European University Cyprus / CERIDES successfully organised and implemented a civil protection raising – awareness event for Cyprus stakeholders operating in the Tourism sector, within the context of the Erasmus+ Project ‘RETES – Resilience Enhancement in Tourism through Education and Skills’.
The event took place on the 5th of June 2026 at the ‘Omodos Conference Centre‘ in the beautiful traditional village of Omodos in rural Cyprus. The event was attended by a significant number of Tourism sector stakeholders, as well as by representatives from the Cyprus Civil Defence, and from Cyprus volunteer organisations in civil protection. It should be noted that CERIDES co-organised the event with the Development Agency of Limassol (ANELEM).
The event was introduced by the Director of ANELEM Mr Rakis Pieridis who presented an innovative and viable approach to the tourism industry that is complementary with the RETES project approach. CERIDES Research Associate and RETES EUC Coordinator Mr Evangelos Katsaros provided an overview of the RETES project with regards to its main aim, objectives, and foreseen activities. Finally, Mr Panayiotis Liassides, Associate Director of Cyprus Civil Defence, discussed the currents status of coordination between civil protection authorities and Tourism Stakeholders in Cyprus.
Following the introductory speeches, a structured discussion was conducted between all event participants. The discussion was moderated by Mr Evangelos Katsaros, with the help of CERIDES Director of Science in Civil Protection Dr. Christos Dimopoulos.
The discussion highlighted the need for a significantly enhanced cooperation between Cyprus civil protection authorities and stakeholders of the tourism sector. In addition, participants agreed that there is a significant benefit in developing and maintaining local civil protection cooperation and communication plans between all stakeholders involved.
The findings from the implementation of the RETES event in Cyprus will be synthesized with the findings from the implementation of relevant events currently taking place in all RETES project participating countries. The synthesized findings will be exploited for the benefit of defining an efficient transnational cooperation methodology among key stakeholders in the tourism industry and the civil protection authorities.
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RETES – Resilience Enhancement in Tourism through Education and Skills is an Erasmus+ project that strengthens the capacity of tourism professionals to anticipate, prepare for and respond to climate-related risks through education, training and cross-sector collaboration.
In particular, RETES aims to:
– Increase awareness and competences in disaster risk management (DRM) among tourism operators, with a focus on prevention, preparedness and response to climate-related risks and emergencies.
– Improve the capacity of VET providers and trainers to address resilience and emergency readiness in tourism-related training programmes, using innovative and practice-oriented methodologies.
– Strengthen cooperation between the tourism sector and civil protection actors, supporting better coordination, communication and joint planning at local level.
– Contribute to safer and more resilient tourism destinations, enhancing employability, service continuity and sustainable destination management.
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– Mr Evangelos Katsaros (Associate Researcher / EUC Research Coordinator)
– Ms Romina Sampanai (Associate Researcher)
– Dr Christos Dimopoulos (Associate Researcher / EUC Technical Coordinator)
– Dr Demetris Hadjiloucas (Technical Advisor)
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Project start date: December 2025
Project end date: November 2027
Project website: https://retes.eu/
Project Partners:
– European Project Consulting srl (Italy – Project Coordinator)
– European University Cyprus / CERIDES (Cyprus)
– Community Crisis Intervention (Greece)
– SocialInnolabs Foundation (Spain)
– Ministry of the Interior – Directorate for Protection and Rescue (Montenegro)
– Oloklirosi (Greece)
– ENAIP – Ente Nazionale ACLI Istruzione Professionale (Italy)
Total budget: 400.000€
Funding Programme: Erasmus+ KA220-VET – Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training
