Hello everyone! I am Dimitris Mitrogiorgos, I am a 23-year-old post-graduate student from Arta, Greece and I’m currently volunteering in the CRADLES (Creating Resilient Areas to Develop Lifecycles and Ecosystem Services) project as part of the Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) programme at the University of Ioannina. Having studied computer science at the university, the program gave me the opportunity to apply my knowledge and gain work experience while also producing valuable marine data about the Gulf of Ambracia and the Adriatic-Ionian region.

CRADLES is an EU‑backed effort uniting seven Adriatic‑Ionian countries to restore the shallow coastal and freshwater “nurseries” where young fish and invertebrates grow. Hit hard by pollution, habitat loss and climate change, these vital wetlands are being mapped, studied and brought back to life using both cutting‑edge science and time‑tested local methods. Partners of the project pilot innovative restoration techniques—from replanting native vegetation to boosting water quality—and share what works through workshops and online toolkits. By tackling nursery conservation across borders, the project not only safeguards biodiversity and supports local communities but also captures carbon as these wetlands recover, making CRADLES a first‑of‑its‑kind regional initiative.  

In my three months as a volunteer, I was tasked with parsing satellite images of the region, tracking long and short term environmental changes and noting seasonal patterns, all the while keeping up with the latest research and remote sensing methods to get the most accurate results. The data that has been gathered can be used to monitor sea health as well as prevent contaminations and harmful algal blooms.

Thank you for reading about my experience!