Support pledged for Gavdos at Smart Islands conference

The participation of the Municipality of Platanias in the 3rd International Smart Islands conference last month has been hailed as a success by its organisers. The conference, which was held on the island of Gavdos on 22nd and 23rd September, focussed on the needs, the challenges and the development opportunities of the country’s small and remote islands, and the choice of Gavdos had been proposed by the Mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis at the previous conference held on Kastellorizon in September 2025.

In a letter to the Mayor, the International Hellenic Association (IHA) stated that the organisation of the conference on Gavdos had been a great success, with important contributions from the Municipality of Gavdos, the participating municipalities, Cretan institutions and other bodies and the academic community.

In reply, the Mayor of Platanias said: “I am particularly happy that our proposal to hold the Conference on Gavdos met with such a successful response. This was demonstrated by the major participation, the fruitful dialogue which developed, but chiefly by the proposals which were put forward for Gavdos. The issue now is for these proposals to have consequences and to be put into practice.”

The mayors sit at a table under a canvas marquee, the Mayor of Platanias holding a microphone.
The Mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis speaks at the 3rd International Smart Islands Conference held on Gavdos on 22nd and 23rd September 2026. With him are, from the left, the Mayors of Sitia Giorgos Zervakis, of Apokoronas Haralambos Koukianakis, of Kea Eirini Velissaropoulou and of Sfakia Ioannis Zervos, and the Deputy Mayor for Tourism of Kalymnos Kalliope Koutouzi. Photo: Facebook.

In this direction, the Municipality of Platanias is now prioritising its collaboration with the Municipality of Gavdos, especially on issues of provisions and other operational needs where inter-municipal cooperation can offer vital and practicable solutions for the far-flung island.

The initiative acquires particular importance in the light of the IHA’s proposal whereby the bigger municipalities can support smaller ones and remote islands through specific actions and collaborations. The IHA invites the Municipality of Platanias to be among the first municipalities of Crete to give practical support for one of the identified needs of Gavdos.

The issue of practical support for Gavdos is expected to be raised again at the Annual Conference of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE), to be held in Kalamata from 5th to 7th November 2026, the IHA having announced its intention of asking the KEDE’s Management Board to include the needs of Gavdos in the conference agenda and to call on the country’s municipalities to help. It has also asked the Mayor of Platanias to introduce it as a main theme in the sessions of the conference.

The same philosophy – that the Greek Regions cannot be treated in terms of their distance from the main urban centres – is at the centre of a proposal which the Mayor of Platanias was due to present at the Olympia Forum 2026, held from 29th September to 1st October at Ancient Olympia, with the title: “Cash everywhere and Services everywhere”. The Municipality’s proposal establishes the Municipal Unit as the basic planning unit, offering at least one access point in each Municipal Unit, so that the citizen does not have to travel to the seat of the Regional Unit for basic transactions or services. The basic criteria should be not only population, but territorial area, distance and practical accessibility.

The two mayors stand in front of a signboard advertising the Smart Islands Conference, Ms Stefanaki on the right.
   The Mayor of Gavdos Lilian Stefanaki receives a commemorative gift from the Mayor of Sitia Giorgos Zervakis. Photo: Facebook.

The Mayor of Platanias gives special thanks to Lilian Stefanaki, the Mayor of Gavdos, and her associates for their warm hospitality, and to the International Hellenic Association, its Board and its Organising and Scientific Committees for their ongoing efforts and unwavering interest in the remote Regions of the country. Special mention is also due to the Deputy Mayor for Tourism of Kalymnos Kalliope Koutouzi for her ongoing contribution and coordination of the Smart Islands conferences.

Also participating in the conference were the Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Stefanos Gkikas, the General Secretary for the Aegean and Island Policy Fotis Mangos and the President of the Deposits and Loans Fund Stamatina Papagona, who in their statements referred to the importance and necessity of supporting Greece’s small islands, as well as the special needs and challenges which they face.

There were also a significant number of local government representatives from Crete and other Greek islands, among them the Mayors of Kea Eirini Velissaropoulou, of Sitia Giorgos Zervakis, of Apokoronas Haralambos Koukianakis, and of Sfakia Ioannis Zervos, representative of the Municipality of Mylopotamos and President of the Water Board Minas Roubakis, and the General Secretary of the Municipality of Platanias Trandafylia Nikolaou.

As the Mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis stressed: “… The success of a conference is not judged solely by what was said in the auditorium, but chiefly by what follows. Gavdos brought together municipalities, organisations and people who are truly interested in the remote regions of Greece. Now is the time time for us to pass from proposals to collaborations and from theory to practice.”
(Municipal press release, Platanias, 01/10/26)