Rural Tourism Support Network e-paithros and the JoInOuT project were presented on Friday 26 May 2023 at the Polycentre of Sitia Municipality, in the framework of the 4th International Conference of UNESCO World Geoparks in Greece and Cyprus, “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION IN THE WORLD GEOPARKS OF GREECE – CYPRUS”, which took place in Sitia, Greece, from 25 to 27 May 2023.

The presenters of e-paithros cluster and the JoInOuT project, Nikos A. Draconakis and Dr. Chrysa I. Pagalou, presented the vision, the actions and the results of the projects, which operate in a complementary way, in order to support and manage rural tourism in Crete and in the future in the whole of Greece. Through a spatial and thematic categorization of the products and services of rural tourism, they also showed the contribution of the projects to the promotion of Sitia and Psiloritis Geoparks and called on the managers of the Geoparks to cooperate in order to develop geotourism in Greece, within the framework of e-paithros cluster.

It is worth noting that the Conference was organised by the UNESCO World Geopark of Sitia, and the Municipal Organisation for Socio-Cultural Development of Sitia (DOKAS), in cooperation with the Greek Geoparks Forum, the Cyprus National Commission of UNESCO, the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency and the Greek National Commission of UNESCO. Co-organizers were the Region of Crete and the Municipality of Sitia.

The project entitled "Partnership of Innovative Rural Tourism Actions" and distinctive title: "JoInOuT", is implemented within the framework of the Action "Cooperative Innovation Formations/SCC" - 2nd Call: Businesses" and is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by National Resources in the context of the Operational Program "Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EPANEK)" of the NSRF 2014-2020" (Project code: ΓΓ2CL-0359457).