Guest Speaker Dr. Pigaki Maria (founding member of DIPYLON): The Digital Enhancement of the Ancient Topography of Athens through GIS and ESG indicators
The guest lecture by Dr. Maria Pigaki (School of Rural, Surveying and Geoinformatics Engineering, National Technical University of Athens / "Dipylon" Society) at our Postgraduate Program was held with absolute success and active student participation. The lecture was organized within the framework of the course "Sustainable Cultural Development and Environment Social Governance for Digital Cities".
The topic of the presentation, "Digital Enhancement of the Ancient Topography of Athens using GIS, StoryMaps, and ESG - A Case Study of the Dipylon Society Projects", focused on modern methods of digital management and promotion of cultural heritage, analyzing the relationship between spatial perception and technology.
The lecture was structured around three main thematic sections:
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Space, Heritage, Representation: The discussion explored how traces of the past are organized through location and proximity. The speaker raised crucial questions regarding how the experience of space is altered when transformed into a digital representation.
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Technology, Criteria & ESG: The criteria for recording and evaluating monuments were presented, with a special emphasis on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) indicators. These indicators were analyzed as the essential framework for the sustainability and good governance of digital culture projects.
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Application & Participatory Exercise: The theoretical framework was put into practice through an interactive exercise. The MSc students used the Survey123 tool to fill out ESG indicators and participated in a fruitful dialogue around the dilemma: "Digital enhancement versus physical intervention".
The Directorate and the teaching staff of the MSc Program would like to warmly thank Dr. Pigaki for her excellent presentation and her practical contribution to cultivating critical and synthetic thinking in our students. Such initiatives strengthen the continuous connection of our Program with leading research and scientific institutions in the country.
Short Bio
Maria Pigaki is a PhD in Cartography, Paris-Diderot University (2000). Her research area focuses on “Syntactic Analysis of Space”. Laboratory Teaching Staff (EDIP A’) at the School of Agronomists & Surveyors Eng.-Geoinformatics Eng.
Department of Geography & Regional Planning at the National Technical University of Athens.
She has taught Cartography, Geographic Information Systems, Thematic Cartography and Syntactic Analysis of Space in higher education at domestic Universities (NTUA, NKUA, TEI of Athens), and is a Visiting Professor at Paris-Diderot University (Paris 7). She participates in research programs, national and international conferences and has published over 30 papers in scientific journals. He also contributes chapters to collective volumes. He is President of the Hellenic Geographical Society (EGE) since 2022 and a member of European Geographers' Associations (EUROGEO, EUGEO). He has organized conferences, scientific meetings and seminars in Greece and abroad. He has published two books, "Atlas of Greece", Publications: HELLENIC LETTERS with cartographic material for Primary and Secondary Schools and the book "Enseigner la Cartographie" by Editions Universitaires Europeennes (EUE,2011).
05 Mar 2026
