University of the Aegean, Greece

The University of the Aegean is quite different compared to other traditional universities in Greece and elsewhere. It is the only university in Greece and one of the very few in the world that operates as a university-network, being based on different islands of an archipelago (i.e. the Aegean Sea). This experience of academic departments operating on islands and within a University-Network has led the University of the Aegean to be the first Greek University that has fully been utilising Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into its everyday activities. The goal from its outset was to create a modern university and a centre for excellence in the Eastern Aegean Sea with a global appeal.

The Department of Geography of the University of the Aegean in Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece, is the first Department of Geography in Greece. It was officially established in 1989 and it was launched in 1994-1995. The aim of the Department is to offer a complete programme of undergraduate and graduate education in Geography that observes and responds to both the international developments in the field and the needs and particularities of the study of spatial problems in Greece and its role in the wider Mediterranean and European territory. More information are available at http://www.aegean.gr/Geography/intro_en.htm.

Thanassis Kizos is a Lecturer in the Department of Geography in the scientific field of Rural Geography. His research interests include Landscape dynamics with emphasis on agricultural and rural landscapes: how they are formed, how and why they change, how they are appreciated, conceived, imagined and consumed; Multifunctionality of agriculture and rural areas; Islands as a special category of less favoured areas and geographical space (Tel. +30 22510 36447, Email: akizos@aegean.gr)

Thanasis Kizos is involved as a country expert in the “Capitalization of Research Results on the Multifunctionality of Agriculture and Rural Areas (MULTAGRI)”, Coordinator: CEMAGREF – France (www.multagri.net); and in the “Encouraging Collective Farmers Marketing Initiatives (COFAMI)” Coordinator: Wageningen University, Department of Social Sciences, Rural Sociology Group (www.cofami.org. He is also associated researcher in the "Strengthening International Research on Geographical Indications – SINER-GI", INRA - France (www.origin-food.org).

Theano S. Terkenli is a Tenured Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and at the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Tourism Planning, Administration and Policy, University of the Aegean, Lesvos, Greece in the scientific fields of Human and Cultural Geography, The Cultural Landscape and the Geography of Tourism (Tourism Studies). Her research interests include Cultural Change in Contemporary Societies from the Transnational to the Local Scale; Cultural Landscapes: Perception, Conceptualization, Analysis, Intervention; Geographies of Everyday Life; Landscapes of Tourism; The Making and Spatio-Temporal Change of the Aegean Cultural Landscape and Tourism Geographies of “Development”, Modernity and Postmodernism. She is also the author of two books and several articles, as well as the editor of a book on cultural landscapes. (Tel +30 22510 36414, Email: t.terkenli@aegean.gr)