183
Views
1
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Necessity as the trigger of invention? The promotion of innovations in Athens and Elefsina

&
Pages 543-559 | Published online: 21 May 2021
 

ABSTRACT

This article explores the conditions under which institutional and cultural innovations have taken place in two Greek cities: Athens and Elefsina. Against the backdrop of the economic crisis (as well as the refugee influx), both cities made an effort to promote innovative policies in order to deal with fierce economic and social implications of the crises, while at the same time developing a new narrative for themselves. The study shows that Athens and Elefsina have, to a great extent, succeed in reinventing themselves, though certain challenges lie ahead.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

List of interviewees

A1: City Councilor (6.11.2018)

A2: Director of Innovathens (6.11. 2018),

A3: Vice Mayor for Resilience (16.11.2018)

A4: Civil Servant, Technical Directory (25.11. 2018)

A5: Chief Digital Officer (26.11. 2018)

A6: Vice Mayor for Childhood (18.11. 2018)

A7: Member of the citizens’ group ‘Ag.Panteleimonas’ (4.11.2018)

A8: Vice Mayor for Civil Society and Innovation (22.4. 2019)

A9: Cultural Projects’ Manager (1.07.2019)

A10: City Mayor 2011-2019 (16.09.2019)

A11: Vice Mayor for Social Policy (27.09.2019)

A12: Coordinator of Athens CultureNet (2.10.2019)

A13: Vice Mayor for Immigrants and Refugees (2.10.2019)

A14: CEO Investment and Touristic Development Company (26.02.2020)

A15: Journalist (16.03.2020)

A16: Journalist (23.03.2020)

A17: Professor Charokopeion University (23.03.2020).

E1: Director of Social Services (04.03.2019)

E2: Head of Social Services (04.03.2019)

E3: Executive of Social Services (04.03.2019)

E4: Executive of Social Services (04.03.2019)

E5: Executive of Social Services (04.03.2019)

E6: Deputy Mayor for Social Services (27.03.2019)

E7: Director of Environment, Recycling and Civil Protection (21.05.2019)

E8: Head of the Department of Environment, Recycling and Civil Protection (21.05.2019)

E9: City Mayor (15.04.2019)

E10: Artistic Director of Eleusis 2021 – European Capital of Culture (15.04.2019)

E11: Publisher of the newspaper Epikairotita (29.10.2019)

E12: Head of the local medical clinic (13.10.2019)

E13: Head of the NGO Faros (16.07.2019)

E14: Director of Corporate Social Responsibility of Hellenic Petroleum (10.12.2019)

E15: Member of the Executive Board of Eleusis 2021 (03.02.2020)

E16: Head of the Department of EU, Ministry of Culture (26.03.2019)

E17: Publisher of the newspaper Thriasio Pedio (29.01.2020)

Notes

2. For detailed Information, see https://www.politikwissenschaft.tu-darmstadt.de/institut/arbeitsbereiche/methoden_1/forschung_m/cici_page.de.jsp. The analyzed cities were selected primarily due to their national (and partly international) reputations of being innovative cities. Furthermore, it was considered that smaller and bigger cities are included in the studies. In Germany, Bensheim, Frankfurt, Kassel, Leipzig and Offenbach are analyzed and in Greece Athens, Chania, Elefsina, Kalamata and Thessaloniki.

12. Abcd.

13. Abcd.

15. The first post for a Chief Digital Officer has been created in New York by Mayor M.Bloomberg in 2011.

16. The Athens Digital Council was one of the five main innovations that were given as reasons for the European Capital of Innovation Award 2018 that was given to Athens.

21. The new posts of the Vice-Mayor for Refugees and Immigrants was taken over by the well-known activist, L.Papagiannakis, the Vice-Mayor for Children by the renowned child psychologist, M.Iliopoulou, the Vice-Mayor for Urban Green and Urban Resilience by the green activist, Prof. E.Myrivili, and the Vice-Mayor for Civil Society and Innovation by the well-known urban activist, A.Zeppou.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation of Greece and by the PA 2014-2020 with the contribution of ESIF- European Union [T2DGE-0584].

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 210.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.