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Architect and planner,
after graduating from MIT and the Athens Technical University.
Thymio established in
1958 the consulting firm “Thymio Papayannis and Associates Inc. -
Spatial planning and design”, which has been responsible for the
design of major projects in Greece and abroad.
He has been one of the
founders of WWF Greece (and its president from 1996 to 2004), the
Society for the Protection of Prespa (and has succeeded Luc Hoffmann
as its president in 2004) and has contributed to the establishment
of the Greek Biotope - Wetland Centre.
He is also a member of
the Board of the Tour du Valat and Sansouire Foundations in the
Camargue.
In 1991 he helped
launch the Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative (MedWet) under the
aegis of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971) and was its co-ordinator
until July 2001, and after that its senior advisor.
In 2001 and 2002 he
was a special advisor to the Secretary General of the Convention on
Wetlands, mainly responsible for the introduction of cultural
aspects of wetlands in the global work of the Convention.
In 2003 he has founded
the Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (Med-INA),
which he directs.
He has written
numerous articles and books on architecture and planning, nature
conservation and the environment, as well as sustainability.
With Tobias Salath, he
has written in 1999 the book Mediterranean wetlands at the dawn of
the 21st century. He has written a second book on Regional action
for wetlands: The Mediterranean experience 1991-2002, which was
published in view of Ramsar COP8, held in Valencia, Spain, in
November 2002.
He knows well Greek,
English and French, and is learning Spanish.
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