Ceremony for research project ‘Control Shift. European Industrial Heritage Reuse in Review’ held in Athens, Greece

On 18 October, the Local Award Ceremony for the project ‘Control Shift. European Industrial Heritage Reuse in Review’, winner of a European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award 2021 in the category Research, was held at the historic Steam Electric Power Station of Neo Faliro in Athens (Greece). The research project was conducted by Dr. Dora Chatzi Rodopoulou in the framework of her PhD programme in Delft University of Technology (TUDelft) and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).

The ceremony commenced with the speeches made by Mrs. Lydia Carras, President of Elliniki Etairia – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, Andreas Boudouvis, Rector of the NTUA, Amalia Androulidaki, General Director for the Restoration, Museums and Technical Works in the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and Panagiotis Tournikiotis, Dean of the School of Architecture of the NTUA, who each expressed their enthusiasm for the results of the research project, praising not only its scholarly value, but also its European scope and impact. The bronze award plaque was then presented to Dora Chatzi Rodopoulou.

During the second part of the ceremony, the Emeritus Professor of the NTUA and President of the Council for Architectural Heritage of Elliniki Etairia, Eleni Maistrou, and the President of the Hellenic Section of the International Commission for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), Maria Mavroidi, each congratulated the researcher and elaborated on the challenges facing Greek industrial heritage as well as the huge potential for the reuse of this heritage. Nikos Belavilas, Professor in the School of Architecture of the NTUA and the supervisor of the dissertation, highlighted the importance of the research’s findings, underlining the results related to the stakeholders’ analysis and the impact of local communities in industrial heritage reuse projects.

Finally, the researcher presented her work and its results, placing special emphasis on issues regarding the protection, preservation and reuse of Greek industrial heritage and presented proposals for future action.