Athens
10
07
2022
CULTURE

Mural about the sustainability of cities in the "shadow" of the Acropolis

A large-scale mural of the Municipality of Athens, with an emphasis on city dwellers and painted this time on the wall of the Athenian Callirhoe Hotel, on Kallirois Street, gives color and emphasizes the need to create sustainable modern cities.
A large-scale mural of the Municipality of Athens, with an emphasis on city dwellers and painted this time on the wall of the Athenian Callirhoe Hotel, on Kallirois Street, gives color and emphasizes the need to create sustainable modern cities.

It is the work of street artist Atek (Giorgos Skourlis) and was realized through the Development and Tourism Promotion Company of the Municipality of Athens (EATA). It captures with the visual idiom of the artist one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Organization: "Sustainable Cities and Communities" (Goal 1 1) - reduction of environmental impact, access to green spaces for all, adequate, safe and affordable housing , as well as the protection of cultural and natural heritage etc.

Atek's mural comes to be added to a series of murals by the Municipality of Athens that adorn the walls of schools (From the Roots to the Sky program), as well as public and private buildings in the city (program in progress).

The mural of the Municipality of Athens, according to the relevant announcement, "sends a resounding message about the need to achieve the Goal, reminding at the same time of the integrated action plan that is in progress on the part of the municipal authority for the sustainability and resilience of the city. From the implementation of small-scale projects, such as the "pocket" parks that green and beautify the city's neighborhoods, to the largest projects, such as the radical remodeling of the National Garden, the Circle Hill, the Plato Academy, the double renovation on Alexandras Avenue and Botanikos. It is also noted that in order to achieve the Goal, Athens is cooperating with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), so that it can be certified as a sustainable destination".

The announcement of the Municipality of Athens also informs that in the near future a 5-minute television video will be shown on the program "Generation 17" of ERT3 (also available through the ERTFLIX platform), as well as a podcast, produced by elculture, in which the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis analyzes the municipal authority's strategy for a resilient city: "We want to give incentives to permanent residents to stay and also to new residents to return to Athens. The liberation and redistribution of public space is of critical importance, but this is not always very easy. In Athens, as in most cities of the world, the "battle" that is being waged is for the square meters", said, among other things, the mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis in the podcast, on the occasion of the creation of the Atek mural.