, to draw from the “ATTIKI” Regional Program and to utilize around 60 million euros, while we believe that we will be able to secure the rest through the other Sectoral Programs”.
Nikos Hardalias: “Holistic project plan from the Region of Attica to highlight the cultural heritage of our country”
The financing of new Culture projects through the implementation of an Integrated Spatial Investment (ISP) in Attica, with a total budget of 50 million euros, was announced by the Regional Governor of Attica, Nikos Hardalias, pointing out that the Region of Attica is the only Region of the country, which implements this moment the tool of the OHE in the field of Culture.
“We are preparing a holistic plan of projects and actions to highlight the cultural heritage of our country” underlined Mr. Hardalias and announced that individual cultural projects will be financed from the new NSRF, through the “Attiki” Program 2021-2027. These include the restoration and arrangement of a listed building on Filellinon Street, with a budget of 4.5 million euros, the reopening of the Old Acropolis Museum, amounting to 3.8 million euros, etc.
The Regional Governor of Attica also stated that the financing of 22 new cultural events of modern culture has already begun, with a total budget of 10 million euros, with the participation of even more cultural organizations, such as the “Stavros Niarchos Foundation” Cultural Center, the National Gallery, the Benaki Museum, the National Museum of Contemporary Art etc.
“We are lucky and blessed to live in a place identified with culture. In Attica, world cultural heritage monuments and archaeological sites with international influence, modern art museums and cultural centers co-exist. It is our supreme duty, not only to preserve these cultural treasures, but also to try to highlight them. In this national effort, we have the “Attica 2021 – 2027″ Program as a valuable financial tool. Having excellent cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, we utilize the resources of the NSRF in the most appropriate and innovative way”, emphasized Nikos Hardalias.

At the same time, the Regional Governor of Attica announced that, in the next period, the overall plan of the new Regional Authority for the tourism development and promotion of Attica will be presented and for strengthening its cultural product.
“We invest in the comparative advantages of our Attica, we seek to reposition its image. We deeply believe that cultural projects are development projects, they create added value, they are an important advantage for regional economic competitiveness, as well as a driver for the development of the local economy and employment”, concluded Mr. Hardalias.
After the presentation, the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and the Regional Governor of Attica, Nikos Hardalias, were given a tour of the premises Museum of Modern Greek Culturey, which preserves the history of the inhabitants of Athens from the Turkish occupation up to the 20th century, a project implemented with the partnership of the Ministry of Culture with the Region of Attica, with successive funding from the NSRF Programs.