In 2008, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and the year of the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, the 10-member mission of the Green Project implemented the green road trip “Green Project in Asia: Athens-Beijing, from the Silk Roads to the Roads of Energy”. The GP trek started in Greece, continued in Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and ended in China. Using low-CO2 vehicles and public transport, the GP expedition covered 13,000 km in 33 days, searching the traditional paths of the historic Silk Roads for the modern “roads” of energy trade. GP recorded 18 important renewable energy installations and 16 examples of traditional bioclimatic architecture, most of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This trek produced 30,000 photos and 40 hours of documentary footage.

Day 1: Athens, August 1, 2008

Launch event of the “Green Trek” in Syntagma Square. The event had an interactive character with the aim of developing a dialogue with the general public.

9:30 The ceremony began, in the presence of a large number of people, in direct live connection with New Greek Television (NET). Mr. Georgios Kremlis, representative of the Greek Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Stavros Dimas, announced the opening of the event, conveying a cordial greeting from the Commissioner and an invitation to Brussels for the organization of an exhibition of the material that will result from the “Green Trail”.

12:00 The greetings of the Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Dimitris Sioufa, the Deputy Minister of National Defense, Mr. Yiannis Plakiotakis and the President of the Center for Renewable Energy Sources, Mr. Yiannis Agapitidis, were read.

Afterwards, the representatives of public and private entities, which support the effort, took the floor to express their enthusiastic support for this project.

13:00 It was announced that the mission includes:

Crew:

Apostolos Apostolakis, Civil engineer, co-founder of e-shop.gr

Lefteris Agapoulakis, Operator

Thodoris Anagnostopoulos, PhD in biology, researcher at Dimokritos

Giorgos Dimopoulos, Economist, executive of the National Bank of Greece

Nikos Zografakis, Doctor of Engineering, head of the Energy Center of the Region of Crete

Eleni Kanetaki, Doctor of Architecture and Engineering, professor at TEI Piraeus

Giorgos Lasdas, Car Engineer

Nikos Striligas, Communication Specialist

Yiannis Tzorgzis, Doctor of Laws, lawyer at the Energy Regulatory Authority – Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain photographer

Maria Choulaki, Visual Artist

Vehicles:

Two (2) hybrid cars and one (1) LPG car.

14:00 The event ended with a symbolic photo recording of the mission vehicles in front of the Greek Parliament building.

15:00 After the last technical inspection, the expedition left for Komotini where it spent the night.

Day 2: Komotini, August 2, 2008

09:00 Visit to the bazaar and the historical center of Komotini to record traditional bioclimatic buildings.

11:30 Press conference to the local media in Maroneia, at the premises of the European Public Law Organization, supporter of the Green Project.

1:30-18:00 Photo and sound recording and video recording of the wind farm in Kechros in the mountainous Rhodope as it is part of its wider natural environment. It is worth noting that this park is the largest in Greece and is an example of good practice in the utilization of the region’s huge wind potential and the development of the local economy.

19:00-23:00 Border crossing from Evros Gardens, bound for Turkey. This process was extremely time-consuming, due to the massive influx of Turkish immigrants from Northern Europe. The intervention of the Embassy of Greece in Ankara effectively helped to speed up the processing of formal procedures.

3:00 Arrival in the City. After three hours of grueling driving, it took another hour in the incredible midnight Saturday night traffic to arrive at our hotel in downtown Istanbul.

Day 3: Istanbul, August 3, 2008

10:30 The route for the passage to Asia begins with a panoramic view of the City. Emotions are strong when crossing from one continent to another, over the great suspension bridge of the Bosphorus.

15:30 Departure from the port of Pendik by ferry boat to Yalova (northeast Asian coast). The heart-to-heart conversation with the master on the ship’s bridge culminates in his enthusiastic letter of support for the Green Project.

16:30 Arrival in Yalova bound for Bursa. A part of the group remains in the historical center of the city for the photographic recording of the most important monuments with bioclimatic characteristics. Among them, the Yesil Cami (Green Mosque) is included among the most famous Seljuk mosques. The rest of the group heads to Bandirma’s wind farm, the ancient Panormos. After an adventurous drive, the wind farm appears on the horizon. In a cattle ranch, the wind turbines stand out on top of the bare hills, like imposing contemporary sculptures of movement and sound. Until sunset, photography and videography takes place with the Marmara Sea and the Prigiponnisia as a background.

22:30 Overnight in the Cekirge suburb of Bursa, known for its thermal baths dating back to the 15th century.

Day 4: Prusa, August 4, 2008

10:30 Departure for Ankara, in order to present the Green Project and a digital exhibition of its nine artists, at a planned event of the Ministry of Energy of Turkey and the Greek Embassy. The event is held with great success, in the presence of high-ranking officials of the Turkish Ministry of Energy.