The transcript of Dialogos Radio’s interview with Nantia Papadimitriou of the atenistas follows below. This interview aired on December 5-6, 2013. Find the podcast of this interview here.
M.N.: Share a few words with us about the Atenistas, who they are, and how the organization first got started.
N.P. Atenistas is an open group of people living in Athens. We started back in 2010, and the people who inspired the launch of the team are the graphic designer Tasos Halkiopoulos and the journalist Nikos Rigopoulos. They started without really knowing what they wanted to do, just that they wanted to do something for the city they loved. They really thought that Athens has so many things to give to all of us and there are so many nice things we can enjoy in the city. We have existed for almost three and a half years and have completed more than 180 actions, most of them based in the city center, but also in some other neglected neighborhoods around the city center. The Atenistas have cleaned spots around the city, created public parks, have rejuvenated some playgrounds, we have also painted in bright colors schools around Athens, and we have organized a lot of cultural events, helping Athenians get to know their city better, feel safe in the city and to enjoy it. We have organized guided tours in some historic areas and in neighborhoods which are not so popular, and we have organized huge events, such as the concert of the National Opera of Greece in the Varvakeio Market, or the Tango Night at the former Peloponnese Train Station, and we also organized a Swing Night in Omonia Square. We also have another subteam that is working with people that are in need, collecting food, medicine, and clothes. This is what we do in general.
M.N. From what I understand, the Atenistas are split into several different teams, each with their own area of emphasis, is this correct?
N.P.: Exactly. It has something to do with logistics, as none of us can do everything. It’s easier for us to work in smaller teams and to create action. We are more productive that way. But all the teams support one another, we are all Atenistas. We just need a way to work more effectively.
M.N.: And one of the things that the atenistas work on are urban renewal projects, urban regeneration projects in public spaces in Athens and in areas that are a bit run down. Tell us a bit about these efforts and how these locations are chosen by the atenistas.
N.P. Sometimes we choose the locations because we pass by and we see something. There are also a lot of civilians who have sent us mail, pointing out places where we can go and help them improve their neighborhoods. We have also been receiving a lot of letters from schools, to help them ameliorate their environments. There is no certain process. Either the people ask us to go there or we pass by and identify these places. Everything we do, we really believe has to be done on the basis of what is common logic to the people and what is simple. The simpler, the better.
M.N.: You mentioned a few moments ago the cultural events that are organized or promoted by the Atenistas, and from what I understand, the Atenistas also help provide inexpensive theater tickets as well…
N.P. We usually create events. What we mainly do within our cultural subteam is create events, as big as we can, to help people visit neglected areas and to see that they are safe, they can enjoy being there, and that there are many nice and interesting things that they can explore. For the theater tickets, it is a campaign that we had on our website last year and will have again this year, where we announce all the theaters that offer, once or twice a week, cheap tickets, so that people can enjoy going to the theater during a difficult period without spending much money. It’s something that we think is helping young people to go out and to enjoy the city.
M.N. All of these initiatives are volunteer-based…what are some ways in which you reach out and engage the citizens of Athens with your efforts?
N.P. It is completely volunteer-based, although we don’t really use this word in Greece. The people participating in the Atenistas don’t really see themselves as volunteers. They see themselves as active citizens that do things to improve their everyday lives and the lives of their neighbors, to enjoy living in this city. As for what we receive back from the citizens, I think that this is the best part of being in the atenistas. It’s really touching and it really fills you with energy and satisfaction. People really acknowledge what we do, and whenever we are in a neighborhood, they come there, they congratulate us, they help us and work with us. Most importantly, after we leave the neighborhood, since we usually go for a day, what happens next is that the citizens living there adopt the place, adopt the small park or the playground, and they use it. They socialize there, they teach their children to be there and to protect it and clean it, and the whole feeling in the neighborhood becomes better. We have cases where people in a certain neighborhood did not get along well with each other, but after we were there, they worked together with us, and they tried to keep the place and to do even more. This is another important factor: how people live with these projects afterward.
M.N.: Following up on this, how would you characterize the participation level in your group’s activities as far as citizen engagement is concerned, and how do you get the word out all of these different efforts?
N.P.: It depends on the event. For example, when we organize a cultural event or an open event like the concert of the National Opera, there were more than 3,000 people there. Recently, we organized the OpenWalk Athens for the second time. It is an initiative where we give Athenians a map that we have created and we urge them to walk around the city and to explore hidden diamonds. The first one was back in May, and it was to very strange or unique shops, while the more recent one had to do with shops that sell different types of traditional or local foods. There were more than 4,000 people at these events. But these are the most open events. We have smaller cultural events that attract about 1,000 people, like the Swing Night, while activities that have to do with parks and cleanup are not announced too far in advance, since we are not able to have so many people work together. The most we can host is about 50 to 100 people, so that we have enough tools and enough space to work, and for painting schools it is even less, because we always work with the teachers, with the pupils and their parents, in order for them to create a connection to the school and a feeling that it is their school. So we usually organize those events between the members of Atenistas and the people from the school. So, participation depends on the action and the time.
M.N. Have you found that there is a greater need for your efforts and initiatives in recent years as a result of the economic crisis, and have you faced any challenges in operating during the crisis?
N.P.: The atenistas were created almost a year before the crisis in Greece, and it was due to a need to show that we love our city. Of course, the conditions that were created afterward perhaps made our work more urgent, but no, the atenistas are not a creation of the crisis. It is a creation of how mature we need to be as citizens of this city. I think it is an expression of the maturity that little by little is coming across Greek society, that we realize that we as citizens also owe something, to the city, to the state, to the neighborhood. Atenistas don’t like to complain at all. We don’t want to stay and wait for the state to do everything for us. We are people who have responsibilities and we have to do something of our own. Of course, the state has obligations, but we ourselves can do things and we have to do them now more than ever!
M.N. Where can our readers find out more information about the atenistas and everything that you do?
N.P.: Our website is the main source of information for everybody that is interested in the atenistas. It is www.atenistas.org, and although the main page is in Greek, under every article on the website there is a small English version of that article. A lot of people from abroad have shown an interest in our group and we wanted to do the best that we can so that everybody can know about us. Also we have a very popular page on Facebook with more than 72,000 likes, and we have a presence on Twitter with more than 18,000 followers.
Please excuse any typos or errors which may exist within this transcript.