Opening of the Project “Business Innovation Center – Cultural and Creative Industries Quarter – Restoration and Expansion of the Old Municipal Market”

Constantinos Yiorkadjis is the Mayor of Nicosia since January 2012. Over the last twelve years, the Mayor has been leading Nicosia’s regeneration initiative. His vision is enabling the city’s growth, leading the green transition, expanding the city’s digital transition and developing Nicosia into a friendlier, more sustainable and inclusive to all, aesthetically pleasing city for its inhabitants, visitors and for future generations. Prior to taking office and during his 17-year professional career Constantinos Yiorkadjis held various senior managerial positions in multinational corporations in Romania, Greece and Cyprus. He holds two bachelor’s degrees with distinction, one in Economics and one in Business Administration, both from Boston University.

Nikos Christodoulides was born on 6 December 1973 in Paphos. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Economics, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies from the City University of New York, Queens College, and a Master’s degree in Political Science from New York University. He holds a doctorate from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens. He was a career diplomat between 1999 and 2018. During this time, he served, inter alia, as Consul General at the High Commission of the Republic of Cyprus in the United Kingdom, as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Cyprus in Greece and as Spokesperson of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU at the Permanent Mission of Cyprus in Brussels. He also served as Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus (2013-2018) and as Government Spokesman (2014-2018). On 1st March 2018 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position which he held until his resignation on 11 January 2022. Between 2007 and 2010 he was a Lecturer and Research Associate at the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Cyprus in the subject of History of the Postwar World. He is the author of the books Plans for Solution of the Cyprus Problem 1948-1978 (2009), Relations between Athens and Nicosia and the Cyprus Problem, 1977-1988 (2013), and Geopolitical Realities in the Plans for Solution of the Cyprus Problem 1948-1978 (2021). On February 12, 2023, he won the Presidential Elections with a percentage of 51.97% and assumed his duties as the 8th President of the Republic of Cyprus.

Themis Christophidou is the Director-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission, since September 2023. She is a civil engineer with 38 years of experience in private and public sector management. After having worked in the private sector for 15 years, she joined the European Commission in 2001. During the last 20 years she has held various positions, including in the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, as Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and as Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. From March 2018 until September 2023 she was Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission. Themis Christophidou is an alumna of the civil engineering faculty of the Metsovio Polytechnic University of Athens. Born in Famagusta, Cyprus, she is trilingual, fluent in Greek, English and French.

Yiorgos L. Chrysanthou is a Professor at the Computer Science Department of the University of Cyprus and the General Director of the CYENS Centre of Excellence. He has been involved in the setup of the Centre since the beginning and was the Research Director for the first four years. He has published over 90 papers in journals and international conferences on computer graphics and virtual reality and is a co-author of the book “Computer Graphics and Virtual Environments: From Realism to Real-Time”, (Addison-Wesley 2001). He served as the local or overall coordinator of over 25 research projects, related to his research interests, that lie in the general area of 3D Computer Graphics, recently focusing more on the development of algorithms for real-time AR and VR rendering, reconstruction of urban environments and computer animation. Over the years, Yiorgos has supported a number of start-up companies with his technical expertise.

Nicosia, the semi-occupied, divided capital of Cyprus is a rewarding destination. It combines a rich historical past with the fast-growing pace and vibrant buzz of a modern European capital. The city has been the administrative, political, economic, financial and cultural heart of Cyprus for over a millennium. It boasts an ever-increasing number of higher education institutions, Medical Schools and is home to the largest academic and student communities in the island. The Nicosia Municipality’s vision is to shape Nicosia into a dynamic European capital of prospect and opportunities. Respectful of its local identity while at the same time evolving into the future as a friendlier, more sustainable, greener, cleaner and aesthetically pleasing city for its inhabitants, its visitors and more importantly for future generations. In the last decade, the Municipality developed the strategic Area Scheme for the Nicosia Central Area which includes a number of Planning Policy Incentives ensuring transparency in its urban development planning system. At the same time, it has invested heavily into:

• improving the city’s infrastructure, transforming large public spaces and creating streets and street networks that encourage walking, cycling and public transport use in an effort to reduce car dependency and the health problems it creates.
• making Nicosia the smartest city in Cyprus
• strengthening Nicosia’s position as a city of culture
• and fostering the development of an inclusive innovation hub and vibrant creativity ecosystem at the heart of the city.