Bio School

Important speakers, during the workshops of Bio School analyzed important topics about natural and organic products, healthy living and sustainability. 

The festival’s visitors had the opportunity to attend free of charge a series of interesting presentations and workshops by qualified and experienced professionals. Representatives from the Department of Cleaning – Recycling of the Municipality of Athens, Green Peace, the humanitarian organization Praxis, the National Accreditation System, as well as business executives, shared their knowledge & personal experiences, through interesting discussion panels on organic products, healthy living and sustainability. 

For a sustainable future

As a festival that promotes sustainability and environmental protection, we couldn’t not host a speech from Greenpeace. Elena Danali, responsible for Sustainable Agriculture and nutrition issues of the non-profit organization, spoke about how important it is that all people on the planet have access to adequate and nutritious food at affordable prices. She characteristically said that the solution is fairer distribution, access to food for all, access to the market for small producers who apply gentle methods, more sustainable food consumption and a drastic reduction in waste.

The other dimension of health and well-being

Have you ever heard of adaptogenic organic herbs? The truth is that neither we had heard of these before, but Dr. Eleni Borsi, Doctor of the Medical School of the University of Siena and a qualified doctor in the science of human nutrition specialized in enteral and parenteral nutrition, explained everything to us! So, during her speech, she analyzed superfoods and the ways in which their use in our everyday life provides us with energy, health and well-being.

Then Zoe Strantzali, Botanical perfumer, and Olfactory trainer, took us on an aromatic journey through the paths of smell. She explained to us what nature’s aromatic substances symbolize and why we should avoid synthetic fragrances in our lives, as well as she presented the ways in which scents affect the body and the environment.

Highlighting the eco side of life…

Recycling, of course, at an eco-living festival has its place of honor and is a topic that is not only discussed among the visitors but also formed the basis for a very informative and interesting speech entitled “Recycling in the Municipality of Athens & the network of bins for bio-waste” held by Mr. Nikolaos Avramidis, Deputy Mayor for Cleanliness – Recycling of the Municipality of Athens. During his presentation, he characteristically said that alternative waste management and recycling remains a key priority for the Municipality of Athens. He said that the municipality emphasizes promoting recycling and expanding the network of bins for packaging materials, as well as bins for composting. In fact, as he said, during the last 4 years, 600 brown bio-waste bins were placed in special places in the city, utilizing the resulting organic waste, in order to return to nature the most valuable gift, the compost.

Afterwards, lovers of organic products, who are always looking for more knowledge on this food category, had the opportunity to attend the speech of Maria Hatzidaki, General Director of the IRIS BIO, the Organic Products Control and Certification Agency. Mrs. Hatzidaki referred to the fact that the biggest need of the organic products market is to ensure the reliability of these products. As she said, it is important that the companies involved in the production, standardization, processing or marketing of organic products, after a process of control, obtain the official recognition/certification that they have complied with the commitments of the applicable legislation governing these products. In this way, as she mentioned, the credibility of organic products is increased, the brand name of these products is guaranteed, and transparency is ensured at all stages of the production process.

Finally, the audience was impressed by the unexpected speech of the Botanical perfumer Zoi Strantzalis, who spoke about the great importance of the sense of smell in health and well-being. As she typically olfaction is the sense with which we perceive odors and is inextricably linked to the sense of taste. The perfect functioning of the sense of smell leads us through favorite smells to the creation of beautiful moments and emotions, thus contributing to our good mental and physical health at all ages.