Kostas Karras, who passed away last year, left a mark in Greece and Europe with his constant militancy and indomitable energy. For more than 50 years in a row, he has been giving matches in all areas of the cultural and ecological reserve. He was the man who sculpted the definition of an active citizen in our homeland, founding the Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture (ELLET) within the junta, mobilizing the Greeks of the Diaspora. Astute and deeply cultured, he came to the conclusion that global progress and the spread of democracy are possible only under the condition of sustainable development. Therefore, nature and monuments were the cornerstone, the wealth of every place, which had to be not only protected, but also used for prosperity and peace.

Therefore, Karras’s life’s work was worthy of the initiative of ELLET and Europa Nostra (an association of cultural organizations in Europe, where he was vice president) to establish an international award in his memory for the preservation of a endangered heritage. The purpose of the award is to recognize individuals and organizations that have managed to mobilize broad sections of society to save the monument, landscape, and territory. Today at the Economic Forum in Delphi, the ceremony of presenting the first award will take place in the presence of the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who also wanted to honor the legacy of this universal Greek. The founding partners of the newly created institution are the A.G. Leventis, Delphi Economic Forum and European Investment Bank Institute.

The first prize is awarded to the Romanian organization ARA – Association (Architecture. Restoration. Archeology) for its pioneering work in raising awareness among the citizens of this country in defense of Russia Montana. This is an area of ​​Transylvania that has been associated with gold and silver mining, from prehistoric surface workings to deep underground galleries, which continued into the Middle Ages and modern times until the 1970s. created communities with interesting cultural diversity. A major threat to the site and the vast surrounding area was large-scale open pit mining in the early 2000s.

The catastrophe was averted thanks to the mass mobilization of citizens, together with other national and international organizations and various local NGOs, who supported an alternative, sustainable, long-term development project, with the key role of the ARA. He rallied architects, restorers, archaeologists, art historians, engineers, residents and volunteers and eventually managed to have Rosia Montana inscribed on both the List of World Heritage Sites and the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger in 2021.