In each of the 15 countries taking part in our Challenge Europe project, a group of Climate Advocates, aged between 18 and 35, are working together on the challenges posed by climate change and local projects aimed at reducing carbon use.

Meet the team of Climate Advocates selected for Greece by a three-member judging panel (in alphabetical order):

Thalia Bogdanou, 25 years old, Halkidiki

Thalia first developed an interest in climate change during her studies at the School of Forestry in Greece. After completing an MSc in Environmental Protection and Management, she was introduced to the exciting world of waste management and energy efficiency. She believes that people can change attitudes towards climate change when they can see and understand the impact of their actions on the environment and is looking forward to discussing ideas with local authorities and policy-makers in Greece.

Eleni Christopoulou, 30 years old, Corfu

Eleni has an Engineering Diploma and MSc in Computer Science and Engineering and is currently a PhD candidate. She worked on a number of research projects at the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute before moving on in 2005 to teach at a secondary school and at the Department of Informatics at the Ionian University. As an educator, she has organised and implemented various projects on environmental awareness and is actively involved in Green ICT. From an early age she has had a strong environmental awareness, which she hopes to pass on to other people. In keeping with her belief that awareness can best be promoted through education, she has committed herself to pursuing this as a climate advocate.

Victor Dimoulis, 27 years old, Corfu

Victor is a Hygiene and Public Health Inspector, currently working for a recycling company. His personal interest in the environment and his studies in the environmental field are what motivated him to take part in the Challenge Europe programme.

Irini Hassapi, 29 years old, Athens

Irini is an environmental scientist and firmly believes that this is the science of the future. Her vision is for Greece to start using environmentally friendly renewable energy resources in all aspects of energy consumption. She enjoys learning new languages and already speaks four. She would like the world to become a better and fairer place where wisdom, kindness, environmental ethics and respect for planet earth prevail. She is very concerned about the current state of the planet and environmental issues.

Jennifer Hinton, 27 years old, Athens

Jennifer loves to dedicate her time and energy to endeavours that help make the world a sustainable habitat for all. She envisions a future in which we are all more conscious and responsible in our thoughts and actions; where people of all backgrounds come together to bring about positive changes in their personal lives and local communities, as well as globally. She has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Sciences. She enjoys long walks, nature hikes, swimming in the sea, experimental cooking, languages and learning about everything under the sun.

Ioanna Ikonomidi, 23 years old, Athens

Ioanna graduated from the Law School at the University of Athens and is currently gaining practical experience. When she was 16 years old and still at school, she wrote an essay on the environment to represent the prefecture of Arta at the "Parliament of Teenagers", a project run by the Greek Parliament. Her essay was chosen and she took part in the project as a "deputy representative of teenagers". This was just the beginning. Now her dream for her country is a different and improved environmental policy. She hopes that through the actions of the Climate Advocates, the major challenges of climate change will become an individual matter.

Katerina Karantzi, 29 years old, Athens

Katerina grew up on the Greek island of Evia. She became aware of the need to protect the environment at an early age and decided to get involved in the environmental sector. Many years, degrees (BSc Environmental Physics, MSc Environmental Science), related jobs and volunteering experiences later, she is still as determined as ever to help protect the environment for future generations.

Christina Kontaxi, 29 years old, Thessaloniki

Christina graduated from the Department of Marine Science at the University of the Aegean and holds an MSc in Water Resources from the National Technical University of Athens. She is currently working for the Department of Environmental Protection of the Prefecture Administration of Thessaloniki. She is also a youth worker implementing European Commission and Council of Europe environmental youth projects. She organises educational and environmental awareness-raising activities, collaborating with Greek and international NGOs. She is also involved in science communication activities and supports the EU, which is why she is currently studying for an MA in EU Studies at the Centre International de Formation Européenne. She believes that modern technologies designed to save energy and use renewable energy sources should be introduced in Greece to ensure a sustainable future. She also believes that the most environmentally friendly form of energy is the energy we don’t use!

Katerina Lygkoni, 36 years old, Athens

Katerina has just graduated from the faculty of International and European Studies at Panteion University with an MA in Environmental Governance and Sustainable Development. She is keen to learn more about the environment, its sustainability and how the international community’s environmental principles can be better implemented in local communities. She currently works for a local environmental NGO in a suburb of Athens and is a volunteer with the "Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Continuers – Volunteers" in sports events and tree-planting activities. She is proud of being a member of the ‘Ship for World Youth’ family for the 2001 programme in Japan.

Antigone Mixafenti, 32 year old, Karditsa – Thessaloniki

Antigone is a biologist and is passionate about environmental issues. At present she is studying for a postgraduate degree in Environmental Education at the Aristotelio University of Thessaloniki. She has worked for the International Thessaloniki Film Festival and for Ecofilms, a festival of ecological interest. She loves nature and filmmaking and enjoys environmental documentaries. She believes that effective lessons on the environment in schools will bring about a change in the sustainable management and protection of the environment. She totally agrees with a quotation by Sauvé, Berryman & Brunelle, 2000: “instead of economising the environment we should ‘ecologise’ the economy”.

Lily Mordechai, 25 years old, Athens

Lily completed her master’s degree in Environmental Management, Modelling and Monitoring last year. She has always been a fan of nature and believes that Challenge Europe will give her the opportunity to bridge the gap between ideas and action and share the advocates’ suggestions more effectively with the wider public. She works as a communications officer in an organisation that protects Mediterranean wetlands. If she could change one thing in Greece she would create a new service responsible solely for the fire protection of forests from prevention right through to post-fire rehabilitation.

Vassilis Nikolopoulos, 33 years old, Athens

Vassilis is a valedictorian electrical and computer engineer and winner of the IEE National Prize. After completing his engineering studies at Dundee University, LSE, Imperial College and Ecole Polytechnique (X99), he started his PhD research in Energy Knowledge Management and Energy ICT methods at the National Technical University of Athens. He believes that changing the environmental habits in one’s country using modern ICT philosophy, digital services and social networking is a matter of changing attitiudes. As far as CO2 emissions and awareness-raising are concerned, he makes his point by using Lord Kelvin’s line “If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.”

Dimitris Riggas, 32 years old, Corfu

Dimitris graduated from the Computer Engineering and Informatics Department of the University of Patras and holds an MSc in Computing Science from the Computation Department of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). He is currently teaching computing in at secondary school level and is a PhD candidate at the Department of Informatics of the Ionian University. He has taken part in a number of national and European projects that aim to raise the awareness of learners on environmental issues and he has served as co-ordinator of a European Grundtvig 2 learning partnership entitled “Active Citizenship”. Because of his interest in environmental issues and the challenges we face, he believes that our first priority should be to develop environmental consciousness and to highlight the personal contribution to the solution or to the worsening of problem each of us can make.

Sotiris Skouloudis, 27 years old, Athens

After completing his studies in journalism, Sotiris took up a position with an environmental magazine where he is now Editor-in-Chief, an achievement he is very proud of. It has given him the opportunity to combine his communication skills with his passion for the environment. Now his greatest personal and professional ambition is to increase the amount and improve the quality of information that Greek citizens receive on the environment. In his opinion, if this could be achieved, it would turn the discussion on the environment into a central public issue and oblige political and private stakeholders to face the issue in a more serious and urgent manner.

Beatrice Yannacopoulou, 31 years old, Athens

Beatrice holds a BA in History and Literature and an MSc in Ecology. On completing her MSc she began working with the NGO Religion Science and the Environment as their Media Co-ordinator and Researcher. She is currently working for EcoRecreators as a sustainability consultant. She has begun working with an international school in Athens to explore how issues concerning sustainability can be practically incorporated into the daily lives of the students. She is very excited by the potential of the Urban Bloom initiative as she believes it offers great potential to bring about a collective transition to a more sustainable way of life through creating a space where people can begin to use their imagination, interact, and be empowered through the joy of being responsible both individually and collectively in their daily lives.