The Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (MedINA) was established in 2003 as a non-profit organisation based in Athens, Greece with a focus on the Mediterranean region and beyond. Its vision is a world where societies prosper in harmony with nature.
MedINA is the brainchild of successful architect and planner Thymio Papayannis, a visionary and leading figure in the field of environmental and cultural heritage conservation who has made a significant contribution to ecological and landscape policy and research over the past thirty years. Originally focused on the integrated management of nature and culture through three priority areas – cultural values of wetlands, landscape and Sacred Natural Sites – in time MedINA broadened its scope and now works across three interrelated pillars: nature, culture and communities.
Our mission is to improve the wellbeing of local communities by conserving and protecting their natural resources and promoting their cultural heritage.
Climate change, poverty and inequality are some of the biggest challenges faced by societies across the planet. Finding a balance between inclusive human development and the conservation and wise use of our planet’s critical ecosystems and resources is vital for our common future. Only when human communities become allies in this process and stewards of their own natural and cultural environment can real, sustainable progress be made.
For us, working closely with people at all levels, from the local to the international, as well as promoting community empowerment, environmental protection and cultural diversity, is the clearest way forward in creating the kind of world that is not only good and equitable for those of us alive today but for future generations, too.
Being an active part of the global community is important to us, as is involving ourselves in issues to the benefit of all. Our work supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the conservation of biological diversity, and global action for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Culture is neither static nor related solely to the remains of past civilizations; it evolves and connects humankind’s past with its future. By embracing societal strengths, contemporary attitudes and creativity, cultural responses to environmental change can provide one of our most important strategies when facing the great environmental challenges of today.
