Based on the island of Tinos, in the Cyclades of the Aegean Archipelago, we experience firsthand the issues that small island communities face every day. Otonom is conceived as a platform through which we can engage more effectively with these challenges.
We see the resilience and wellbeing of rural communities as interlinked with the protection of ecosystems’ balance and biodiversity, including ecosocial, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. Our aim is to strengthen the resilience of small rural communities by focusing on climate change adaptation, sustainable development, regenerative agriculture and cultural enrichment of the residents' daily lives.
Through creative partnerships of art, science and technology in the expanded cultural field, we conceive, design and produce concrete actions and projects that stem from and engage with small community needs, while addressing environmental issues of global concern.
Our approach blends design and creativity, scientific research and technological applications with traditional, site-specific knowledge to produce hands-on, applicable solutions. Our aim is to connect diverse methodologies and practices, voices and ideas in order to address environmental, cultural and societal challenges. Through learning and creating, workshops and collaborations, open celebrations and public exhibitions Otonom aims to spark dialogue and action towards resiliency and sustainability.
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Otonom was established in 2024 by artists Ioannis Koliopoulos and Paola Palavidi, who have been working at the intersections of art, science and technology as Hypercomf since 2017.
Here are some of the challenges experienced by small island communities that we plan to focus on in future projects:
Climate Change
Islands in the Eastern Mediterranean are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. In the case of the Cycladic islands, this manifests in an increasingly arid climate characterised by extreme water shortage, land erosion, loss of biodiversity and desertification.
Water Scarcity
Small islands have limited freshwater resources. The steep increase in water consumption due to overtourism is stressing these resources tremendously, and is further affected by droughts, leading to water shortage for ecosystems, local residents and small-scale agriculture.
Biodiversity Loss
Small Islands and the Aegean Archipelago host unique and fragile ecosystems that are threatened by habitat destruction, invasive species, and climate change, resulting in a significant loss of biodiversity.
Waste Management
Efficient waste disposal and recycling are challenging due to limited space and resources. The lack of environmentally-friendly waste management solutions leads to increasing land, freshwater and sea pollution, and the accumulation of waste increases health hazards.
Overtourism
The extreme number of seasonal visitors and the consumerist culture of tourism strain local resources and infrastructure, damage the landscape and degrade natural environments, stress rural communities and erode cultural heritage. Τourism has long exceeded the island’s bearing capacity, with serious impacts on the wellbeing of the permanent residents, the sustainability of the island’s environment and the preservation of its particular cultural traits.
Exclusive Dependence on Tourism
Heavy reliance on tourism for easy profit doesn’t lead to stability but makes small islands more vulnerable to financial fluctuations and travel market trends. The exclusive dependence on mass tourism negatively affects the variety of employment options, the wellbeing of local residents and the sustainability of small-scale, nutrient-rich, high-quality local food production.
Cultural Erosion
Located at the center of the Aegean Archipelago, the Cycladic islands’ complex has been a particularly resilient and fertile cultural environment for thousands of years. Tinos still retains significant material and immaterial elements of this cultural heritage, imprinted on the islands’ architecture and landscape (xerolithies dry stone walls), its culinary customs and high-quality agricultural produce, the local music and idiom, handcrafts and feasts. However, these are also threatened by overtourism and unsustainable development, leading to the erosion of both cultural heritage and popular immaterial culture.
Social Erosion
The remaining local rural communities of the island face considerable challenges with climate overheating, globalisation and mass touristification. Combined with Greece’s general demographic problem of population decline, which is particularly serious in rural areas, these challenges become quasi existential. Due to geographical and social isolation, small islands’ communities often struggle with inadequate education and health services, and a very limited cultural offer.
Desertification
In the farmlands of the Cycladic Islands, a small-scale agro-ecological way of perfectly adapted living flourished for thousands of years. These once resilient agricultural ecosystems are threatened by mass touristification, abuse of resources and unsustainable agriculture methods, as well as rising temperatures and water scarcity.
Energy Dependence
Most small islands rely on imported fossil fuels and electricity for energy, which is costly and environmentally damaging. Responsible and realistic transitioning to renewable energy sources, including small-scale solutions for energy autonomy, are a necessary first step for sustainable development.
Food insecurity
Eroded and limited arable land, water scarcity, extreme weather conditions, and the economic non viability of small-scale farming, beekeeping and fishing as professions, hamper local agriculture. Bee and fish numbers, as well as other edible marine species, are recorded at an all time low. Unless they maintain environmentally sustainable, regenerative farming practices, small rural communities will not be able to achieve food security in the near future.