Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest Online Participatory Workshop

The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest is hosting its first online participatory workshop with local stakeholders tomorrow, Tuesday 24th November 2020.

One of the main goals of RURITAGE is to promote the engagement of rural communities in the decision-making processes. Therefore, during the participatory workshops held within the programme, the community comes together to discuss local challenges and problems, find solutions, make decisions for joint actions, form collaborations and synergies and create new opportunities.

The workshop organized by the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest will focus on sustainable tourism, discuss prospects for the development and promotion of alternative tourism in Lesvos.
During the last years, Lesvos island has been facing numerous challenges and difficulties due to successive crises – economic, migration, natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts on the tourism sector and thus the local economy have been dramatic with a sharp decline in the number of incoming visitors from both Greece and abroad. In these chaotic times, the need for collaborations and synergies, as well as involving the local community in the decision-making processes is urgent.

The Museum will invite local stakeholders from the cultural and the tourism sector in order to exchange views, undertake initiative and coordinate joint actions to face the current challenges and co-design an effective plan for the reboot of local economy through utilizing the rich natural and cultural heritage of Levos and promoting the island as a quality travel destination for alternative forms of tourism, such as ecotourism, cultural tourism, geo-tourism, adventure and sports tourism, agrotourism, religious tourism and birdwatching tourism.