The 2nd Local Stakeholder Group Meeting of the PICOBELLO project was successfully completed, co-organized by the Region of Central Macedonia and the Business and Cultural Development Centre (KEPA) at the premises of the Hellenic Design Centre on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.
The event, titled “Applying the Principles of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) in Local Communities of Central Macedonia,” aimed to continue the constructive dialogue and collaboration between local authorities, civil society organizations, and academic/research/business actors. Its objective was to facilitate the integration of the core principles of the New European Bauhaus (Sustainability – Inclusion – Aesthetics) into relevant policy instruments, contributing to the long-term green transition, co-creation, and the improvement of European citizens’ quality of life at the local level.
A total of 23 participants representing 9 different organizations took part in the meeting.
The program began with a presentation by Mrs. Konstantia Bessa, Executive of the Special Planning and Evaluation Group of the programme “Metropolitan Thessaloniki” Sustainable Urban Development Strategy of Thessaloniki of the Region of Central Macedonia, who provided an update on the implementation phase of the Observatory for Sustainable Urban Development of Thessaloniki’s Urban Area. Following this, participants had the opportunity to showcase the latest initiatives their organizations are implementing, along with European projects they are actively involved in.
Following that, KEPA team took the floor to present the outcomes of the 2nd Transnational Meeting of the PICOBELLO project, which took place in Barcelona, Spain. The team also shared the best practices selected for publication on the Interreg Europe online platform.
During the interactive session, participants engaged in discussions about the strengths, opportunities, and challenges their organizations face. A key takeaway from the discussion was that many local authorities encounter similar issues, which sparked an in-depth exchange of views among attendees.
In the closing session, an overview of the next steps within the project framework was provided. Participants were informed that the KEPA team would collect their responses, categorize them, and group them into four key pillars: Policy, Economy, Society, and Technology. The PICOBELLO project team scheduled their next meeting for June to continue the discussions and collaborations.
