PRESS RELEASE
Winners of the Costa Carras European Citizens Awards for the Safeguard of Endangered Heritage 2025 Announced
AKTI Project and Research Centre, an environmental NGO from Cyprus, wins the Gold Award
Future Food Institute, an Italian NGO, wins the Silver Award
Brussels / The Hague / Athens, 20 March 2025
The winners of the Costa Carras European Citizens Award for the Safeguard of Endangered Cultural and Natural Heritage 2025 were announced today. AKTI Project and Research Centre, an environmental NGO based in Cyprus, was awarded the Gold Award for its exemplary efforts in raising public awareness on the need to protect endangered natural heritage in Cyprus and across Europe.
The Jury awarded the Silver Award to the Italian NGO Future Food Institute for its successful promotion and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
The Award Ceremony will take place on 9 April 2025, during the 10th Delphi Economic Forum.
The Costa Carras European Citizens Awards for the Safeguard of Endangered Heritage were established in 2023 by EUROPA NOSTRA and the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, in memory of Costa Carras, a leading advocate for the protection of the environment and cultural heritage in Greece and Europe.
Founding partners of the Awards are the A.G. Leventis Foundation, the Delphi Economic Forum, and the European Investment Bank Institute. The Gold and Silver Awards are generously funded by the A.G. Leventis Foundation.
The call for applications for the 2025 Awards received an impressive response, with 27 applications submitted (compared to 9 in 2023 and 22 in 2024) from Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Cyprus, Portugal, Slovenia, and Turkey.
This year’s awards honour organisations and initiatives with a stronger focus on the environment. The Jury’s decision reflects growing recognition of, and urgency around, natural and environmental challenges in both society and contemporary heritage practice. It also pays tribute to Costa Carras, whose lifelong dedication to protecting nature as heritage continues to inspire.
“We warmly congratulate AKTI for its outstanding and sustained commitment to preserving Cyprus’s natural heritage and for drawing necessary international attention to environmental protection, as well as Future Food Institute for its particularly inspiring dedication to food heritage and its social and economic practices with a vision for the future,” said the Jury (see full list of Jury members below).
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Gold Award to AKTI – Project and Research Centre (Cyprus)
In response to the announcement, Dr. Xenia I. Loizidou, Chair of the Board of AKTI Project and Research Centre, stated: “We are immensely proud that AKTI is receiving the Costa Carras Gold Award—an award inextricably linked with an iconic figure in raising public awareness about the protection of cultural and natural heritage. This award energizes us to continue our 25-year mission toward green transition and sustainability in Cyprus, the Mediterranean, and globally. We aim to expand AKTI’s network of active citizens to every corner of the planet. Because sustainability is not just a theory—it’s action and applied solutions, and for that, we all need to be present!”
The Jury stated: “AKTI Project and Research Centre was unanimously selected for the Costa Carras European Citizens Award 2025 Gold Award in recognition of its 25-year dedication to the protection and advocacy of Europe’s natural heritage. Since its founding in 2000, AKTI has tirelessly worked with experts, schools, universities, and local authorities to implement innovative environmental initiatives. Through impactful campaigns and projects and a wide network of partners and volunteers, the organisation has significantly advanced environmental awareness, community engagement, and sustainable development. AKTI’s pioneering initiatives—#Potavristou, Tiganokinisi, and Posidonia Oceanica Conservation—exemplify its commitment to protecting the environment through education, citizen action, and innovative solutions. From tackling marine litter and reusing waste to safeguarding vital marine ecosystems, these projects inspire collective action and drive meaningful change for a more sustainable future.”
AKTI Project and Research Centre (https://www.akti.org.cy/) was established in Nicosia in 2000 by a group of environmental and sustainability experts. It has since grown into one of Cyprus’s largest environmental NGOs, with activities extending to over 50 countries.
For the past 25 years, AKTI has been a leader in protecting the environment, improving quality of life, and promoting equality, through a broad range of sustainability-focused actions including marine literacy, social entrepreneurship, sustainable development, and public engagement. Examples of its diverse work include:
• Since 2018, AKTI has developed the Responsible Tourism Business Network in Cyprus and Malta, with 350 and 170 active members respectively, promoting sustainable operations in the islands’ tourism industry.
• Since 2021, AKTI has run Cyprus’s only nationwide seasonal campaign for monitoring marine macro-litter, and since 2022, has pioneered systematic microplastics sampling and analysis along Cypriot coasts while raising awareness of the importance of Posidonia seagrass in addressing climate change.
• The award-winning #Potavristou online campaign, launched in 2020, mobilised over 10,000 volunteers to collect 80 tons of waste from the Philippines to Tanzania and from Ireland to Australia.
• Tiganokinisi, an environmental education program for collecting household used cooking oils, has been running in more than 500 schools since 2012, receiving international awards such as the 2021 GENE Global Education Award.
• Since 2024, AKTI has been part of the EU-funded HORIZON research project TERRASAFE, contributing to the development of economically and environmentally innovative solutions for building resilience in rural areas of North Africa and Southern Europe.
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Silver Award to Future Food Institute (Italy)
Sara Roversi, President of the Future Food Institute and the Paideia Campus, commented:
“Pollica and the Cilento region are examples of resilience—guardians of a unique cultural and environmental heritage. I dedicate this award to the heroic farmers and fishermen, like Vittorio, who passionately pass down ancestral knowledge—such as the Menaica fishing method, an ancient practice dating back to the Greek settlements in Southern Italy—and to the stewards who protect these lands, promoting holistic ecological development. Marginal yet high-potential areas like Cilento possess biodiversity and traditions that must be protected, strengthened, and actively integrated into the future. Together, we have a duty to keep this knowledge alive and pass it on to future generations, ensuring it becomes a practical tool for building a fairer, more sustainable world.”
The Jury stated: “The Future Food Institute (FFI) is a pioneering force in transforming global food systems through education, innovation, and community engagement. Recognising food as far more than mere sustenance, FFI highlights its profound role as a cultural expression deeply intertwined with social traditions. Its commitment to ‘prosperity thinking’—balancing economic growth with social and environmental well-being—demonstrates a holistic and effective approach.
By enhancing cross-border cooperation, particularly in the Mediterranean and North Africa, FFI exemplifies how knowledge sharing and systemic innovation can drive sustainable change in food production, distribution, and consumption. This mission extends to preserving food heritage, as shown in its critical efforts to safeguard the endangered ‘menaica’ fishing technique in Cilento—a practice rich in history but threatened by industrial overfishing and bureaucratic obstacles. Through a multifaceted strategy encompassing education, advocacy, and community involvement, FFI raises awareness of these endangered cultural practices and actively revitalises them, ensuring that food remains a vital link between tradition, sustainability, and the future.”
The Future Food Institute (https://futurefoodinstitute.org) is a global ecosystem promoting holistic ecological development through food—a vital link between health, culture, community, environment, and human well-being. Through research, education, systemic development projects, and living labs, the institute experiments with concrete solutions to regenerate the planet and improve quality of life. Founded in Italy in 2014, it now operates internationally with hubs in Europe, the U.S., and Asia.
Its approach combines interdisciplinarity, community engagement, and the integration of technology with cultural heritage. With the Paideia Campus in Pollica—a living lab for holistic ecological development—the Institute develops and disseminates regenerative models for agriculture, food, and environmental policy, inspired by the Mediterranean Diet, which is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. By studying the interaction between food, biodiversity, lifestyle, and health, FFI identifies strategies for improving both human well-being and planetary sustainability.
Its work is structured around three pillars: education, community, and innovation. It promotes gastro-diplomacy and strengthens living heritage. Furthermore, it explores and applies the “algorithm of longevity,” analysing how the Mediterranean diet and high-potential marginal lands can help build a regenerative society.
The Future Food Institute actively contributes to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, transforming food into a tool for diplomacy, innovation, and sustainable prosperity.
The European Jury
The award jury, chaired by Ştefan Bâlici, President of the Romanian Order of Architects (Romania), is composed of experts in the fields of cultural heritage and communication from various European countries:
Guy Clausse, Vice-President of Europa Nostra (Luxembourg);
Lydia Carras, Founder and Vice-President of the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage (Greece);
Fani Mallouchou-Tufano, Professor of Conservation, Restoration, and Management of Architectural Monuments and Ensembles at the School of Architecture, Technical University of Crete, and Vice-President of the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments (ESMA) (Greece);
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra (Netherlands/Serbia);
Paolo Vitti, Board Member of Europa Nostra and Associate Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA (Italy).
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CONTACT
EUROPA NOSTRA
Joana Pinheiro
Communications Coordinator
📧 jp@europanostra.org | 📞 +31 6 34 36 59 85
HELLENIC SOCIETY for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET)
Katerina Stempili
📧 sepi@ellinikietairia.gr | 📞 +30 210 32 25 245
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MORE INFORMATION
Costa Carras European Citizens Award for the Safeguard of Endangered Cultural and Natural Heritage
In 2023, EUROPA NOSTRA and the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET) established the Costa Carras European Citizens Award for the Safeguard of Endangered Cultural and Natural Heritage. For over 50 years, Costa Carras tirelessly worked to protect the cultural heritage of Greece and Europe, aiming to create a more sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful world for future generations. The award honors the legacy of this iconic defender of Europe’s shared heritage and values, and seeks to inspire and encourage citizens to engage in the defense of the ideals he championed.
The Costa Carras European Citizens Awards are presented annually to a European citizen, a group of individuals, or a civil society organization based in Europe for a successful and exemplary public campaign to save endangered heritage in their country or elsewhere in Europe. The Gold Award winner receives a monetary prize of €10,000 and a certificate. The Silver Award winner receives a monetary prize of €5,000 and a certificate. Founding Partners of the Awards include the A.G. Leventis Foundation, the Delphi Economic Forum, and the European Investment Bank Institute.
EUROPA NOSTRA
Europa Nostra is the European voice of civil society committed to safeguarding and promoting cultural and natural heritage. It is a pan-European federation of non-governmental organisations working in the heritage field. It is supported by a wide network of public bodies, private companies, and individuals across more than 40 countries.
Recognised as the largest and most representative cultural heritage network in Europe, Europa Nostra maintains close ties with the European Union, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and other international bodies. Founded in 1963, Europa Nostra celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
Europa Nostra leads campaigns to save endangered monuments, sites, and landscapes across Europe, notably through its “7 Most Endangered” programme. It celebrates excellence through the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards. It actively contributes to the shaping and implementation of European strategies and policies related to heritage through participatory dialogue with European institutions and by coordinating the European Heritage Alliance.
Europa Nostra leads the European Heritage Hub (2023–2025), a pilot project selected by the European Commission. It is also an official partner of the New European Bauhaus initiative and serves as the regional co-chair of the Climate Heritage Network for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
HELLENIC SOCIETY for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET)
The Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that has been working since 1972 to protect Greece’s and Europe’s natural environment and cultural heritage.
Its work focuses on three main pillars:
a) Conservation/restoration projects for cultural heritage and the natural environment.
b) Institutional advocacy and legal action to safeguard shared heritage: including well-researched proposals to policymakers and legal efforts in areas such as architectural heritage, coastal and forest protection, tourism planning, carrying capacity, environmental tax reform, energy, and climate change adaptation.
c) Public awareness and education on environmental and cultural issues, including educational programs across all levels of schooling.
ELLET is the official representative of Europa Nostra in Greece and collaborates with the Council of Europe, the European Union, UNESCO, the European Environmental Bureau, and other international bodies.
ELLET has received several awards, including:
The European Citizen’s Prize (2012) by the European Parliament
Awards from the Academy of Athens in 2002 and 2022, the latter “for 50 years of continuous and successful action in the protection of Greece’s cultural heritage and environment.