PRESS RELEASE

OPENING CONERENCE OF REVERT PROJECT

On Wednesday, May 8, 2019 the opening conference of REVERT project Resilience without ViolencE, Resistance without haTe in Public Transport titled “Feeling Safe in Public Transport” was held at the main building of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

The REVERT project is co-funded by the European Union’s “Rights, Equality and Citizenship (2014-2020)” Programme and is implemented under the coordination of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens – Department of Communication and Media – Laboratory of Communication & Media Psychology in collaboration with Athens Public Transport Organization, Syneirmos NGO, Almasar NGO and CMT PROOPTIKI Consulting Management Training. The REVERT project aims to prevent and combat xenophobia and racism in public transport.

Mrs. Athena Marouda-Chatjoulis, Scientific Supervisor and Program Coordinator, Ass. Prof UNKA, welcomed attendees and greeted the commencement of the program. The commencement of the program was, also, greeted by the Dean of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Mr. Athanasios-Meletios Dimopoulos, Professor, the Dean of the Department of Communication and Media, Associate Professor, Mr. Konstantinos Mourlas, the president of Athens public Organization, Mr. Ioannis Skoubouris, the Project Manager of CMT PROOPTIKI, Mr. Anastasios Mastrogiannakis, the Scientific Director of the Syneirmos-Babel Organization, Mr. Nikolaos Gionakis, and the President of the Almasar Refugee and Migrant Organization, Mr. Mahmoud Abdel Rasoul.

The presentation of REVERT project, its objectives activities and expected results was delivered by the Scientific Supervisor and Program Coordinator, Athena Marouda-Chatzouli, Assistant Professor of Communication and Media, NKUA.

Mr. Vassilios Karapostolis, Emeritus Professor of Communication and Media, NCUA, delivered the Keynote Speech of the Conference on the topic of “Foreigners in the City”, setting the basis for the roundtable discussion entitled “Xenophobia and Resilience”.

The roundtable was moderated by Mr. Stelios Papathanassopoulos, Professor, Department of Communication and Media, NKUA, and talks were given by Ioannis Panoussis, by Emeritus Professor, Department of Communication and Media, NKUA, Mrs. Tina Stavrinaki, Ph.D., Assistant Coordinator of the Racist Violence Recording Network, Mrs. Mirto Rigou, Professor of Communication and Media, NKUA, and Mrs. Antonia Papastilianou, Professor of the Department of Psychology, NKUA.

Rigorous discussion on xenophobia and racism in public transport followed with the participation of the audience. The REVERT initial conference was concluded with a renewed commitment to cooperate to achieve the goals of the project.

For more information on the activities and objectives of REVERT project visit project’s website: http://www.revertproject.eu/