#Restart21
1. Ioannina- The Liberal Roadtrip
The Liberal Roadtrip began from the western part of the country, having as a starting point the city of Ioannina. The historical beauty of the town and the element of distinctiveness and diversity has been quite obvious in the city over the centuries. In fact, this characteristic helped us to choose the topic for our open evening discussion.
As a result, on the 24th of May, we decided to elaborate on the issue of “Distinctiveness, Diversity and the fight against Discriminations”, at the central square of the city, aiming at visualizing the different perspectives and experiences through the eyes of the local population. For that reason, the people that contributed to this discussion were George Rados, Deputy Major of Zitsa, Stefanos Panakoulias, President of International Center for Sustainable Development, Eleni Siapikoudi, President of Young Liberals Greece and, Dr. Athanasios Grammenos, Project Coordinator of FNF Greek office.
Το Φιλελεύθερο Οδοιπορικό στα Ιωάννινα, 24 Μαΐου 2021
Έτσι, το απόγευμα της 24ης Μαΐου αποφασίσαμε να συζητήσουμε στην κεντρική πλατεία για την «Πολυμορφία, τη διαφορετικότητα και την καταπολέμηση των διακρίσεων», με στόχο να αναλύσουμε τις διαφορετικές οπτικές και εμπειρίες μέσα από τα μάτια των Ιωαννιτών. Για αυτό τον λόγο, στη συζήτηση συνέβαλαν ο κος Γεώργιος Ράδος, Αντιδήμαρχος Ζίτσας, ο Στέφανος Πανακούλιας, Πρόεδρος Διεθνούς Κέντρου Βιώσιμης Ανάπτυξης, η Ελένη Σιαπικούδη, Πρόεδρος των Ελεύθερων Νέων και ο Δρ. Αθανάσιος Γραμμένος, Προïστάμενος του Ιδρύματος στην Ελλάδα.
Moreover, we were delight to have a welcoming speech by Dr. Moses Elisaf, the Major of the city, who characteristically said:
I would like to congratulate the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for these initiatives, with the general title 'Restart 2021', whose purpose is to promote, in the post-COVID era, different perspectives and narratives of sociopolitical issues, which concern the European societies.. and also to thank them for choosing Ioannina as the starting point of the Liberal Roadtrip in our country… Today’s topic with title 'Distinctiveness, Diversity and the Fight against Distriminations' is certainly an interesting topic and really relevant.. It is a critical period in whole Europe, where states and people struggle with these kind of issues, which question the foundations of the contemporary democratic and open society, and even they mine the development of the continent on the road of European integration..
He, also, pointed out that:
we own to utilize every mean at our disposal, in order to create those channels of communication between the different communities and to support the inclusion of every individual within the society, regardless of their race, nationality, religion, and other social characteristics.
The main points of the discussion were the principle of non-discrimination, identity, respect of diversity, and equal opportunities. Furthermore, emphasis was given on the ways and methods, with which the city dealt with the refugee crisis, the shelter facilities, and generally the integration of immigrants and refugees.