Born in Athens. Studied Industrial Engineering with postgraduate studies in Regional Planning. Twenty years of professional experience in upper management level positions in the Greek Industry.
From 2009 till 2011 Director of the Industrial Museum of Hermoupolis. From 2011 CEO of the multicultural place Technopolis City of Athens and from 2017 till 2019 President of the City of Athens Cultural, Sport and Youth Organization (OPANDA).
Has published several articles and studies about economy, industrial policies and culture.
Sessions in which Konstantinos Bitzanis participates
Tuesday 30 August, 2022
Sessions in which Konstantinos Bitzanis attends
Monday 29 August, 2022
Industrialization processes have been global from their very beginning. However, their interpretation still tends to be limited to specific locations or regions, and to specific time periods. Regularly, for example, it is stated that the industrial revolution started in Europe, from where it spread to the world, supposedly bringing technological and social progress to „less developed“ countries. Earlier periods of technology and knowledge transfer processes, that were already in place in t...
This session presents case studies and policy reviews that contribute to ongoing debate and international dialogue on the role of planning systems and conservation practices in addressing the challenges of citizen engagement—conserving local interests, place attachments alongside physical remnants of industrial heritage. Over the past half century, we have witnessed the development and changing focuses of urban planning and conservation discourses addressing industrial heritage. Relevant p...
Industrial heritage and photography have a close relationship. Photography is a source for industrial archaeology. It sheds light on the links between people, their tools, their machines and their workplaces. Once the industrial activity is over, photography is also a tool for documenting and studying the sites. But far beyond that, captured by artists capable of transcending common representations, conferring on industrial remains the ugliness of an era that was thought to be over, photog...
Si la vallée du canal de Lachine a été le berceau de l’industrialisation canadienne, la géographie industrielle métropolitaine ne s’y est pas confinée, peu s’en faut, Outre les grandes concentrations d’entreprises des quartiers centraux, elle est constituée des réseaux infrastructuraux, d’une douzaine de centrales hydroélectriques et des ensembles manufacturiers disséminés dans une quinzaine de petites villes aujourd’hui intégrées dans l’aire métropolitaine. La conférence proposera un surv...
Tuesday 30 August, 2022
This session will allow us to explore, through nine international case studies, the different strategies for the development of industrial heritage as well as their impacts on communities and their territory. The analysis of museums, cultural spaces, itineraries and urban developments will be an opportunity to highlight the questions of identity, meaning, relevance and impact that animate all the actors of this heritage in transformation.
Efforts to preserve industrial heritage occurs in a socio-economic and political context. But what is being preserved and for whom? And, relatedly, what is the relationship between industrial heritage sites and the deindustrialized working-class communities that often adjoin them? The keynote will consider the ways that the preservation of Montreal’s Lachine Canal, Canada’s premier industrial heritage site, has enabled gentrification processes that have forc...
Wednesday 31 August, 2022
Examples from several continents, in Europe, South America, North America, Turkey, show strong continuity in the objectives that govern the reuse of industrial buildings, for example the concern to take into account the industrial heritage as a resource for urban and territorial development, or the close links that it has with culture, whether it is used to house cultural facilities or more simply to bear witness to the history and memory of the place. Increasingly, policies for the reuse ...
The role of industrial heritage in urban development has been extensively acknowledged in guiding and legitimizing the policies and discourses implemented by governments mostly to ensure the continuity between the past, present and future. Mega-events such as sports (e.g. Olympics, World Cup, etc.), cultural (Universal Expositions and national Exhibitions), economic (trade and technology fairs) events are often opportunities used in a top-down process to reinforce the mobilization of the i...
Examples from several continents, in Europe, South America, North America, Turkey, show strong continuity in the objectives that govern the reuse of industrial buildings, for example the concern to take into account the industrial heritage as a resource for urban and territorial development, or the close links that it has with culture, whether it is used to house cultural facilities or more simply to bear witness to the history and memory of the place. Increasingly, policies for the reuse ...
The Soulanges Canal is an infrastructure, located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, which was opened to maritime traffic in 1900, succeeding the "old canal" of Beauharnois (established since 1843 on the north shore of the St. Lawrence). The Soulanges Canal was abandoned in 1959, when the current St. Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic opened.The Soulanges Canal was designed by the engineer Thomas Monro (1831-1903). Of Irish origin but trained in civil engin...
This tour offers an excursion on a privatized deck of Montreal's bateau-mouche; a playful guided tour that takes in some of the city's industrial landmarks from the St. Lawrence River.The tour is priced to cover additional costs; the fee includes access to the bateau-mouche, the tour and a drink.Departure will be on foot from the conference venue; boarding is at 3:45 p.m. at the l...
In this lecture, I would like to talk about deindustrialised communities, heritage and memory in the context of right-wing populism. Drawing on studies of memory and heritage, I argue that right-wing populists have cornered the market on talking about the past of deindustrialised communities. They have successfully misrepresented this rich and complex history to fuel rage, resentment, fear and reactionary nostalgia. Indeed, ‘the past’, and in particular the industr...
Thursday 1 September, 2022
From its construction to its restoration, immerse yourself in the now and then of this key Canadian industrial heritage site. A country’s central maritime route, a major inland port, the Canadian Lowell (using hydraulic power), the cradle of industrialization, Smokey Valley (using steam), a manufacturing hotspot, the Lachine Canal is all of this and more. For it is also a national historic site, for which
Examples from several continents, in Europe, South America, North America, Turkey, show strong continuity in the objectives that govern the reuse of industrial buildings, for example the concern to take into account the industrial heritage as a resource for urban and territorial development, or the close links that it has with culture, whether it is used to house cultural facilities or more simply to bear witness to the history and memory of the place. Increasingly, policies for the reuse ...
Friday 2 September, 2022
Walkers will meet at the entrance (there is only one) of Lionel Groulx Metro and from there walk along the canal to the St-Gabriel Locks. This was once the most heavily industrialized area in Canada. It is now a zone of affluence between the hardscrabble, but now gentrifying, Point Saint-Charles, historically Irish and French, and Little Burgundy, one of Montreal's first multi-racial neighbourhoods. Several former factories were converted into condominiums in the...
Saturday 3 September, 2022
Uncover the vestiges of the Canadian Pacifie Railway tracks and the former Angus Shops, which played integral raies in the industrial and residential development of Rosemont. This tour wi/1 give you insight into the industrial past of the neighbourhood and its new life bath as a place to live and to work.A tour designed and guided by Heritage Montreal. Departure at the corner of Rachel and Dézéry streets, 10 minutes walk from Prefontaine metro station
