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About Us...
Seize the Day is an informal group of aspiring active young people from Greece, who believe in the values of multiculturalism, solidarity, open-mindedness, justice and active citizenship wanting to participate and organize Erasmus+, national and international programmes.
The members of our group come from different backgrounds (law, biology, political science, social work, economics) bringing in versatile strengths, interests, experiences and capacities, which combined make a strong team, able to take up all fields of responsibilities associated with project implementation (e.g. organization & event management, educational content development, team management, dissemination & promotion, etc). We met through our participation in Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges and discovered that we share the same motivation to make a change in our societies through youth empowerment, active engagement and multicultural exchange. We decided to pursue our common goals by “transmitting” the Erasmus+ values to as many of our peers in Greece and Europe as possible.
All the members of our group are actively involved in their local community and have extensive experiences as participants of youth mobility programs, seminars, student exchanges, summer schools, youth internships, volunteering activities, advocacy actions etc at a local and international level.
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Through our volunteering experience, our participation in many non-formal education and life-long learning contexts, and our diverse educational background we have cultivated excellent skills and expertise in team management and project organization, and a very strong motivation to promote a multicultural and active way of living by involving the youth of Europe in international exchanges and civil society actions.
Lydia Kakourou holds a Bachelor of Law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a Master on European Law from the University of Leiden, Netherlands. Her motivation to become a lawyer stems from her high sensitization with respect to social inequalities and human rights, and her motivation to defend the vulnerable and marginalized. She has a strong interest in the social impact of law, in all its dimensions, and in the ethical aspects of European Law. Therefore, she pursued and completed a traineeship in the Legal Service of the European Economic and Social Committee – EESC. Currently, she is an associate lawyer at Pistiolis & Triantafyllos law firm, where her main areas of expertise include national and EU competition/antitrust law and EU fundamental rights. Lydia discovered passion for promoting intercultural dialogue and active youth
participation through non-formal education, as a means to achieve solidarity, inclusion and youth empowerment in 2011, when she had her first “Youth in Action” program experience as a participant. Since then she has taken part in over 10 Youth in Action, Erasmus+ and other international mobility projects, such as the Balkan Summer School on Religion and Public Life in 2013, gaining important experience in team management and intercultural communication. Finally, she is also active in her local community, as an active member of the Cultural and Environmental Association of Efxinos Pontos Attikis, and the Greek NGOs ’Balkan Amfiktionia’’. Lydia’s background, as well as her strong and full of initiative personality make her the executive manager and advocate of our group.
Roussidi Constantina is currently a Postgraduate Student in International Public Administration, in University of Macedonia, in Thessaloniki. She has studied Political Science&Public Administration, being assigned with an internship in Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Human Rights and Minorities Directorate. She has a significant interest in International Affairs and Women Empowerment under International Law, and is an author for the Association of International and European Affairs (ΟΔΕΘ). She also strongly supports non-formal education by various means, such as through participation in Erasmus+ projects, international exchanges, seminars and workshops. Driven by her keen interest in philosophy, arts and their use for empowerment and inclusion, she helped in the organization of a music therapy project in Samothrace and is a writer in the Publication in Conatus Journal. Finally, she demonstrates her strong belief in the value of
volunteerism and active citizenship, being a volunteer in WWF, in Diavazo gia tous Allous movement and an Intercultural Policies Trainee in the context of Community, Leadership, and Youth Development Program of UNESCO. Constantina’s hyper-active personality, her rich list of activities and authoring experiences are excellent for networking, proposal writing and team motivating.
Aggelos Amarantos is a student of Economics and Regional Development in Panteion University and has been interested and actively involved in the promotion and development life-long education for the last 9 years. He has offered administrative support and consultancy in the following projects: “Technical Consultant for the Digitization of Public Libraries” of the Ministry of Education, “Technical Consultant of the Greek Open University”, “Correct and safe driving-The causes of car accidents” of the Research and Development Centre of Cretan Culture in Neapolis, and has been involved in the evaluation of the project “Adult Education in Acquiring Basic Skills in New Technologies – Heron 2”. Through these experiences, Aggelos has developed a wholesome project monitoring and evaluation skills-set. His participation in four youth mobility programs, made him realize that multicultural settings is where he feels at home, while his professional experience in
public relations and sports events promotion department at Moraitis Sports Centre has equipped him with great understanding and skills to put forth effective dissemination strategies. Aggelos’ strengths make him the best fit for the roles of project evaluation and project promotion.
Polixeni (Polina) Papagiannopoulou: Driven by her love and compassion for every human being in our society, Polina Papagiannopoulou has studied Social Work at the Technical institute of Athens. She has completed her first practicum in the field of social services at the Childrens’ hospitals Paidon & Aglaia Kuriakou, her second in the Male’s department of Koridallos prison, while she has also worked as a trainee at the Social Services Department of Ag. Dimitrios Municipality. Currently (since November 2017) she is a Social Worker in the Οpen Refugees Camp in Malakasa, Greece. Motivated by her strong desire to be involved and constantly informed about socio-political issues, concerning all social groups, as well as to advance her understanding in human psychology, she has completed an extensive list of relevant seminars and workshops. These include a seminar cycle in ΚΕΘΕΑ-Στροφή, for the therapy and societal reintegration of drug-addicted persons, seminars on issues of
vulnerable social groups, children & adolescent psychology, the 2nd Scientific symposium on social work (Social Work for Social Justice and Social Change: Empowering people and Communities), a workshop about the aging society (Care of elderly future directions) in Sweden and Greece, from Umea University’s Department of social work, etc. Moreover, Polina has been trained in alternative education methodologies, through a 2-years program of theoretical and experiential workshops, organized by the center of psychotherapy and psychosocial rehabilitation “Mythia”, on Drama-therapy, that combines emotional therapy and empowerment with art. Finally, Polina is also a firm advocate of volunteerism as way of life. She shares her love for animals through independent support in actions for stray animals at the hotspots of Malakasa, while she is also a member of Amarantos village association that aims in the preservation of the local traditional customs and culture. Polinas' experiences make her the group's specialist in sensing the needs and perspectives of all kinds of people, from different sociocultural backgrounds, and the group's "educator", who has taken over the development of educational plans for non-formal education activities and the conflict-manager role.
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Mary Vlassopoulou has studied Biology in University of Crete, took her Master degree on Cognitive Neuroscience from Radboud University of Nijmegen and is currently a PhD candidate in Harokopeio University in Athens. She is passionate about raising awareness for mental health, especially among vulnerable groups, as well as increasing public awareness of environmental protection and enhancement, that can lead to the establishment of renewable energy sources and ultimately the reduction of individual and collective ecological footprint. As a member of the local community of the Ionian island of Ithaca , she supports the acceptance and integration of cultural diversity along with the preservation and diffusion of local traditions. Furthermore, she discovered that the principles of Erasmus+ program resonate with her own values, through her participation in 5 mobility programs and her experience as an Erasmus student in Bonn. Finally, she gained valuable experience and skills in event management and organization by contributing to
the organization of the “Universe and I” event in the National Observatory of Athens in May 2018, while she continues to enrich this skills-set through her active participation in the activities of a local youth group coordinated by Helenic Youth Participation organization. Mary’s scientific background, combined with her experiences, make her the great organizer, risk assessor and “budget calculator” of our group.
We are open to all the comments, remarks, suggestions, advice and collaboration proposals from friends and potential partners and from our National Agency. We keep our mind and heart always open to listen to you.
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Please feel free to contact us either via this page or by mail: seizethedaylk@gmail.com
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Contact person: Angelos Amarantos
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For more information about us you can check our PIF. Click in the pdf document HERE.
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