As a group of academics and entomologists, we had the idea of offering a summer school to European students for the grasshoppers’ world. We had no project to rely on, but the Feraki Fund supported it to the best of its ability. We had a real willingness and enthusiasm to make it happen. Our Lab had a central role in organizing the event. All professors and instructors took part voluntarily. Students and professors privately paid their expenses to come to Greece. We organized it in the beautiful town of Konitsa, in the heart of Vikos-Aoos Geopark, with a fantastic excursion to the thermal springs of Amarandos and Plikati, enjoying the scenic beauty of the mountains. An intensive program, much new knowledge, exams, but also much fun, beautiful nature, river swimming, parties, local drinks and of course many grasshoppers singing and dancing under our feet… July of 2023 was unforgettable.
A year has passed, and only memories were left from this fantastic week with so many nice young fellows with promising entomological careers…We learned with surprise that our students presented their summer school experience at an international congress in Italy in July of 2024. Then, a full report under the title “1st European Summer School on Orthoptera Taxonomy and Conservation“, written by Nefeli, Efstratios and Sophie, on behalf of all students, came out and uploaded just last week on Research Gate. Read the report here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/386166907_First_European_Summer_School_on_Orthoptera_Taxonomy_and_Conservation
We are moved by our students’ initiative and thank them deeply for this gift. We are proud to be their professors and wish them to continue in their personal and professional lives with the same ethos and enthusiasm! One thing is for sure: the summer school remained in their hearts.
Stay tuned! In July 2025, BCL will organize another summer school for Orthoptera bioacoustics (TEOSS project). We just started the organization, and we will apply again for the venue in the beautiful Konitsa. Another summer school on butterfly monitoring will follow in 2026.
Acknowledgments: The summer school was co-organized by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Netherlands) and BCL of the Department of Biological Applications and Technology of the University of Ioannina under the auspices of the Distributed European School of Taxonomy-DEST. The event was kindly hosted by the municipality of Konitsa, offering accommodation to our students, and the venue was kindly offered by the Center of Environmental Education of Konitsa. The Feraki Fund financially supported the event, with the contribution of the University of Ioannina and the Vikos-Aoos Unesco Global Geopark. Many people apart from the five core teachers contributed and we are thankful to them.
