I. LET’S HAVE A LOOK ON GEO ROUTES !
First appointment for ODD&THEKEDGERS, a meeting with Giannis Balakakis, the President of Geo Routes Cultural Institute established in 2012 and located in Athens (Greece), a not-for-profit & non-governmental organization of 6 employees, with an approximate turnover of 1,5 million euros totally self-funded! (See the good practice sheet at the end of the article).
→ Geo Routes platform, the original platform from 2012 !
Since early 2012, this NGO has been developed with the bet to make the eco-tourism sector an efficient factor of development for the country and beyond by providing cultural, environmental and educational journeys and contributing to the development of the local societies with responsible management of the environmental resources and the valorization of the cultural legacy of each destination. Furthermore, the intercultural dialogue created permits in the meantime to contribute to the development of remote societies beyond Greece’s borders. These cultural journeys are placed under the auspices of the Hellenic National Commission (HNC) for UNESCO. First ever in Greece, cultural heritage tourism was seen as a key for the sustainable development of the country !
Only one year after, during the 37th General Conference of UNESCO in Paris in 2013, the first recognition arrived with the acclamation of the synergy between the HNC for UNESCO and the Geo Routes Cultural Institute as “best practice model” in the framework of the UNESCO program “Culture-Tourism-Development” (Click here to see Geo Routes Cultural Institute’s article about it). It encouraged many other countries to follow this practice and then helped them to facilitate and promote cultural heritage. Well done !
Under 10 key factors to indicate the content of each expedition (Trekking trails, Flora & Fauna, Aquatic Biology, Energy sources, Agriculture-Gastronomy, Cultural Heritage, History-Archaeology, Places of Religious Interest Land trips, Sea Journeys), Geo Routes Cultural Institute has launched specific cultural heritage journeys to Greece. Either Greeks, either foreigners, have the possibility to see the “other side” of the country and discover the “hidden part” of Greece, the less known where no tourists used to go in order to give strength the local economies & to offer floor to the locals so they can interact & connect with the visitors of their places. We let you read the President’s personal feeling shared with us:
“It was always pleasant to see people who aren’t usually so often seen visitors to go there (in their places), to interact with foreigners or with Greeks” -G. Balakakis
→ The Balkans & Black Sea Cooperation Forum & The AgriBusiness Forum, the extended platforms integrated since 4 years !
Beside Geo Routes platform, the NGO has extended its activities by adding 2 more platforms within the organization.
On the one hand, the Balkans & Black Sea Cooperation Forum platform (Click here to visit the BBSF’s website), which is a high policy & economics international conference bringing together all the 17 countries from around the Balkans & the Black Sea about discussing issues of common interests : gender equality, energy, natural resources, economics, telecoms. There was a need to gather on a common platform all parts of these regions to discuss, exchange points of views, interact about the problems and how they can solve them through governments, constitutions, societies.
On the other hand, the AgriBusiness Forum platform (Click here to visit the ABF’s website), released in 2017, which is an international event and conference. It’s about highlighting the future of agriculture. Agriculture, after energy, is the second biggest sector in the world, if you consider the whole value chain from the seed to the fork. On October 7th, 2020 it should have been held the 3rd edition of the AgriBusiness Forum in Greece, but this event may not happen because of the Covid-19.
II. GEO ROUTES CULTURAL INSTITUTE COMMITMENTS FOR SUSTAINABILITY
→ General commitments for sustainability
Through the three platforms (Geo Routes, Balkans & Black Sea Cooperation Forum and Agribusiness), Geo Routes Cultural Institute is committed to contribute to reach a large part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 53% of them covered by the organization platforms. In these 53%, Sir Balakakis has pointed out during our interview the SDGs to reach by 2030 that resonate particularly for the NGO :
SDG 8 - Decent work & Economic growth, SDG 11 - Sustainable cities & communities,
SDG 13 - Climate action & SDG 17 - Partnerships for the goals.
→ Focus on a specific project commitments for sustainability
With the statement that Greece & Balkans countries are, compared to France, Italy, Spain or Netherlands, still much behind in the agricultural sector, particularly because it has not yet integrated the new technologies and the modern meaning of management to run their businesses to take this sector to the next level of development, Sir Balakakis has presented us an overview of two modules of the Agribusiness Forum platform: the Masterclass & the Challenge. To get straight to the point, the Masterclass is a complimentary training to support entrepreneurship in the agrifood value chain; the Challenge is, meanwhile, to promote the most innovative scaleups of the Masterclass during the Agribusiness Forum.
Obviously, these modules were created with the wide ambition to narrow the lag of the sector in order to gain competitiveness and to deal with economic issues in Greece & Balkans countries. Indeed, the President reminds us:
“At the end of the day, it is important to all, how we can take business further because it is what people will gain from his life.” - G.Balakakis
Practically, this ambition is being achieved by providing additional capacities for entrepreneurs of the agrifood value chain to reach their goals with regard to their business model, that’s the Masterclass & the Challenge purpose! By focusing in the agricultural sector, Sir Balakakis has emphasized that the Masterclass & the Challenge are not addressed only to the farming industry but for all the agrifood value chain from the seed to the fork. It has been clearly illustrated in his presentation:
“Ok I’m more involved in the primary production [a farmer], but what about the supply chain upstream or the logistics to the final customer downstream? What seems to be very important is that if nowadays someone doesn't have a clear vision of its business environment, he will definitely not make its ideas, goals and actions not well adjusted of what to do and how to do with its production.” - G.Balakakis
Then, we understand that these modules seem to be efficient to develop economically the sector. To what extent these modules could seem to be also efficient to develop socially and environmentally the sector ? Are these modules a fair conciliation between the economic, the social and the environmental pillars of sustainable development? (Click here to discover our heading #ODDLearning in our Instagram page @oddthekedgers with our post dedicated to the Sustainability pillars)
To grasp these questions, the SDGs matrix is an useful tool that we have used with Sir Balakakis in order to highlight qualitatively which SDGs the Masterclass & the Challenge contribute to:
SDG 2 - Zero hunger
According to the World Food Program (WFP) (Click here to visit the WFP’s website), the risk of hunger and malnutrition could increase by up to 20% by 2050. The ABF’s modules presented here help to support resilience building in order to improve food security and nutrition by strengthening the access to biological & sustainable food.
SDG 5 - Gender equality
Common thoughts are that the agricultural sector is mostly composed by men. On the contrary, women/wives are supporting the farms and most of the time, they have even more critical roles besides the farming as jobs, because they interact with all the agrifood value chain. In initiatives like the Masterclass& the Challenge more and more women are getting involved within the agricultural sector in leading positions.
SDG 8 - Decent work & Economic growth
Farms of today are so far from the farms we used to know 20-50 years ago. It has changed rapidly with many new tools, machines, tractors, and other facilities being available to farmers. Now there are farmers that can't “be controlled” in many areas such as the working conditions, the real environmental impacts they have in their activities,… The Masterclass & the Challenge help to have data and deal with it by providing the knowledge required. These modules take the participants to another level of development, more sustainable, by using data to optimize their choices towards the future and the way they will run their businesses.
SDG 9 - Industry, innovation & infrastructure
That’s the module's mission: support entrepreneurship and promote the most innovative scaleups to fix issues such as traceability (how the product from farms goes to fork), food safety, resources consumption, waste management,...
SDG 11 - Sustainable cities & communities
Wherever you have a plant, you can find surrounding/very close cities or communities, even somewhere in a very remote area. In each area, there are people, who need to live in a mutual community. In order to maintain the demographic of places through each area, farming needs to adapt itself with the knowledge of a program like the Masterclass.
SDG 12 - Responsible consumption & production
Produce what the market needs really to not increase waste, recycle as much as possible and reintegrate it in the value chain when it is feasible, it is specific processes that require knowledge that participants can find in a program like the Masterclass.
SDG 13 - Climate action
The global warming and its effects can be attributed to different factors, whose human industries like the agricultural sector. Learning how to optimize its consumption of vital resources like energy (when farmers use tractors and trucks), or water (when they grow up their crops) in order to understand its environmental footprint is a first step to act positively against this global threat. That kind of knowledge is proposed to the Masterclass’ participants.
SDG 17 - Partnership for the goals
The last but not the least (at all) because the connectivity proposed during the Masterclass and the Challenge between business, research, and academia is the most important way of actions.
III. GEO ROUTES CULTURAL INSTITUTE AND THE KEDGERS
→ Could Geo Routes Cultural Institute be your next experience ?
Beside the purpose to make Kedgers (Kedge Business School’s students) aware of the Sustainable Development Goals, ODD&THEKEDGERS aims to inform the managers of tomorrow of responsible opportunities abroad in the associative, private and public sectors. That’s why at the end of our interview with Sir Balakakis, we have not hesitated to ask some questions for you in order to know to whom this organization could turn for a professional experience abroad.
With regards to the Agribusiness Forum’s activities, below students from abroad can participate in the conference: (1) agribusiness students who came from partners universities, (2) students voluntarily during the execution of the project and (3) the one who have already established a business can participate complimentary to the Masterclass’ training: Kedge’s Alumni, here is an opportunity to collaborate! Otherwise, concerning the Geo Routes Cultural Institute’s original sector of eco-tourism, if you are interested in this activity area, it could be a great opportunity abroad!
→ Precious words of Sir Balakakis for the students that we are at Kedge
Before leaving, let’s soak up our interviewee's advice!
“Students, whether they will be involved within the primary production, the logistics, transports, packaging or marketing & communication will need to affirm the sustainability of their project, especially to make it approved and accepted by the society and by any financial sources. To this end, at least, we strongly believe that the use of all SDGs are absolutely vital. Especially when we are talking about people making products.” - G.Balakakis
“For a future businessman who will be involved in his/her job, all SDGs are extremely important for the statement and the outcome of a specific project that need to achieve specific goals. That will be a perquisite either from the European Union, either from the United Nations, but definitely about the fundings because at the end there will be a sustainability report over the business or the project.” - G.Balakakis
IV. Discover the tools & the good practice sheet of the Agribusiness Forum!
References :
For more information, please visit the websites:
Geo Routes (COMMUNICATION ON ENGAGEMENT 2018, UN GLOBAL COMPACT)
Download the good practice sheet and tools of the article :