Mini CV

Ms Koulouri was born in 1974 in Corfu, Greece. She is a graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace (1998). She is a holder of a Master of Arts in "Conservation Studies", Department of Archaeology, Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York, U.K. (1999-2000). She has also participated in workshops held in Bath, Bristol, Edinburgh and Berlin specialising all in the restoration of world cultural heritage sites. During the same period, she worked as an intern at the ICOMOS offices in Paris, France. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in the Department of Architectural Engineering of the Polytechnic School of the University of Ioannina. The title of her thesis is: "Sustainable cultural tourism. Management and viability of world heritage sites and historical centres in Europe ".

She has worked as a professional freelancer while having contracts with the Ministry of Culture, through the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Corfu, Greece. In October 2001, she was employed, through ASEP, in the Prefecture of Corfu and she exercised her official duties in the Department of Public Works Studies and Supervision of the Directorate of Technical Services. In 2008, she was placed in the Directorate of Spatial Planning and Environment, in the Department of Urban Applications while from 2009 to 2013 in the Directorate of Urban Planning, in the Department of Issuance of Building Permits. Ever since, she has been working in the Municipality of Central Corfu & Diapontia Islands with supervisory duties in the Department of Corfu Old Town, Traditional Settlements & Individual Monuments. Ms Koulouri is responsible for drafting budgets and auction documents for the following projects: 'Restoration and Promotion of the Complex of Saint Aikaterini', 'Restoration of three buildings inside the ‘Mon Repos’ estate in Corfu', 'Pedestrianisation of Eugenios Voulgareos Street', 'Environmental Upgrading of the area of “Pentofanaro” in Spianada Square and “Ionian Academy” in Corfu old town'.

Ms Koulouri has participated in the 4th & 5th International Academy of Unesco for the designated ‘monuments’ and their sustainable development that took place in 2018 and 2019 in Turin and Milan, Italy.

She has been responsible for a number of European programs and she has been appointed representative of the Municipality of Corfu in the Steering Committee and the Cross Border Management Group of the respective projects. Her main research interests are related to the sustainable cultural tourism through the protection of local cultures, the control of the commercialization of cultural goods and the safeguarding of cultural diversity.

Phd Thesis Summary

Sustainable cultural tourism. Management and Viability of World Heritage Sites and Historical Centres in Europe

The topic of this doctoral thesis is the international phenomenon of tourism management based on the sustainability of world cultural heritage cities, as well as the problems that arise due to hypertourism. Our attempt is to analyse this phenomenon and to contribute to the creation of 'guidelines' aimed at the sustainability of cities, taking into account the impact of mass tourism in terms of society, culture, environment and economy.

More specifically, this doctoral thesis is an attempt to record, analyse and compare the existing and approved plans concerning the management of world heritage cities, as well as some individual examples of historic centres of special architectural interest, with high tourist attendance.

Upon analysing the city plans, the issue of tourism is approached in a more specialised way in order to determine how the reference cities manage the issues that arise, what is the control mechanism for their proper implementation and under what legal framework. Particular emphasis is placed on the effects of hypertourism, such as the conflicts of land use, the decline of permanent residence, the changes in traditional land uses and the decline of traditional occupations.

At the same time, the concept of responsible tourism is being developed, which includes specific measurable quantities of social impact and sustainable development, not only in relation to nature, but also to the city, its communities and its inhabitants. Thus, with the help of a recording tool, we attempt to track the good practices for the implementation of tourism and cultural sustainability through the management of cultural resources.

The recording includes both: a) primary research which concerns the field research at European and national level, during the peak tourist period and the study of historical archives and b) secondary research which concerns the gathering of the available documentation from Greek and foreign literature.

Furthermore, we are going to categorise and classify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) that each of these cities receive, aiming at a more integrated sustainable design.

The collection of data is carried out by using techniques related to: a) the formulation of questions (questionnaires and personal interviews with people involved in one way or another in decision-making to 'shrink' the international phenomenon of hypertourism of historic centres) and b) the search for secondary data and archival material (Internet resources and databases of good practices, conference material, archives from the World Heritage Centre of Unesco).

The research focuses on the wider Mediterranean region. Indicatively, our research focuses on cities like Florence, Venice, Naples, Barcelona, Avignon, the Marais district in Paris and some historic city centres in Greece.