The Region of Ionian Islands is an insular region located along the western mainland coast of Greece. It comprises 32 islands of which only 14 islands are inhabited. The Region has 1,056 km coastline, 26.4% of which are under the threat of erosion according to the EUROSION project (www.eurosion.org).

The Region has 207,855 inhabitants (ELSTAT, 2011), which is equivalent to 1.93% of the total population of Greece. Its economy mainly comprises the tertiary sector and is mostly driven by tourism industry. The importance of tourism sector for the Region is reflected on the number of tourism accommodations and arrivals, compared to the Region size in terms of population and land area.

The Region of Ionian Islands comprises the regional units of Corfu, Kefallinia & Ithaki, Lefkada and Zakyntho. RII headquarters are based in Corfu. A staff of around 250 employees with higher education covers an extensive scope of expertise. RII has developed capabilities through successive years of experience in various fields of cross-border cooperation projects. The practical experience of the personnel and their know-how on business operations allows the RII Unit to develop, implement, and integrate innovative projects.

With regard to LIFE-IP AdaptInGR, the Region of Ionian Islands will develop an innovative system to monitor the vulnerability of its coastal zone to the adverse impacts of climate change. It will place 150 permanent landmarks on 50 carefully identified beaches across the Region to systematically record, map and monitor coastal erosion through aerial photos taken by unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). It will also propose concrete erosion protection measures based on the recording, mapping and monitoring of results and will explore availability of complementary financial sources to fund the implementation (e.g. the Regional Operational Programme or other sources).

Website: https://pin.gov.gr

Contact persons for LIFE-IP AdaptInGR:

Kyriaki Kiriaki

Head, Department of European Project Management, Directorate of Development Programming,  Region of Ionian Islands

E-mail: k.kiriaki@pin.gov.gr

Hrystalla Papasozomenou

Head, Department of Technical Works of Regional Unit of Corfu, Region of Ionian Islands

E-mail: papasozomenou.x@pin.gov.gr