Traditionally, the local economy of mountain areas, both in Greece and in the rest of Europe, is based mainly on agriculture and forestry and is characterized by small landholdings and an extensive family-based informal economy. Nevertheless, in recent years tourists have re-discovered mountains, attracted by their natural and cultural environment, and mountain regions have become among the top tourist destinations all over the world.

The purpose of this study is the analysis of the requirements for the development of not only a simple winter ski center but rather an all-season activities park, open all year long in the area of Tzoumerka. A literature review about the evolution of ski-related activities in Greece is first presented. Then, the specifications for the establishment of winter ski centers are analyzed and useful information is given about the new centers, which are under development, additionally to the fifteen existing ones.

The energy dependence of Greece on natural gas is expected to rise gradually in the following years. However, there is an absence of the necessary storage facilities that could support this. Therefore, the necessity of their construction becomes greater and greater. The present paper aims at studying the underground storage areas for natural gas, within artificial salt cavern complexes. It provides a general report on natural gas storage, mainly in the US and Europe. Furthermore, a review on the artificial creation of caverns within salt formations is presented.

In this report, it is tried to approach the case of the road connection between the Egnatia Odos motorway and the mountainous area of Tzoumerka. Firstly, the necessity for the construction of this road connection is explored, as far as its general importance for the wider region of Tzoumerka. Then, the existing condition of the road network of the region is indicated and the problems that locally occur are detected. Furthermore, an estimation of the environmental impacts of the project, regarding to its construction and its operation is projected.

The possibilities of applying energy saving measures in vernacular buildings are examined in this paper. A traditional hostel, in the mountainous Greek village of Kalarrytes, is used as a case study.

The thermal losses of the hostel are initially calculated. After detecting the most crucial factors affecting the energy efficiency of the building, six different energy saving scenarios are formed. The amounts of the conserved energy, the costs, as far as the financial and environmental benefits of each scenario are, then, assessed.

In this study the possibility of covering the energy demands of pastoralists in the wider area of Tzoumerka range through the utilization of renewable energy resources is studied. At first, a short reference to the contribution of pastoralism in the area is made. Then the average of the essential energy demands is estimated in order to accommodate the stopover/ staying of the pastoralist on the mountain. The solar and wind potential of the area is specified accompanied with the respective sizing of autonomous systems of photovoltaics, small wind turbine and hybrid system.