In recent years, the ability of Greeks abroad to interact with Greece from the countries in which they live, on matters related to various activities such as charity work or electoral processes, has initiated a dialogue about the identity and role of the Universal Greek citizen in the context of both Greece and the countries abroad.
To explore the opportunities and challenges arising from this change, a roundtable discussion titled “The Universal Greek – Influence of Greeks Abroad on the National and Global Context of Greece” will take place.
The discussion will be held on April 2, 2024, at the Embassy of Greece in Paris. This event, organized by the Non-Profit Civil Partenership “Komvos: Networks of Global Hellenism” and the ARISTEiA Institute in Paris, is under the patronage of the Centre Culturel Hellénique and the World Human Forum.
Topics
Among the topics to be discussed are the following:
- Participation of Greeks abroad in decision-making processes in Greece
- Characteristics of citizens in universal democracies with global expression capabilities, while maintaining ties with the homeland (examples of Greeks and other nations)
- Greeks as citizens of the world and participants in a modern Greek democracy of the 21st century with global reach and influence
- Influence of Greeks in the countries of residence abroad and more broadly on the global stage
- Impact on decision-making in Greece as an expression of the human common interest in Greece and experiences from abroad
Event Program
The event consists of two discussion cycles. The first, titled “Fireside Chat,” will be moderated by Athena Coustenis, a member of the Board of Directors of Komvos, astrophysicist specializing in planetology, and Research Director at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CRNS), at the Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), at the Paris Observatory, Meudon.
The main speaker in this section will be George Prevelakis, Professor of Geopolitics at the Sorbonne, Paris 1, and an author with an extensive body of work.
The second cycle is titled “The Influence of Greeks Abroad on the National and Global Context of Greece.” This session will be moderated by Alexandra Mitsotaki, Vice President of the Centre Culturel Hellénique, Co-Founder, and President of the World Human Forum.
Participants in this discussion will include George Koumoutsakos (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD) and George Pagoulatos (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO).
The event will be opened and concluded with remarks by the Ambassador of Greece to France, Dimitrios Prevelakis, and the President of the Centre Culturel Hellénique, Katerina Xyla.
Detailed Information:
You can save or print the program in .pdf format by clicking on the following link: program
Organization and Participation
The event is organized by the Non-Profit Civil Partenership “Komvos-Node: Networks of Global Hellenism” and the ARISTEiA Institute for the Advancement of Research and Education in the Arts, Sciences, and Technology. The initiative and organization are by Athena Coustenis and Professor Konstantinos Drosatos, General Secretary of the Board of Directors of Komvos and President of the ARISTEiA Institute. Konstantinos Drosatos is a professor at the University of Cincinnati, USA, School of Medicine.
You can register for participation by sending an email to contact@cchel.org to attend the discussion in person, which will take place at the Embassy of Greece in Paris, 17, Rue Auguste Vacquerie, 75116.
