On Friday, March 31, 2023, the Historical Local Archive of Halandri team was established. The team received the digitalized “Local Archive” of Halandri in an open event that took place in the Council Hall of the Municipality of Halandri, in the presence of Kostas Gerolymatos, Deputy Mayor of Halandri, Nassi Siafaka, Oral History Team of the Municipality of Halandri, Ioulia Skounaki, MedINA and George Gassias, “Arxeion Taxis”.
The “Local Archive” of Halandri and its management plan was developed by MedINA, in the framework of the Cultural H.ID.RA.N.T. project. The digital repository collects and presents documented copies or original documents and testimonies about Ηalandri’s history and the connection between local communities, the Hadrian’s Aqueduct and Water.
Giorgos Gassias, Dr. of Contemporary History, founding member of “Arxeion Taxis”, MedINA’s partner in the creation of the Local Archive of Halandri and Ioulia Skounaki, Scientific Coordinator of the Cultural H.ID.RA.N.T. project for MedINA, delivered the digital archive, motivating the community to manage it in the future through a bottom up initiative.
MedINA’s representatives referred to the benefits of the Hadrian’s Aqueduct, highlighting the history and collective memory of the city and – at the same time – meeting social needs, with the hope that the archive will continue to grow, to be enriched and preserved for future generations.
Ioulia Skounaki, during the event, said: “The Local Archive of Halandri is not an ark to rescue documents from the flood… It is a tool in the local community’s hands that encourages and supports it to continue exploring its connection with the past. The aim of the Archive team, which involves members of local groups and the local authority, is to enrich and renew the Local Archive collections through collaboration with residents, school communities, local associations, research bodies etc. The idea is that the Archive becomes a shared affair of the local community, while being generously delivered to the public (online) sphere to support knowledge, education, cultural creation, collective memory”.
George Gassias argued: “The Historical Local Archive of Halandri is an innovative digital application for history. It consists of the repository, the reservoir where the materials of the past (documents, photographs, maps, video tapes, etc.) are documented in the most reliable way, and the website, where the processed documents are exposed to the general public. The Historical Local Archive enables each user to preserve documents of the cultural heritage of Halandri and at the same time to present his own investigations, narratives of local history, which, now, can be composed from the reliable “raw material” accumulated in the repository”.
The event was successfully completed, with the citizens of Halandri warmly supporting the whole effort and participating voluntarily in the Local Archive management team.