GREEN VS. GREY Urbanization has been for years the main trend around the world. Most people who were born rush into modern cities. Obviously, there exist great differences between village style and city lifestyle. It is hard to say which one is better.
Living in a city often means higher salary, more opportunities, more commodity, polluted air, traffic jams, better medical care, noise, overfilling with buildings, educational resources, better infrastructure etc. On the contrary, in small villages you can breathe fresh air, live safer life, drink water with better quality, not to worry about parking place, find calm and peace in your soul, eat better agriculture prod-
ucts which you have produced. But, also you will have problems with transportation in villages, bad infrastructure, narrow-minded people, no medical care and isolation from the urban people and urban life.
Because of the not having parks and green areas in the city, people have to travel or live in village in order to be close to nature. Nature
beauties such as mountains, forests, rivers, seas are easily accessed by the villagers. Nature is a part of everyday life for these people who are
connected to nature and environment. It is up to you to choose where you want to live. Choose wisely and care for the nature!
HOW CAN WE SPEND OUR FREE TIME AT ?NATURE? The nature is around us. If you live in a village probably you are close to a forest or a lake or you have a lot of plants in your garden. If you live in a city maybe you need to spend more time in order to find a calm place to relax, out your town. Without of a doubt sometimes everyone needs to be close to nature and take the fresh breath. Spending time in the nature has indisputable. But why would you border doing that, if it isn’t your natural inclination. First of all, it improves mental acuity - walking outdoors help us thing better also nature can help us with mood and mental health - nature is a great stress reliever. It keeps our sunlight exposure healthy - vitamin D deficiency is very important. After proving to you, why we should spend more time to the nature our next topic is how we can do this? For sure, there are a lot of things that it one of us can do. There are countless possibilities we can change our work environment. Does your job requires you to be in front of a screen laptop? When take it with you and go to the local green spaces and join the sunlight and oxygen while still getting things done. The change of work environment is very important in today’s world because it develops the employees adapting skills. One connection between nature and the person can be sports. When we do sports in nature we feel more energized. In Greece, you have the opportunity to do many different sports in nature such as going on hiking at the mountains or do rock climbing or doing skiing because of the many mountains we have in this country. Concerning water sports like sailing, canoeing, kayak we have many different spots we can do these activities and seaside and rivers and also many competitions on a national and international level. Very important are the weather conditions that allow these sports to be done throughout the whole year. We cannot forget the connection between nature and cultural heritage. As we have seen here in Methoni, one that wants to be closer to nature cannot forget about cultural heritage. For example, seeing the sea and the rocky beaches here you have to be closer in culture and visit the castle. This situation is similar in other places in Greece as well. Historical sites and nature are for sure connected In order to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, a trip on a weekend can be a solution. Quality time with your friends, family or partner and enjoying the beautiful surroundings and sunsets. People bring food, guitars and their smiles and enjoy each others company. In Greece you can find organized camping sites everywhere in a very good price. The idea is good for holidays as well. Last but not least, you can be close to nature in your own house. Gardening activities, cooking fresh vegetables. Growing your own fruits can make you feel more relaxed and close to nature. Going to city parks, having a dog and going around walking are an idea too. To conclude, there are a lot of ways to be close to nature on your free time. The issue is to define your free time and have the freedom to do whatever you truly want. Internet is a very crucial resouces for these activities so use it wisely!
We interviewed two people, a former priest and a middle-aged man from Kalamata. The older priest lives in Methoni for 60 years and was a priest for 10. Through his life he has lived in big city, Athens, for some time. The other is a permanent resident of Kalamata and he has a house here in Methoni.
Participant youth exchange (P): Which are the disadvantages of living in a small village? Men (M): The villages since many years are not taken care of, their only income was from agriculture and parents like himself advised their children to go to a big city like Athens. Facilities and healthcare are not advanced in small villages and the people living there feel insecure. P: Which are the advantages of living in a small village? Μ: Life in the village makes you feel more peaceful, free and be closer to the environment. P: How is it living in a big city? M: He lived in Athens at the winter for a decade or more and he believes that Methoni is a living paradise and in Athens is hell because of the closure and noise-pollution. He is in favour of decentralization.
P: How do people interact with the nature in the village? M: The people in villages have been so used to living in the village and some do not find nature special. People in villages sometimes connect nature also with economic benefits they can get from it. Villages have many issues with recycling because even though the people try to recycle the local authorities mix the garbage from different bins. Despite all the above, nature has a positive impact to people’s lives, it makes them more comfortable and relaxed. It is like psychotherapy. P: How do people here spend their free time? M: Enjoying the nature, the environment by doing some related activities such as cultivation, fishing and swimming. There are a lot of cultural activities in Methoni related to local history and tradition. They have representations and dances where the locals participate a lot. P: If you could choose where would you like to live? M: They would choose to live in a city like Kalamata and have the ability to go often to a village. To conclude, the people complained about the situation at the Venetian Castle. That it is abandoned and not being taken care of even though the sea destroys it because of the strong waves. In the winter, like many touristic places in Greece, after the end on the touristic season there are less residents who cannot go out that much due to economic difficulties. Despite these complaints, they didn’t stop telling us how much enjoy living here!
Later we walked around Methoni for our interview about “Living in a village vs living in a big city”. We met Polish women who lived in big city in Poland and now she lives here, in Methoni. We asked her about a few things connection with nature. P: What do think about living in a village and a big city? Women (W): I worked in a huge company in big city in Poland from 9 until 22 and i hadn’t time to myself. I must be close my phone especially on Holiday, Christmas time, Easter time, Pascha. The telephone had be open all the time. By everything what happened in my life I decided “I have to come in place when I will rest and I will take a distance for everything.” P: What do you think about advantages and disadvantages to living in a big city and here? W: Big city give us a lot of opportunity for spending time, go somewhere with children but all the opportunity to make us busy. We have no time to our self. It is a reason that people don’t know what is really necessary in their life, we don’t know what we should do to be happy. We have no time to really enjoy our life. We have time to work, to do things what we must what we have to but we have not time to enjoy life. P: Do you like coming close the nature here? W: I am a person who was trying to be close to the nature. When I worked in Poland I charged my battery by came 200 km far away to my parents not that spoken with them but for see the nature. And now I took my dog and my bike and I spent hours and hours outside. P: How people who live in big city have an interaction in nature and how do this here? W: In big city they don’t, because they haven’t to time for this. Here, they interact more they see that nature has a influence to their life. P: Are you environmental friendly? How do this? W: Environmental friendly isn’t only picking garbage or sorting. We should less watch TV, use bike instead of car. People in village don’t think how take care, how to be environmental friendly because they are too busy earning money or paying the bills. People don’t think about this because they haven’t time. In villages we haven’t a lot of shops so we don’t have very much to choose. Everything is packing in plastic bags so it isn’t environmental friendly. P: Thank you for sharing your point of view about different take care the nature people leaving in a village and big city. Nature is the most important for human but everybody can not respect it. First of all responsibility for learning about being environmentally friendly are parents. Well, Dear Parents, remember and teach your children. Participant youth exchange: Efi, Fotis, Ivan, Darek, Bartek, Patrycja
SAVE THE FOREST BEFORE REFORESTATION IS NEEDED
Nature is not very popular topic among people. Nowadays forests are endangered. In our article we want to tell you some sentences about fire in nature. In many countries people have different approach to environment. For example in Macedonia people aren’t friendly with nature. They throw rubbish on the ground. Fortunately two weeks ago volunteers from Turkey and Macedonia by organization Pavel Shatev cleaned the lake in Kocani. In Poland people organize events to help the environment. They have many oranizations: LOP/ liga ochrony pryrody or Polish Ecological club. Two months ago in Greece there was a big forest fire in witch a lot of people lost their lives. Search parties combed ruined homes for bodies. Volunteers sought out injured and frightend people and pets. By Friday the death toll had reachd 89, with people still missing. The high death toll could be attributed to reasons ranging from the labyrinthine roads to the hurricane-force gusts of wind. ENVIROMENT: DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, DIFFERENT TRETMANT Every country treats nature differently. Some countries protect environment in any possible way and some others don’t so there are the devious consequences that are doing to the explained on this article. For example, in Poland they created some new rules these last year about recyclining like making more colored bins to separate the rubbish. In this way, they are avoiding production waste, starting wild fires and generaly destroying the environment. Although in Greece the ricicling act shoud be more activated this days because the waste that people make is cousing wild fires. In Norway, the hidro electric power has been baned and replaced by other energy sorces that have less environmental impact. One step the government has found is to encourage organizations and homeowners to burn bicross for heath and power, as opposed to fosil fuels. In the same time, Macedonia does not respect the environment that much of particular cancern is air pollution from mettalurgical plants. Major poluters of surfice and grownd waters are housholds and industrical sewage systems, while in agricultural areas and farming industry, milk and meat industry, slautherhauses etc.
HOW WE CAN HELP THE NATURE? Don’t throw garbage and cigarets when we are inside the car or we are pasing from the nature. -hight that way we reduce the possibility for the fire and pollution Don’t cut the trees from the forest for your personal use. - that your possible to do is your going to some events and festivals about reforestation and reciceling and your helping the environment. -Don’t burn garbage and dent create landfields. -That you have to do your going in the forest and you select the garbage. -That we have to do we have to teach in the childs from the young years how to react the behavior they have to protect out environment and that we have to do we have to protect the eco system for our children. We have to be more informed so we can be more prepared.
What about your country? Of course no. Why is this happening? It’s because of our mentality. Do you recycle? We have recycling bins but we do not recycle. Baki (From Macedonia) Do you think Greece is environmentally friendly? No. What about Macedonia? Also no. Do you recycle? Yes, I do. Vladimir (from Macedonia) Do you think Greece is friendly to the environment? I don’t know, 50-50. Are you environmentally friendly? A little bit. Do you throw your cigarettes everywhere, on the street? All the time. What about your garbage? I throw them in the bins… Most of it.
INTERVIEW Ms. Eugenia (local) Is the local community environmentally friendly? Yes, they do environmental actions, such as cleaning the beach and the village. Is Greece in general environmentally friendly? I don’t know. Do you personally do something for environment? Yes, I am trying to recycle. Is there any factory which pollutes the environment? No, there isn’t. Do you think tourists pollute the environment? No. Mr. Nikos (local) Do you think Greece is environmentally friendly? Yes, there are not any big factories which pollute if we compare Greece to other countries. What about the local community? Yes, the community is friendly to the environment. It’s also a protected area, it belongs to the program NATURA. Any suggestions about more things we can do to protect the environment? It’s something personal. Every individual have to do something to protect nature. Mr. Aris and Ms. Eleni Psihari (locals) Is Greece friendly with the environment? Yes. What about the local community? The local community is doing the best. Is there, in your opinion, something more that can be done? Yes. We can always do something better and I believe youngsters are able to do and fix many things. Do you do environmentally friendly actions? We recycle. Is there any factory which pollute?
No, there isn’t. Ms. Dionisia (From Australia) Is Greece environmentally friendly? Yes, of course. If you compare Greece to Australia, which of them is morefriendly to the environment? Australia. Do you do activities for the environment? I do. But here, in Methony I can’t. People here are not throwing papers and stuff in the recycling beans. In Australia we have three different beans, one for cans, cartons and bottles, one for grass and one for the other rubbish. Do you think this happens only in Methony or everywhere inGreece? I have been in Athens too and there is the same problem. Seo (local) Do you think Greece is environmentally friendly? Yes, they are trying to do their best. Do you as an individual do something to help nature? Yes, I recycle and I help when community cleans the beach. Do you believe there are more things that can be done? Yes, we don’t have to throw things away, on the road, that is notgood. Mr. and Ms. Martin (From France and Germany) Do you find Greece a clean country? Yes, but not everywhere. Here in Methony the environment is clean but in big towns it isn’t. Are German and France cleaner than Greece? Yes, they are. Mario (From Macedonia) Do you think Greece is environmentally friendly? No.
INTERVIEWER: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ANIMALS’ HUNTING? TOURIST: I THINK HUNTING ANIMALS IS VERY BAD, IT’S CRUEL AND I HATE IT I: IS IT POPULAR IN YOUR COUNTRY? T: IN THE COUNTRY SIDE OF ENGLAND THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT ARE HUNTING ANIMALS, THEY HUNT FOXES, RABBITS AND OTHER ANIMALS BUT IT’S ILLEGAL. I: BUT ENGLAND IS PROTECTING THOSE ANIMALS, RIGHT? T: SOME OF THESE ANIMALS, YES. FOXES’ HUNTING IS BANNED SO THERE ARE LAWS AGAINST IT BUT SOME HUNTING IS ALLOWED. I: OKAY, SO HOW DO YOU THINK PEOPLE COULD PROTECT THE ANIMALS FROM BEING TORTURED IN THE ZOOS? T: I THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO CONTROL THE STANDARDS OF THE ZOOS VERY TIGHTLY. THEY NEED TO INTRODUCE STRICT REGULATIONS ABOUT HOW MUCH SPACE THE ANIMALS NEED TO HAVE AND THE THINGS THEY NEED TO HAVE IN THE ENCLOSURES. I: SO YOU THINK IS BAD KEEPING THE ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY FOR PEOPLE’S ENTERTAINMENT? T: YES, I DON’T THINK THAT ANIMALS SHOULD BE KEPT CAPTIVE FOR PEOPLE’S ENTERTAINMENT, I AM AGAINST IT BUT I THINK THAT SOMETIMES IT’S GOOD LIKE THE ENDANGERED SPECIES BECAUE IN THIS WAY WE PROTECT THEM.
I: DO YOU THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE DOING MOSTLY GOOD TO ANIMALS OR BAD? T: I THINK THAT THEY ARE DOING MOSTLY DOING BAD TO THE ANMALS BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE EAT MEAT AND THE FARMING INDUSTRY IS VERY CRUEL. I GREW UP AS A VEGETARIAN, I’VE NEVER EATEN MEAT AND I BELIEVE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT IT IS NOT CRUEL ARE JUST KIDDING THEMSELVES. INTERVIEWER: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HUNTING ANIMALS? LOCAL: I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULDN’T DO IT BECAUSE WE ARE VIOLENTLY MURDERING THEM AND MAKE THEM SUFFER IN GENERAL. WE SHOULD RESPECT THEM JUST AS WE SEEK FOR RESPECT. I: DO YOU THINK THAT HUNTING IS POPULAR IN GREECE? L: IT IS POPULAR AND THIS IS MAING ME SO SAD. I: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE ZOOS? L: THE PEOPLE FROM THE ZOOS SHOULD TREAT THEM WITH LOVE. THERE ARE SO MANY CHILDREN THAT ARE VISITING THE ZOOS EVERYDAY SO THEY NEED TO LEARN TO RESPECT THE ANIMALS. I: WHAT DO YOU THINK MOST OF THE PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT ANIMALS? L: ONLY THE DECENT PEOPLE ARE TREATING THE ANIMALS RIGHT. BUT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ARE POISONED WITH THE LUST FOR MONEYSO THEY CAN’T FEEL TRUE EMOTIONS NEITHER FOR ANIMALS NOR FOR PEOPLE. THEY CAN’T FEEL LOVE FOR ANY KIND OF SOUL. I: THANK YOU!
WE HAD TO MAKE AN INTERVIEW ABOUT ANIMALS AND SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE CAPTIVITY OF THEM IN THE ZOOS, AND THE HUNTING OF THEM. IS IT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE OR CRUELTY FOR ANIMALS? WE INTERVIEWED SOME OF THE LOCALS OF METHONI, AND SOME OF THE TOURISTS TO TELL US THEIR OPINION. INTERVIEWER: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE HUNTING OF ANIMALS? LOCAL: IT DEPENDS ON PEOPLE’S POINT OF VIEW. IT IS GOOD WHEN THERE’S ANIMAL OVERPOPULATION. OF COURSE THE LAST YEARS THIS IS NOT THE CASE. IT IS DESTROYING THE NATURAL FLOW OF THE WORLD AND IT’S LEADING TO THE DISTINCTION OF THESE ANIMALS. I: THANK YOU! HOW DO YOU BELIEVE PEOPLE COULD HELP ANIMALS FROM BEING CAPTIVE IN ZOOS?
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L: IN MY OPINION, ZOOS ARE NEVER GOING TO BE BANNED SO THE BEST PROTECTION FOR THEM IS SURVEILLANCE. I: IS HUNTING POPULAR IN YOUR VILLAGE AND GENERALLY IN GREECE? L: IT IS NOT ONLY POPULAR, BUT IT’S ALSO TRADITIONAL. PEOPLE HAVE
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BEEN DOING IT AS LONG AS THIS VILLAGE EXISTS. MY FATHER USED TO HUNT WHEN ME AND MY BROTHER WAS YOUNG AND WE BOTH HATED IT. I NEVER UNDERSTOOD THIS TRADITION. I: SO, DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE DOING MOSTLY GOOD TO ANIMALS OR BAD?
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L: IT DEPENDS ON THE QUALITY OF THE PEOPLE. ONLY THAT COUNTS. IF SOMEONE HAS CRUELTY IN HIS VEINS, HE WILL HARM EVERYTHING NOT ONLY ANIMALS. I: OKAY, THANK YOU! INTERVIEWER: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE HUNTING OF ANIMALS? TOURIST: IN MY OPINION IT’S OKAY. I: OKAY LET’S CHANGE THE TOPIC A LITTLE BIT. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE TORTURE THAT ANIMALS ARE FACING EVERYDAY IN ZOOS? T: IT DEPENDS ON THE FACILITY AND THE OWNERS OF THE ZOO. IT’S HOW THEY TREAT THE ANIMALS. I: IS HUNTING POPULAR IN YOUR COUNTRY? T: IN AUSTRIA, IT’S VERY POPULAR! IT’S A PART OF THE LIFESTYLE OF THE HIGH SOCIETY I: DO YOU THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE DOING MOSTLY GOOD OR BAD TO ANIMALS? T: I REALLY DON’T KNOW. IT DEPENDS ON THE SOCIAL BACKROUND, THE CULTURE AND ON THE LIFESTYLE OF PEOPLE.
ZOO: OPPORTUNITY FOR US OR NIGHTMARE FOR THE ANIMALS?
The word zoo comes from the Greek word “zoon”, which means “animal”. It’s a facility that hosed animals in enclosures, displayed to public, in order to conservate the endangered species, to provide zoological education but also to entertain the visitors and make profit. During the 19th century, zoological parks used to symbolize the royal power. Later, in 1970’s, when ecology started to emerge and flourish, zoos started to reconsider their roles. Many large zoos stopped having animals perform tricks for the visitors and take advantage of them. Detroit zoological garden, for example, stopped its elephant show in 1969 and chimpanzee show in 1983, acknowledging that trainers sometimes abuse animals to get them to perform. The last years there are different opinions about zoos. On the one hand, some people consider the menageries as a great opportunity for people. On the other hand, some others believe they are just a nightmare for the animals which live enclosure there. First of all, there is a belief that zoos give us all the opportunity to come in contact, meet and know things about animals we cannot find out in nature, either because they are dangerous (such as lions) or extinct (pandas). For some people, zoological parks are a big chance to conserve and protect endangered animals. Also, it allows scientist and zoologists to find animals, living in enclosures that attempt to replace their natural habitat and behavioral patterns, and “use” them for research purposes. So, many can say that sometimes zoos can provide education to public, inspiration and research source to experts.
But we have to consider that the enclosures are trying to provide animals with a habitat similar to their natural, but living in a cage and not in nature may cause big problems to them and change their behavior as well. About the wild ones, which are endangered, zooE logical gardens are problems, not a solution. The only way to really save them is to protect them in their own natural habitats. We must keep in mind that zoos began as amusements, where animals were abused in order to perform in front of the visitors and was exploited to make money. Although things have changed a little bit, animals in menageries are still caged, used as exhibits and zoos are still making profit taking advantage of them. In conclusion, it’s true that zoological gardens may sometimes offer education, inspiration and a big source for research purposes. However, in our opinion, every animal on the planet have the right to live free in nature and be protected in their own natural habitats. People and wildlife both shares the same space, the same environment sometimes, they suffer from the same problems, such as pollution, deforestation or even climate change, problems that have to do with the destruction of the natural world and have a really bad impact on everyone. So, both people and animals have to live free, near the nature and cohabit in order to survive.
This brosure was created from participants during the activities in Methoni by the project “Capture the nature” that was organised from 1-7.09.2018 «Το σχέδιο αυτό χρηματοδοτήθηκε με την υποστήριξη της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής. Η παρούσα δημοσίευση [ανακοίνωση] δεσμεύει μόνο τον συντάκτη της και η Επιτροπή δεν ευθύνεται για τυχόν χρήση των πληροφοριών που περιέχονται σε αυτήν.» The information and views set out in this broshure are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
