New Year’s pie cutting ceremony at the Agricultural University of Athens with the presence of the Mayor of Athens

With the presence of the Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, in a packed hall, the New Year's pie cutting ceremony of the Agricultural University of Athens took place.
    Rector Spyridon Kintzios welcomed Mr. Doukas saying that his presence honors the community, and characterized this year as a milestone year for the operation of the Agricultural University of Athens. 
"We have every reason to be proud of the fact that based on the recent results of the official ranking of the country's Universities according to the quality criteria set by the National Authority for Higher Education, the Agricultural University rose five places higher than last year and with particularly high performance-first and second place - in six areas, now taking ninth place among the 24 Higher Education Institutions, increasing its score by almost 200 points, more than any other Greek University." As the Rector of AUA pointed out, "this year the Ministry gave the University more than double the number of faculty members that departures”, thus continuing the steady increase in the number of faculty members from 2018 onwards, where the 52 total departures were more than covered by 98 new hires.
    But the most important reason that makes today's event special is the presence, for the first time in the history of our University, of the Mayor of the City of Athens, the city that hosts our historic headquarters. As a First Citizen but also as a fellow University Professor, Mayor Haris Doukas has connected his action with the improvement of the quality of the urban environment in relation to the climate crisis", said Mr Kintzios.
    The Rector of AUA spoke about the important achievements of the University in the previous year, among which the 30% increase in inputs from national and European competitive projects, which makes AUA the second University in Greece after NTUA in drawing resources from competitive programs by faculty member, the support for the creation of new technoblasts, as well as the implementation of the project to upgrade and renovate the Foundation's environment, which is financed by the Recovery Fund, with a budget of approximately 8,500,000.00 euros and is expected, as he pointed out, to radically change the quality of the environment space and by extension the urban space of the Botanikos area
    The Mayor of Athens expressed his joy for his presence at the Agricultural University, which he described as "a very important partner and a very important strong ally in our effort to green Athens".
    Mr. Haris Doukas referred to the great importance of the project of sustainable development in practice. The mayor of Athens made a special reference to the transformation that is going to happen in the area where the Agricultural University of Athens is located.
    "It is an area where in a short time from now there will be a very big change, a transformation," he said. "It is not only the effort you are making for the regeneration of your own space with important parks and other actions, but it is also another emblematic project, the Double Regeneration of Botanic, with very large greening and road construction projects, among others. A new green lung will be built here, one and a half times the size of the National Garden.” That is why, as he added, "you and we together have an important role to play and  plan".
    The Rector of the University of Athens placed the University's strengths and research at the disposal of the city of Athens and asked the mayor of Athens for his support in the burning issue of student housing, which concerns thousands of families and can make the lives of their children better, as he emphasized.
    The Mayor of Athens asked the Agricultural University of Athens for its expertise and knowledge, as well as the participation of the young people of its community in joint actions.
    The Rector's authorities offered the Mayor of Athens a bronze olive wreath- "a trademark of Eleonas" as he described it.
    The cutting of the cake followed, and the event was "closed" by the Music Workshop of the Agricultural University with songs from its choir.
    Mrs Panagiota Koutsouli, Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal  Science,  won the prize and the gift, which is a Samsung tablet.