// SPEAKERS

Mr. George Hatzimarkos

Governor of South Aegean, the Region of Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups, Greece

George Hatzimarkos is the Governor of South Aegean, the Region of Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups. He has been elected Governor for the last two successive elections (2014 & 2019).

In 2020, he was also elected Chairman of the Solid Waste Management Authority of South Aegean, which is responsible for the implementation of measures and projects that promote the prioritization of waste management actions and tasks in South Aegean’s Islands, constructing new Waste Management Plants, supporting the municipalities to adapt and improve their waste management services, assuring involvement of all regional stakeholders for operating the new systems and raising awareness for involving citizens in waste separation, recycling, and circular economy.

As Governor of South Aegean, he passionately pursued politics for the protection of the environment, such as the "Keep Aegean Blue" campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of the new generation regarding the protection of the endless blue that surrounds the islands of the South Aegean. Committed to promoting sustainable development, green energy and innovation, the Region participates in 2 projects (Astypalea Project and GR-ECO Islands Project) which aim to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, while promoting sustainable development and green economy coupled to cutting-edge technologies.

Since 2020, George Hatzimarkos is also the President of the newly established «K2» S.A., the Development Enterprise of the South Aegean Region.

The same year, he became a member of the National Delegation of Greece in the European Committee of the Regions, in the Commissions of CIVEX (Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External affairs) and NAT (Commission for Natural Resources).

In 2019, he became President of the Committee of Tourism in the Association of Greek Regions of which he has also been a member of the Board of Directors since 2014.

He was the President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (May 2016 - May 2017). From 2014 to 2019, he was a member of the Board of Directors and member of the Executive Committee in the Association of Greek Regions.