With initiatives such as coastal cleanups, the AKTI Project and Research Center focuses its strategy on the economy, society and environment.
The AKTI Project and Research Center in Cyprus marks 25 years of volunteer environmental action, having grown into one of Europe’s leading environmental organizations with partners in 50 countries and numerous international awards. Founded in Nicosia in 2000 by engineers Xenia Loizidou and Michalis Loizidis, the nonprofit has operated without government funding, relying on international organizations and private donors while creating jobs for young scientists.
Its campaign “Potavristou” (“Extend your hand”), in the Cypriot dialect, has mobilized 13,500 volunteers on 1,670 coasts worldwide to remove litter. Another initiative, “Tiganokinisi,” places barrels in schools for students to collect used cooking oil. The oil is sold to Dutch refineries and converted to biodiesel, generating about a million euros for green school projects such as solar installations and herb gardens.
AKTI also conducts microplastics field research at 10 beaches. Loizidou warns the Med faces the world’s highest plastic pollution levels and increasing erosion due to rising seas and stronger storms.