In an inspiring ceremony, designed and brought to life by SYMVOLI, the 2025 ‘Empress Theophano’ Prize was awarded to EUROPA NOSTRA, in recognition of six decades of tireless dedication to safeguarding and celebrating Europe’s cultural heritage.

This year’s Prize underscores heritage as a living, dynamic force, a wellspring of identity, connection, and shared responsibility, vital in an era when Europe faces unprecedented challenges and the power of dialogue and collaboration has never been more essential.

SYMVOLI is proud to continue designing and coordinating the Theophano Foundation’s events since its founding in 2019, particularly when they illuminate the values that unite societies and breathe life into our common European culture.

—————————————–

EUROPA NOSTRA, the leading pan-European organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of European cultural heritage,was awarded yesterday the 6th “Empress Theophano” Prize, in a magnificent ceremony held at the emblematic Rotunda Monument, in the presence of leading personalities from around the world. The award was presented by H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Constantine An. Tassoulas, to the Executive President of EUROPA NOSTRA, Professor Dr. Hermann Parzinger, and the Secretary General of the Organization, Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović.

Speeches were delivered by the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Constantine An. Tassoulas, the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Theophano Foundation Stavros Andreadis, the Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Foundation and President Emeritus of the European Council Herman Count Van Rompuy, the President of EUROPA NOSTRA Cecilia Bartoli, the Executive President of EUROPA NOSTRA Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger and the Secretary General of EUROPA NOSTRA Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, all converging on a common message: Europe needs bridges of dialogue, cooperation, sustainability and hope.

The event, presented by the ERT journalist Apostolos Mangiriadis, ended with a musical tribute to seven composers from an equal number of countries, performed by fifteen musicians from nine European countries, under the artistic supervision of the Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra, Marshall Marcus. The music program, framed by images and symbols that highlighted the Rotunda and elements of different European cultures, honored the diversity of European cultural heritage and the long course of EUROPA NOSTRA, and was proof that the musical and cultural palette of the European continent is inexhaustible.

The Award Ceremony was honoured with the presence of: fr. President of Finland Tarja Halonen, fr. Minister of Trade of Spain Maria Luisa Poncela, the Deputy Minister of Interior, Sector of Macedonia-Thrace, Konstantinos Gioulekas, the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia, Athina Aidona, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, the Deputy Minister of Development, Stavros Kalafatis, the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security, Anna Efthymiou, the President of the Network for Reform in Greece and Europe and fr. Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs of the European Union,  Anna Diamantopoulou, and many others.

​

During an emotional ceremony, designed and organized by SYMVOLI, the ‘Empress Theophano’ Prize was presented to Special Olympics and Chairman Dr. Timothy Shriver for promoting the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities and creating a more inclusive society

The power of will, the bravery of effort and Solidarity for all and the joy of life are the messages of this year’s prize, as an antidote to the intolerance of our times.

SYMVOLI is more than proud to undertake the design and the organization of all Theophano Foundation’s events since its inauguration in 2019, especially when their purpose and messages become so important to our society humane values.

(more info below)

—–

The 5th ‘Empress Theophano’ Prize was presented to Special Olympics, its Chairman, Dr. Timothy Shriver and CEO Mary Davis, on Wednesday 23^rd October 2024 during a particularly moving ceremony held at the Rotunda Monument, in the presence of luminaries from across the world, and with the active participation of Special Olympics athletes

This year, the ‘Empress Theophano’ Prize, which aims to showcase persons and organisations within and outside Europe who embody European and universal values, highlighted the social role of sports, through the vision of Special Olympics for a world of acceptance, inclusivity and equal opportunities for all, regardless of ability.  Through the power of sports, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills and successes.  What first started as a summer day camp in 1962 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the organization’s founder and mother of Dr. Shriver, has since evolved to be a global movement for inclusion that currently supports 4 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in over 200 countries and nations around the world.

Inspiring speeches were delivered by the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Theophano Foundation, Stavros Andreadis, the Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Theophano Foundation and President Emeritus of the European Council, Herman Count Van Rompuy, and the Chairman of Special Olympics, Dr. Timothy Shriver , all highlighting the importance of promoting the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and of creating a more inclusive society.

The ceremony was presented by journalist and editor of ‘Kathimerini’ newspaper, Alexis Papachelas along with Special Olympics Hellas basketball athlete, Agis Diakopoulos. The ceremony ended with a symbolic event of music, screenings and dance, where the music of the ‘MOYSA’ Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Thessaloniki Concert Hall was combined with a demonstration by unified group of gymnasts, Special Olympics athletes as well as athletes of the ‘Wolves Team’ World Champion gymnastics team. During an intensely emotional event, the artistic programme confirmed in the best possible way the concepts highlighted by the Prize itself: the joy of participation, the power of will, the bravery of effort, acceptance, inclusivity.

Read more

https://www.theophano.eu/during-an-emotional-ceremony-the-empress-theophano-prize-was-presented-to-special-olympics-and-chairman-dr-timothy-shriver-for-promoting-the-rights-of-persons-with-intellectual-dis/

Round Table discussion on inclusive sports

Opening the dialogue on important issues related to social inclusion and inclusivity of people with intellectual disabilities, the Theophano Foundation also organized on Thursday, October 24th, 2024, at 18:00, at Thessaloniki Concert Hall (Emilios Riadis Hall), a Round Table discussion entitled ‘Inclusive Sports: Driving Human and Social Development for a Changing Europe’. Leading representatives of Special Olympics, including its Chairman, Dr Timothy Shriver, and its CEO, Mrs Mary Davis, international athletes and people close to the community of people with intellectual disabilities, contributed to the subject through their different perspectives, while the participation of Greek athletes and their families highlighted the key message of the power of sports and the ways inclusion strengthens families, societies and nations.

Earlier the same day, a Unified® Run of 1km was organised on the New Waterfront of Thessaloniki, in which athletes from the training programmes of the wider region of Thessaloniki, coaches, family members of Special Olympics Hellas athletes, students of the Inclusive Sports Schools, partners and friends of Special Olympics participated.

Links to

https://www.theophano.eu/round-table-discussion-inclusive-sports-driving-human-and-social-development-for-a-changing-europe/

​

The exhibition that enchanted the audience of Athens, came to Thessaloniki enriched with new works of unique costumes of Macedonia and Thrace, an initiative of the Papageorgiou Foundation
From September 6, 2024 to January 6, 2025, on the initiative of the Papageorgiou Foundation and with the cooperation of the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, the enriched emblematic exhibition entitled “Clothing of the Soul”, is presented at the Thessaloniki Branch of MIET / Villa Kapantzi, under the auspices of the A.E. of the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

After the exhibition’s journey in Greece and abroad*, and the unique response of the public in all destinations, and especially in the Acropolis Museum, where it was held in the context of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution of 1821, the “Garment of the Soul” came to Thessaloniki. This is a unique exhibition, where photographer Vangelis Kyris and embroidery artist Anatoly Georgiev present the “Greek garment” in a special way and with an artistic perspective, worn by contemporary people, and through the osmosis of photography with fabric and embroidery.

In the exhibition, presented for four months in the city of Thessaloniki, more than 70 costumes of the past “dress” faces of the present, in a unique connection that highlights the richness, the imaginative variety, the mastery of details, the manufacturing skill of the garments. At the same time, through the penetrating gaze, the posture and movement of the body, the costumes become the narrative of the history of the place, the historical persons, the stories of the societies and their everyday life.

As the creator and photographer Vangelis Kyris writes “With a four square frame map as a background, I wanted to travel in space and time, where Hellenism is blossoming. Through the eyes I wanted to reach the soul and Anatoli with his embroidery, to give life to the material. A journey and this too from the depths of the soul to the three-dimensionality of matter, keeping the plane of the photograph as the centre”.

On the initiative to hold the exhibition in Thessaloniki, the President of the Papageorgiou Foundation, George N. Papageorgiou, said: “This exhibition presents clothing as an expression of the soul. The exhibition “Clothing as an expression of the soul of people, in the macro and micro history of Greek society. From the very first moment, this particular work has stimulated the interest of the Papageorgiou Foundation in the enrichment and re-presentation of the exhibition in the city of Thessaloniki”. The Papageorgiou Foundation, sensitive to issues of health, education and science, as well as art/culture, took the initiative not only to present the exhibition in Northern Greece, but also to highlight the cultural heritage and tradition of the region by researching, searching for and photographing new material, creating works-exhibits from Macedonia and Thrace, as well as works indicative of the multicultural identity of Thessaloniki of past centuries.

This initiative, beyond the basis of the initial presentation with costumes from the collections of the National Historical Museum, the Historical Museum of Crete and the Lyceum of Greek Women of Heraklion, was accompanied by a substantial partnership of institutions from Thessaloniki and Northern Greece: The Foundation of the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle and the Modern History of Macedonia, the Jewish Community and the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, the Folklore and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace, the Lyceum of Hellenes of Thessaloniki, the Lyceum of the Hellenic Women of Naoussa and the Folklore Dance Club of Chanthi, opened the showcases, cabinets and the memory of the local communities they represent, in order to enable the composition of the exhibition with the new exhibits.

 ORGANISER

WITH THE COLLABORATION OF

WITH THE SUPPORT OF

COORDINATION/PRODUCTION

WITH THE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION OF

A year passed and our memories of one of our favorite and most challenging projects, are still vivid

Our collaboration with the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction marked its beginning in 2020 and during the hottest days of summer 2023, SYMVOLI faced one of its’ biggest challenges yet…2700 participants from 50+ countries flooding the streets of Thessaloniki for EARLI 2023. And we thrived every step of the way!

The conference’s theme placed its focus on Education as a hope in uncertain times, leading researchers and scholars from around the world to come together and decode the uprising challenges and complexity of education processes at times of constant change. Over the course of six days and spread across five central venues, the Ceremony Hall AUTh, Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center, Faculty of Education, University of Macedonia and Ioannis Vellidis Convention Center, our goal was to create an unforgettable, smooth and fruitful conference experience for everyone.

553 sessions, 2065 presentations, 50 symposia and panels, in combination with lively social events, exclusive discounted conference services, immersive cultural tours of the city and the priceless help of our 156 volunteers made, EARLI 2023 what could only described by many attendees “a top-ranking”, “memorable” and “inspiring” conference in all respects.

EARLI 2023 was awarded the “Hallmark Congress of the Year” during the first edition of Thessaloniki Ambassadors’ Awards.

———