Symposium Announcement: "Together in Sarantaporo"

Details: Sarantaporo.gr; 10 January 2016

January 15-17th 2016, Sarantaporo Area, Greece

With the opportunity of the kick-off meeting of the MAZI project in Volos, the Sarantaporo.gr team organizes on 15-17 of January 2016 a 3-day symposium at Sarantaporo area in Greece to guide the MAZI partners and guests in the area and introduce them to this remarkable initiative in network commoning. Together with local actors we engage in discussions about the expansion of the network and its potential role as a common network infrastructure that can support local services of different types.

MAZI (meaning "together" in Greek) is a new EU Horizon2020 project in the CAPS framework, which brings together researchers and activists from various fields around the development of a DIY networking toolkit, and the comparison of its deployment in different pilot studies in Europe.

The Sarantaporo.gr non-profit, in collaboration with local actors and with the support of the CONFINE EU project, Greek FOSS, and TEI of Thessaly, has built in the area of Sarantaporo a modern wireless community network. The network connects 14 villages in the municipality of Elassona to the Internet through a long-distance wireless to the University of Applied Sciences (TEI) of Thessaly, which offers a 1Gbps Internet access.

Location

Programme

Friday, January 15th

17:00 Departure from Volos
18:00 Departure from Athens
19:00-21:30 Dinner at taverna The five Fs at Tsaritsani.
21:30-23:00 Introductory presentation by Achilleas Vaitsis (Sarantaporo.gr Non Profit) and Panayotis Antoniadis (MAZI project) at the same place

Saturday, January 16th

09:00-11:00 Introductory session at Milea village
Session theme: Challenges in the growth of Sarantaporo.gr community network and the possible role of MAZI team
11:30-14:00 Lunch at Kokkinopilos village
Session theme: The possible role of the network for attracting people in the area (researchers, activists, expats, tourists)
14:00-15:00 Drive through the fields (possible stop for a short introduction on local activities and interviews for the Personal Cinema team documentary about Sarantaporo.gr)
Session theme: The potential of the network for supporting the local argicultural economy
15:00-18:00 Coffee/desert at "Ellinas" Cafe at Sarantaporo village, guided tour of the network infrastructure, interviews
Session theme: Impact of the common infrastructure, participation of residents, comparisons with other community networks (Freifunk, Guifi.net, AWMN)
18:00-23:00 Public event and dinner at Pithio village, Taverna Thronos
Session theme: Governance of the network commons, education and knowledge sharing, future steps

Sunday, January 17th

10:00-14:00 Workshop or walk-shop at KEOAX if the weather allows (if the weather is really bad the workshop will take place at Livadi or Dolihi village)
Session theme: local applications, including ICT applications on farming

Accommodation

Accommodation will be offered at Hotel "River Side" and at houses of locals at the Sarantaporo village.

Registration

Full participation: 200EUR (includes accommodation, 3 meals, and transport)
Simple participation: 80EUR (includes 3 meals)
Reduced fee*: 40EUR (includes 3 meals)
*for students, unemployed or people in difficult financial situation

Applications for registration can be made through e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before Wednesday, January 13th.

Payments can be made in cash on Friday, January 15th or through bank transfer before that date at the following account:

Piraeus Bank
Account holder: Sarantaporo.gr Non Profit Association
IBAN: GR22 0171 7300 0067 3012 6146 639
BIC: PIRBGRAA