In an aging Greece, a teacher and a priest are breathing new life into villages

When teacher Panagiota Diamanti was appointed to Fourna, Evrytania, the simple schoolhouse was scheduled to close.

Of the three registered students, lone 1 would stay the pursuing year.

The village kindergarten was already suspended.

“We could spot that we were heading towards closure. And we started thinking astir what we could do, due to the fact that the state was inert,” the village priest, Konstantinos Dousikos, told Neos Kosmos.

Dousikos and Diamanti worked together to pull families with children to the village.

Their online entreaty spoke of securing housing, employment for astatine slightest 1 of the parents, and support for installation costs.

The effect was greater than expected with hundreds of messages from funny parties.

After 10 years, a wedding and baptism took spot again successful Fourna, for 1 of the caller families. Photo: Supplied

“We gathered everything we could to screen the costs for a mates of families, and within a fewer days the archetypal household came to the village,” Dousikos said.

It was August 2024. By June 2025, three ample families with 14 children had settled successful Fourna.

Today, the village counts six caller households with 50 connected the database of funny parties.

The kindergarten started operating again, while some caller businesses opened successful the village.

“We person started supporting different villages to bash the same, done the enactment we created with Panagiota,” Dousikos said.

“We are trying to assistance families who want to permission the metropolis and travel to unrecorded successful the information and purity of the countryside. What could beryllium much natural?”

Panagiota Diamanti, president of the “New Life successful the Village” initiative, is an appointed teacher successful Fourna and a doctoral campaigner astatine the University of Thessaly. Photo: Supplied

HOUSING, WORK, OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN

The experimentation succeeded with idiosyncratic effort and backstage support.

From the very beginning, they established a non-profit organisation to negociate the volume of requests and sponsorships.

“The important happening was to supply jobs, lodging and some services to the children. Of course, we had to subsidise each of this somehow,” said Diamanti.

“We made interaction with radical who had vacant houses successful the village and were funny successful renting them retired astatine a debased rent, and we collected donations from individuals passim Greece for the archetypal rentals.”

For each household that moved to the village, astatine slightest 1 occupation was recovered oregon created.

A theatrical show performed for the children of the Fourna simple schoolhouse by a troupe from Athens thanks to backstage sponsorship. Photo: Facebook/Νέα Ζωή στο Χωριό

“The village is located successful a fir forest, it has a timber cooperative, so 1 illustration of workers was men who could undertake manual labour,” the teacher explained.

One household was helped to unfastened a edifice while different came to take implicit the village tavern that was astir to close.

They besides reached retired to section businesspeople to support the initiative.

“A businessman, primitively from Evrytania, was convinced to unfastened a bakery that the village did not have, frankincense creating caller jobs,” says Diamanti.

Their appeals for the needs of children recovered a effect passim Greece and abroad, helium cites some examples.

“Two connection centres successful Athens offered escaped English lessons, expatriates successful the US covered the outgo of each schoolhouse supplies, while this year we started sports activities for children successful collaboration with the municipality and backstage sponsors.”

In Zitsa, Ioannina, Diamanti with 1 of the residents who formed the section big organisation for the implementation of the enactment successful the village. Photo: Supplied

THE INITIATIVE IS GROWING – THE STATE IS ABSENT

The “Νέα Ζωή στο Χωριό” (New Life successful the Village) programme was expanded past year to Zitsa, Ioannina, with the colony of two families, with the extremity of three much by the extremity of 2026.

“In January, we announced that we were besides adopting the village of Kokkino successful Boeotia, where the archetypal household besides moved,” said Diamanti.

“The extremity is for 5 much families to spell there, and we will beryllium capable to financially support up to that galore this year.”

Each household receives the aforesaid fiscal support; the enactment is funded wholly by sponsorships and operates thanks to the work of the two founders and a web of volunteers.

“In Fourna there are 20 volunteers, successful Zitsa and Kokkino the same, and 20 volunteers successful the nationalist absorption team – including lawyers and accountants – since each the wealth we rise goes to the families.”

The telephone of the clergyman and the teacher has brought results successful three villages to date. Photo: Supplied

The inaugural started by the teacher-priest duo attracted the involvement of section authorities bodies and the cardinal government, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis having visited Fourna.

“In theory, we person had everyone by our broadside from the beginning, but successful signifier we person not received immoderate assistance from the state,” they said.

The needs of the villages, they explained, transcend the capabilities of a backstage initiative.

“One contented is health,” said Diamanti.

“It took 8 months for a doc to come, and of people aft a batch of effort and galore requests. We cognize that when the agrarian doc finishes his training we will person to wait again.”

Father Konstantinos Dousikos has three children and is simply a erstwhile woodworking instrumentality operator. He was ordained successful the parish of Fourna 5 years ago, soon earlier his 50th birthday. Photo: Supplied

DECENTRALISATION TAKES CENTRE STAGE

Last month, the Greek authorities expanded a subsidised relocation programme to six regions – Kastoria, Florina, Kilkis, Pella, Drama and Feres – with an magnitude of $16,705 (€10,000) per household.

Greeks overseas are besides eligible to participate.

The program, which, arsenic stated by the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs, Domna michailidou, “will beryllium customised to conscionable the needs of the demographic,” was implemented past year connected a aviator ground successful Evros.

Of the 600 applications submitted, lone two met the criteria. The vast bulk of applicants were already residents of Evros.

View of the village of Fourna successful Evrytania, which is astir 40km from Karpenisi successful Central Greece. Photo: Supplied

According to Diamanti, attracting radical to the villages is not imaginable without taking into relationship those who already unrecorded there.

“It is logical for residents to think, ‘I unrecorded here, I don’t person a doctor, I’m astir to person nary school, and a stranger comes and they springiness him €10,000’.”

Dousikos believes that the revitalisation of the state is simply a substance of nationalist economy.

“Normally, each residents of villages should beryllium subsidized. Because radical who unrecorded successful municipality centres cannot nutrient cultivation oregon livestock products,” said the priest, adding:

“We request to perceive to the complaints from the radical successful each region, due to the fact that the problems we have, for example, are different, and antithetic successful different villages.”

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF RURAL GREECE?

The demographic challenges facing villages successful the Greek countryside are besides antithetic compared to the state arsenic a whole, Professor of Demography astatine the University of Thessaly, Byron Kotzamanis pointed out.

“At the nationalist level, the commencement and decease equilibrium has go antagonistic since 2011,” helium told Neos Kosmos.

But, successful section areas, this analogy began overmuch earlier.

Deaths are astir twice arsenic precocious arsenic births successful Greece. Even if applicable measures were taken today, the antagonistic equilibrium cannot beryllium reversed until astatine slightest 2060. Source: ELSTAT

“Evrytania, for example, has had much deaths than births for astir 45 years.”

The desertification of the countryside, Kotzamanis explained, occurred within the model of the post-war improvement exemplary with urbanisation, but is besides a effect of the abandonment of the superior sector.

He pointed out, therefore, that successful bid to revitalise the Greek countryside, it is not capable for young radical to determination there.

A modern improvement program for the superior assemblage is besides needed.

“That is, there should beryllium added value with productive investments, linking accumulation with merchandise standardisation and a argumentation to support the superior assemblage that does not presently exist,” Kotzamanis said.

“In bid for not lone young radical but besides their children to stay successful the countryside, the conditions indispensable beryllium for them to person a future.”

Demography prof Byron Kotzamanis is Director of the Institute of Demographic Research and Studies

DEMOGRAPHIC BALANCE WILL REMAIN NEGATIVE UNTIL 2060 – IN BEST CASE SCENARIO

According to information from the Hellenic Statistical Authority, astir 1 successful 4 Greeks today is implicit 65 years old.

And the country’s colonisation has decreased by astir 715,000 since 2011.

Once the birth-death equilibrium has go consistently negative, it is mathematically intolerable to reverse it for astatine slightest the adjacent 30 years, explained Kotzamanis.

“Due to declining commencement rates, less and less radical will scope childbearing age.”

“In 2060, a procreation from now, the fig of women of childbearing age, owed to the diminution successful births that has already occurred, will beryllium 450,000 fewer.”

The aging of Greece’s population, successful different words, is predetermined successful the coming decades, adjacent if measures were taken today to make a favourable situation for expanding commencement rates.

The applicable projections of the United Nations and the European Statistical Office Eurostat for the play 2025-2050 besides support this assessment.

“The results of projections we marque successful Greece and planetary organizations amusement that if the migration equilibrium is zero, the country’s colonisation will alteration by 2-2.3 cardinal successful a generation.”

“The lone property radical that is expected to summation is those implicit 65 by 700,000,” the prof said.

According to Kotzamanis, the treatment connected measures to amended demographic trends successful the agelong term indispensable statesman with an consciousness of the existent situation.

“Such a important colonisation diminution within a procreation has implications successful galore areas.”

He concluded by stating: “the question is, based connected the information we cognize is irreversible, whether we tin get by without immigration”.

“And then, of course, different criteria travel into play to determine whether someone is for oregon against it, but for the treatment to take place, it indispensable beryllium based connected existent grounds.”