News and events  

[posted on 2 December 2006]

 

Society for the Protection of Prespa - General Assembly of 02-03.10.2006

 

Progress on the PCNA

 

The building of the Prespa Centre for Nature and Anthropos in Laimos will be ready shortly and it will be possible to start its effective operation. At the proposal of Myrsini Malacou and Thymio Papayannis, the Executive Committee has agreed enthusiastically with entrusting the task of guiding scientifically the PCNA to biologist and environmentalist Giorgos Catsadorakis, whose links with Prespa and the SPP are well-known; he has accepted this responsibility.

 

In discussions with him, a number of matters have been agreed and are summarised below. A full proposal, with detailed financial data, will be provided to the members of the General Assembly in the coming months.

 

1     Purpose of the Centre and priority objectives

 

Although those that conceived the idea of a centre dedicated to the study of the interface between human beings and nature had broad ambitions about its objectives, in a first phase we should establish a documentation centre.

 

During this initial phase, the priority objectives will be the following:

  • Build up a documentation archive that would include (in originals or copies, in printed or electronic form) all the publications and data that concern the nature, the history and the civilisation of the broader Prespa region. These would be books, articles, references, monographs, photographs and videos, maps etc. This collection should capitalise on material already in the possession of SPP, but permanently and consistently enriched and updated.

  • Organise and manage with ease all the material in the archive in text or visual form (such as published and copywrited texts, unpublished documents, books and segments of books, rare works without a copywrite, maps, reports from research or other projects, photographs and slides, etc.).

  • Make available all this material to every interested researcher or student, especially to those that come from the three countries sharing the Prespa Basin. The search of the PCNA archive could be done either in place, or remotely through the internet, making use and developing further the software that the SPP has already prepared (through the contract with Planet Interactive). Of course, issues of filtered access to information will be taken into account.

  • Develop a Geographic Information System (GIS), through which all the material included in the archive in any form will be correlated with specific points or areas in the territory.

 

2     First issues to be resolved and activities

 

To achieve the objectives mentioned above, a number of issues must be clarified rapidly and certain activities must be launched.

  • The principles of controlling access to information through the internet, respecting copywrites and other constraints.

  • Collection of information available only in Albanian or Slavo-Macedonian in archives or libraries and translation at least of abstracts so that they can be included in the PCNA databases.

  • Selection of the software to be used for archiving and retrieving various categories of material and adaptations so that they can be integrated in one PCNA software.

  • Development of an internet platform so that the archive can be made available electronically.

  • Pilot incorporation of 10% of the material available in the databases, to test their performance.

  • Testing of the system and feedback for corrective measures.

  • Incorporation of the remaining material.

 

In addition, the issue of the geographic determination of information, based on the Prespa GIS, must be studied in depth. A simple system would be to relate information not only by keywords, but also by geographic co-ordinates. This would allow, for example, to give the co-ordinates of Microlimni and with the appropriate key words find information on plants, birds, mammals, history, architecture, ethnology etc. More complex space correlations will be developed in a second phase.

 

3     Organisational matters

 

We have agreed that during the first phase of establishing the PCNA there should be no time pressure, but emphasis should be placed on the effectiveness and the quality of the work, as we are dealing with innovative issues.

 

Giorgos Catsadorakis is willing to guide intellectually this process, devoting 20% of his time, and visiting Prespa as required. The General Assembly should agree to the preparation by the SPP director of a corresponding contract of one-year duration.

 

For the management of the Centre, the SPP will designate one of its staff members. This task could be undertaken by Antonis Rigas, as the LIFE project will be finishing in the near future.

For specific tasks, other SPP staff members will be used, as well as volunteers. It is hoped that the General assembly members will assist in this process by:

  • providing material on the Prespa Region that they already have;

  • sharing their experience from similar activities;

  • contributing work through some of their volunteer members.

 

As to the financial aspects, once a detailed project proposal has been prepared and approved, fundraising efforts should start in many directions. It should be noted here that the Goldman Prize contribution by Myrsini Malacou and Giorgos Catsadorakis  have been dedicated to the PCNA as a start-up fund.