VA2EL

¨I have been always an active citizen. Being involved in public issues is more than a duty¨

Paiania, a town near Athens with 13.000 inhabitants, in Attiki region

1. Please, introduce yourself. Why did you decide to become a local councillor?

I was born in a small village in a rural and poor area of Greece. I left the place to study in the University and become a nurse. I have worked as director of the nursing service in hospitals and the local health center where I still work. From the very beginning of my stay (1982) in Paiania I have been involved in parents associations and local health services on volunteer basis. My involvement in local affairs strongly supported my professional and social competences. I have been elected as municipal councilor since 1998 and I have the honor to be appointed as Deputy Mayor since January of 2009.

2. What did your experience as a local councillor bring you? Personally?

As I was actively involved in local affairs I thought it would be worth to stand for local councilor and participate in the decision making and implementation activities in my community. It is very important for me to intervene and solve the everyday difficulties my co-citizens face. My mandate offered me the opportunity to cooperate with colleagues from other municipalities in Greece and abroad and acquire a broader view of the field. Although it is terribly demanding to be a professional a mother and a local concillor I never regret for this choice because I think it definitely helped me in all these life fields.

3. Professionally – Did you have to make use of your professional skills? Did it help you develop new skills?

My professional competences supported my role as l.c. and vice versa. My mandate offered me the opportunity to face challenging situations and acquire new competences such as fund raising. I am very proud of our municipal nursery and primary schools which are funded by local enterprises. My mandate helped me to improve my foreign languageswhich is crucial for a Greek professional who should communicate with colleagues from other countries especially in the EU context which strengthened the cooperation dimension.

4. What do you expect of project va2el? Personally?

In my point of view the most important aspect of the project is that it motivated me to reflect on the learning experiences I had as an L.C. which I had never done before. The va2el portfolio consists a useful tool in this direction because it is adapted to our duties and the way they are related to the competences we have exercised in a systematic way. Its e form provides the opportunity to gather all documentation and update it constantly in a user friendly manner.

Professionally?

I regard the va2eL project as very challenging because all the things we have learned and the tasks we are able to perform, thanks to our mandate, have to be recognized, an issue very crucial for mutual recognition at EU level. This recognition in the professional career can create new pathways and become useful for the employer, either if it is an enterprise or the public sector. In my case, which is the latter, I may use the portfolio to request for a different post. This is important for me as well as my director because we can fully exploit the new competences and improve the services provided in our sector.

5. How are you going to use the personal/professional evaluation proposed by project Va2el?

I plan to start with completing the portfolio in both versions and update it every month. Maybe keeping a diary proves helpful. I will also motivate my younger colleagues in the community to use it as well because I think they need it more in order to improve their career.