The ERT program “Giving Life Back to the Greek Mountains” takes us to a side of mountainous Greece that rarely finds its place in public discourse with its real complexity: a Greece that is defined not only by abandonment or nostalgia, but also by research, persistence, care for place, and the search for new ways of life. From the expedition of young scientists to the Dragon Lake of Tymfi, under difficult weather conditions, to the settlement of people in the nearly abandoned village of Demati in Zagori and the creation of mountain greenhouses, the video weaves together a narrative that connects knowledge with practice and the relationship with nature with the regeneration of communities.
In Demati, the effort of the Social Cooperative Enterprise The High Mountains shows how the repopulation of mountain villages can take concrete form. Through the settlement of new people, the creation of experimental mountain greenhouses, and the gradual activation of the old primary school as a space for collaboration and learning, an effort is being made to rebuild a small ecosystem of life and production in a place that for years seemed to be fading away.
Through these journeys, the documentary highlights not only the ecological and scientific importance of the Greek mountains, but also their social significance as places where forms of life that seem lost can be rebuilt. Demati, for example, is presented not simply as a village facing depopulation, but as a place where a new collective effort is trying to create prospects once again. The mountain greenhouses, the initiatives of young people, and the persistence of those who choose to stay in or return to such places all serve as signs that something new can begin even where everything seems to have faded.
At the same time, the video brings forward personal stories of people who made the major decision to live in small, remote villages and build their everyday lives there. These narratives add human depth to the subject and show that life in the mountains is not simply a romantic idea, but a real, demanding, and at the same time deeply meaningful choice. In this way, the video presents the mountains as valuable ecosystems - as places where new relationships with the land, the community, and the future can be born.
Watch the full video in ERT's YouTube Channel.