In the morning, teachers and students met at 3 Geniko Lykeio Galatsi. The Greek team organised a welcome ceremony in which they presented their city Galatsi and the Greek educational system. The headmaster, Mr Kostas Siemos, and Mayor George Markopoulos gave short speeches. The Greek team presented graffiti artworks around Greece, their forms and themes, as a prelude to graffiti creation.  

Afterwards, three parallel workshops took place. The first workshop involved creating graffiti that promotes sustainability. It was created along one of the school’s corridors. The second workshop involved recycling by making soap out of used olive oil at the school chemistry lab. And the third workshop involved working in the school’s computer lab to enrich our project’s website and social media accounts with information about our schools, our dissemination practices and our activities in the project context. As these workshops lasted several hours, we had a lunch break at noon. We experienced the epitome of Greek hospitality: lunch with traditional Greek food prepared and offered by Greek parents and teachers. In the afternoon, we concluded our workshops and the rest of the day was free.

Early in the morning, we departed for a two-day trip from Athens. Our first stop was in the coastal town of Elefsina, designated as the European Capital of Culture for 2023, to explore its archaeological site. The Greek team informed the partners that within its area developed the cult of goddess Dimitra, associated with cultivating land, vegetation, and fertility, and her daughter, Persephone, related to the regeneration of nature and life.

Then, we headed to Epidaurus to visit its ancient theatre, a renowned monument included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list as part of the Sanctuary of Asclepius, the god of medicine for the ancient Greeks. There, some Greek students performed a short excerpt from a Greek tragedy! 

In the afternoon, we arrived at our final destination: the coastal Nafplio town, where we all stayed overnight in a hotel. 

After enjoying our breakfast, we visited Palamidi, the Venetian fortress overlooking the Naflpio town, and then we strolled around the old town. Also, we were informed about sustainability in the maritime and tourism industry by using eco-friendly fuel sources, reducing waste and pollution to preserve natural resources and promoting marine life conservation. 

In the afternoon, we departed toward Athens and stopped along the road to the Corinth canal to see how it serves a sustainable short-sea shipping transport system.

In the morning, teachers and students met at 3 Geniko Lykeio Galatsi. They joined classes, interacted with Greek teachers and students, and exchanged learning and teaching practices. Then, the teachers had a long meeting to organise future tasks. The students and some art teachers worked on finalising the graffiti. Finally, we organised an exhibition of  buildings’ reusability. Each partner contributed to this exhibition some representative good and bad practices regarding the use and maintenance of historical monuments as well as the coexistence of ancient and modern buildings in their countries. This exhibition triggered fruitful discussions about different and similar practices and remains available for exploration to the Greek school’s educational community. 

In the afternoon, participants filled in the meeting’s evaluation questionnaire; we organised a farewell ceremony and awarded certificates of participation. We had a farewell party. What better way to end the meeting than dancing?

According to their departure time, guests returned to their home countries, thanking Greek hosts for their hospitality. Parting of Greek hosts and their guests inevitably had some emotional moments. This project meeting was, by all means, a lifetime experience!