Metsovo is situated in a region rich in renewable energy. However, the high thermal loads in combination with its dependence on conventional fuels make it vulnerable to the problem of energy poverty.

Based on the settlement’s special requirements of thermal energy and after studying thethermal images of various houses, in order to specify the energy behavior of residences, eight different alternatives about energy saving have been formulated. For each one of the alternatives, the economic and environmental benefits, as well as the cost of the investments have been estimated. A feasibility study of the alternatives has also been conducted aiming at enlightening the strong and weak points of the proposed interventions.

The exploitation of the available forest biomass proved to be the most effective solution in terms of investment. Combined with interventions in the buildings shell in order to upgrade their energy behavior, it can contribute decisively to overcome the danger of energy poverty.

Vernacular architecture constitutes a special element of any local place. One important threat of it is the unsuccessful mixture and placement of architectural elements and new buildings into the traditional settlement. The mountainous town of Metsovo represents a typical example of a degraded settlement, due to irrational growth. Many districts of it are characterized by an aesthetic and functional degradation. Year after year, urban type buildings seem to consume space over a formerly strong local architectural tradition. The main street of Metsovo that leads from the town’s entrance to the central square is characterized by a severe degradation of its architectural identity. Fourteen buildings along it have been studied. Their main facades’ renovation is presented in this paper along with its analytical cost accounting. Photos of the current buildings’ situation along with perspective drawings of the design proposals are presented. The main causes of the architectural degradation are pointed out. Design proposals being in accordance with the existing building uses are characterized by relatively low cost, thus successfully confronting the main argument against their realization. Through the design procedure’s analysis and documentation a methodology of handling similar design issues is being developed.

Τzoumerka is a hard to reach extended mountain range with rich natural and cultural resources. The region’s main economic activities are stock farming and tourism. It is widely acceptable that development actions and motives applied in past years have not attributed the expected outcomes. Consequently, the search for optimal development choices remains a question. However, the exercise of imagination for a better future that is sometimes reported also as “visioning” is structural element in the search of worth-living integrated development.

According to this direction, in this paper, the social representations of the residents of the Tzoumerka region for the future region development are investigated, in order to recognize them as a phenomenon that testify social dynamics, which we should point out as objectively as possible. The research was based on a qualitative interpretive approach. The techniques used were those of interview, Focus Groups and the method of free associations. The inquiring effort was focused in professionals, residents of region. The questions were distinguished in two central axes. The first axis included questions that aimed to determine the expected future and the second questions that aimed to determine the preferred future. For tracking of representative elements, the criterion of intense presence was used, by analyzing the data that resulted from our research and drawing data from other quantitative research (Rokos, 2004).

The comparison of elements that resulted from the vision of the expected and preferred future, determined the dreams, the expectations but also the fears of the region’s residents. The improvement of accessibility, employment and the building of infrastructure constituted the representative elements with the largest frequency, but they were set in contestation by the belief that “few things can change”. The wish for qualitative support of tourism receded by the fear of the creation of competitive tourism exploitations. The wish for essential support and briefing of farmers was obscured by the fear of repetition of the last years’ insipid subsidy policy. The expectation for the rendering of the real life’s culture receded by the fears of the continuing abandonment and the weak bonds of the youngsters with the region. The wish for the protection and the maintenance of the natural environment in region was overshadowed from the fears caused by the big green investments.

Elderly people, especially in the mountainous areas of Tzoumerka, face many difficulties in their everyday life. These mainly concern their contact with public services, their medical care, their feelings of solidarity and marginalization, as well as the lack of their participation in public issues. This study aims at recording and further analyzing the main social and every day problems of the aged people, in Tzoumerka, as well as the reasons that kept these people to their villages and prevented them from migration. The results were based on interviews with open – type questionnaires of several aged people of the region.