Staff Profiles

I am an archaeologist / heritage manager working on landscape heritage and digital tools, politics in heritage and community involvement and heritage commons.

I studied classical archaeology at the University of Athens and after my MA studies (UCL 2005, Managing Archaeological Sites) I worked extensively as a consultant in Greece, focusing on sustainable strategies in heritage management and the role of local communities, thematics of my PhD (University of Athens 2013).

I work with NGOs (I am one of the founding members of MONUMENTA NGO and the project manager of the 14-year-long “Local Communities & Monuments” programme) and university departments on various cultural informatics projects, heritage management projects and excavations. I have also worked at the Greek Ministry of Culture (Acropolis Restoration Project: 2007-2008 and Directorate of the National Archive of Monuments 2014-2015). At MONUMENTA, we are currently (2013-) working on a public inventory of the 19th and 20th c. buildings in Athens, recording architectural heritage and related archives and oral history with crowdsourcing and co-curating tools.

In 2017, I completed my MSCA-IF at Newcastle University dealing with landscape heritage (characterisation, reception and management) and in 2019 the AHRC Cultural Value Follow on scheme "Co-creating Heritage: Bottom up planning for heritage management in rural areas", producing an alternative management approach for rural monuments and landscapes. As part of my AHRC Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship the next year, a new open-access, mobile digital tool was produced to aid in outdoors ethnographic research and dialogue on heritage: RESCAPER is now available for iOS & Android devices.

I am an advocate of 'heritage commons' and have considerably contributed in the development of the field, which is now springing up as an academic sub-discipline  and a sociocultural potential. In 2020, my edited volume "Cultural heritage in the realm of the commons; Conversations on the case of Greece" was published by Ubiquity Press.

I am currently working on a monograph about cultural politics and heritage management during the Asia Minor War (1919-1922) and developing a project on islands and landscape change in 19th and early 20th c.

In my spare time I seek scattered truths among things and people.

Google scholar: Click here.

...

Research Interests

• Cultural heritage management & sustainable development
• Island and littoral landscapes & seascapes
• Cultural Informatics
• Heritage commons
• Public archaeology & interpretation
• Politics in heritage
• Archaeological Ethnography

Current activities - posts

• Research Associate at Institute of Archaeology - Centre of Applied Archaeology, UCL, UK
• Visiting Fellow at the Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, CA
• Creative Director at MAZOMOS Landscape and Heritage Consultants BVBA, BG
• Founding Member of the NGO MONUMENTA, for the protection of natural and architectural heritage of Greece and Cyprus, GR
• Founding Member of the Association of Heritage Consultants, GR. Elected president: 2014-2018
• Member of the Council for Architectural Heritage, Elliniki Etairia NGO, Society for the Preservation of the Environment and Cultural Heritage, GR
• Europa Nostra’s assessor (EU Prize Scheme for Cultural Heritage - Europa Nostra Awards), BE
• Member of the research team (University of Athens): For the excavation and publication of the ‘Diogeneion Gymnasion’ archaeological site in Athens, GR
• Member of the World Archaeological Congress | Former member of the Student Committee (WACSC)  (2006-2013), UK
• Member of the European Archaeology Association (2009-), CZ

Grants & Scholarships (selection)

• AHRC Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship (2019)
• Research Centre for the Humanities for the Asia Minor heritage politics project (2019)
  
• British Institute At Ankara Research Funding for the Asia Minor heritage politics project (2018) 
• Newcastle University Institute for Social Renewal (2018)
• AHRC Follow on for rural heritage (2017-2018)
• Marie-Curie Fellow (2015-2017)
• Stavros Niarchos Foundation for MONUMENTA historic building research (2013-) 
• A.G. Leventis Foundation for the MuA Project (2010-2013) 
  
• Initiative for Heritage Conservancy (2010)
• Centre for the Classical World Study Grants, UCL (2005)
• State Scholarship Foundation (2004-2008)

Adjunct Lecturer

• MA in Social and Solidarity Economy, Hellenic Open University Course: The Commons: An alternative paradigm (lectures, seminars, practicals)(2017-2021)
• MA in Cultural Policy and Development, Open University of Cyprus | Course: Cultural Policy and Cultural Management (2015-2018, 2020)
• MA Archaeology, City, Architecture, University of Athens | Course: The legal framework in managing cultural heritage and practical aspects (2015-2016)
• MA in Heritage Management, University of Kent and the Athens University of Economics and Business | Courses: Public Archaeology (2014), Introduction to archaeology (2014-2015)

• Articles

  • Kinnaird T, Abellan Santisteban J, Brandolini F, Carlton R, Carrer F, Civantos J-M, Duggan M, Holcomb J, Lekakis S, Ramos Rodriguez B, Salazar Ortiz N, Sánchez-Pardo J, Sevara C, Snyder JR, Shillito L-M, Silva Sanchez N, Srivastava A, Turner A, Turner S. Unearthing the histories of agrarian landscapes: a research framework for Terraces as Sustainable Environments. Geoarchaeology 2025, 40(2), e70004.
  • Lekakis S. Cultural Policy and Public Engagement with Modern Architectural Heritage in Greece: An Empirical Analysis. Cities 2024, 162, 105925.
  • Lekakis S, Pantzou N. The region of Mt. Lykaion: an ethnographic approach. In: Romano,D;M.Voyatzis,M, ed. Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project. American School of Classical Studies in Athens, 2016. In Preparation.
  • Lekakis S. Asia Minor Archaeologies: Alternative research, interpretations and uses of monuments in the early 20th c.. AURA 2024. Submitted.
  • Van Duijvenvoorde J, Fairclough G, Lekakis S, Meier T, Turner S, Vuletic N. The importance of landscape for identity in the aftermath of devastation and dislocation past and present. Journal of European Landscapes 2023, 4(1), 1-9.
  • Dragouni M, Lekakis S. Co-creating the future of heritage in-the-making: Empirical evidence from community deliberation at Naxos Island, Greece. International Journal of Heritage Studies 2023, 29(4), 294-313.
  • Lekakis S. “Here be dragons”: Historical and contemporary archaeology and heritage in the Aegean Sea. Historical Archaeology 2023, 57, 1269-1284.
  • Dragouni M, Lekakis S, Sakellariadi A, Touloupa S. Σχετικά με τις πρόσφατες επεμβάσεις στην Ακρόπολη: Σκέψεις και προβληματισμοί από τη σκοπιά της πολιτιστικής διαχείρισης. Κριτικές Μελέτες για την Πολιτιστική Κληρονομιά 2021, 1(1), 1-8.
  • Turner S, Kinnaird T, Koparal E, Lekakis S, Sevara C. Landscape archaeology, sustainability and the necessity of change. World Archaeology 2020, 52(4), 589-606.
  • Lekakis S, Dragouni M. Heritage in the making: Rural heritage and its mnemeiosis at Naxos island, Greece. Journal of Rural Studies 2020, 77, 84-92.
  • Lekakis S. Forum: Chatting about the future of public archaeology : Archaeology for the Public in Greece Minus/plus Ten . AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology 2020, 10, 105-108.
  • Lekakis S, Dragouni M. Can cultural economy be social? Discussing about the rural heritage of Greece. Greek Review of Social Research 2020, 155, 99-120.
  • Lekakis S, Lekakis I, Lekakis V. A war song from Naxos and its historical references. Naxiaka 2020, 10, 333-345.
  • Lekakis S, Dragouni M. Από τα μνημεία στα τοπία: Η αγροτική κληρονομιά της Νάξου ως πολιτιστική κληρονομιά "υπό δημιουργία" [From monuments to landscapes: Rural heritage of Naxos as cultural heritage "in the making"]. Naxiaka 2019, 8, 243-254.
  • Lekakis S. The archaeology of in-between places; Finds under the Ilissos River bridge in Athens. Journal of Greek Media & Culture 2019, 5(2), 151-184.
  • Lekakis Stelios, Shakya Shobhit, Kostakis Vasilis. Bringing the Community Back: A Case Study of the Post-Earthquake Heritage Restoration in Kathmandu Valley. Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2798.
  • Lekakis S. Το Κάστρο τ'Απαλίρου^. Σημειώσεις από το πεδίο. Ναξιακά Γράμματα 2015, 17, 9-16.
  • Lekakis S. Η διαχείριση της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς σε τοπικό επίπεδο^. αντιλήψεις και χρήσεις της στο Αιγαίο και τη νήσο Νάξο. Ναξιακά 2012, 2, 155-188.
  • Lekakis S. Αρχιτεκτονική Κληρονομιά σε Κίνδυνο. Το πρόγραμμα Μνημεία υπό Απειλή. Ηλιαία 84 2012, 84, 33-34.
  • Lekakis S. Distancing and Rapproching: Local Communities & Monuments in the Aegean Sea. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 2012, 15(1), 76-93.
  • Lekakis S. ‘Going Local in a Global World’; Locating the public and evaluating the synchronic context in archaeological resources management. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 2008, 10(4), 308-319.
  • Lekakis S. Τα μνημεία και η ιστορία της αρχαιολογίας στη Νάξο. Ναξιακά 2007, 26 (64), 30-37.
  • Lekakis S. Αρχαιοκαπηλία και τοπικές κοινωνίες στις Κυκλάδες το 18^ο και το 19^ο αι. Ναξιακά 2006, 20 (58), 7-19.

• Book Chapters

  • Dragouni M, Lekakis S. Περιφερειακή ανάπτυξη και πολιτιστική κληρονομιά: τα μνημεία ως τουριστικά αξιοθέατα ή κοινά αγαθά. In: Aggeliki Mitropoulou, ed. Τουρισμός: Μεταξύ αυτοματισμών και δημόσιων πολιτικών. Eκδόσεις του Ινστιτούτου Εναλλακτικών Πολιτικών ΕΝΑ, 2025. Submitted.
  • Chatzikonstantinou K, Lekakis S. Trabajar con lo invisible: los recintos subterráneos del terror en Atenas. El caso del sótano del edificio la Seguridad Social. In: M.ª Isabel Cabrera García, David Martín López, Miguel Ángel Espinosa Villegas, ed. Patrimonio, cultura artística y poderes autoritarios en Europa. Una lectura desde el presente. Sevilla: Editorial Universidad de Sevilla, 2024, pp.271-290.
  • Lekakis S, Paschalidis K. The archaeological policy of the Greece state in Asia Minor 1919-1922. The characteristics of a parallel expedition. In: Tsouli,C;Chidiroglou,M;Paschalidis,K, ed. Department of Archaeology in Smyrna. The Greek Archaeological Service in Asia Minor, 1919-1922. Hellenic Organisation of Cultural Resources Development, 2024. Submitted.
  • Lekakis S. Landscape Heritage and the Commons Potential. The Case of the Aegean Sea. In: Diamantis Panagiotopoulos, Fabienne Wallenwein, Georg Mildenberger and Gudrun-Christine Schimpf, ed. Cultural Landscapes as Resource for the Revitalization of Cultural Heritage and a Sustainable Regional Development. Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2024, pp.37-44.
  • Lekakis S. ‘Building a new world in the shell of the old’. Historic building squats and heritage commons. The case of Rosa Nera at Chania, Crete. In: Gönül Bozoğlu, Gary Campbell, Laurajane Smith, Christopher Whitehead, ed. The Routledge International Handbook of Heritage and Politics. Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2024, pp.505-527.
  • Lekakis S. Η σκοτεινή ύλη της Σπιναλόγκας. Διαχείριση μνημείων και κοινωνική δικαιοσύνη. In: Plantzos D, ed. Τα μνημεία των Άλλων. Ανεπιθύμητες κληρονομιές στις παρυφές της μνήμης και της λήθη. Athens: Nefeli, 2023, pp.33-47.
  • Lekakis S, Pantzou P. Μνήμη, ταυτότητα και τοπικές κοινωνίες. Ο ρόλος της αρχαιολογικής εθνογραφίας στη διαχείριση της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς. In: Vlizos S; Pantzou N, ed. Διαχείριση και ανάδειξη χώρων και μνημείων. Athens: Διάδραση, 2021, pp.29-52.
  • Galani l, Lekakis S. The Heritage of Trauma: Commemorative Monuments of the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece. In: O’Reilly G, ed. Places of Memory and Legacies in an Age of Insecurities and Globalization. Berlin: Springer, 2020, pp.459-477.
  • Manolopoulou V, Lekakis S, Jackson M, Turner S. Microcosm to landscape: the church called Theoskepasti and the environs of Apalirou. In: J. Crow and D. Hill, ed. Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean: Insular Responses to Regional Change. Athens, Greece: Norwegian Institute at Athens, 2018, pp.239-254.
  • Lekakis S, Chatzikonstantinou K. Σχόλιο για τη διαχείριση της νεότερης -προβιομηχανικής-κληρονομιάς στα νησιά του Αιγαίου. In: Chatzikonstantinou,K, ed. Αμοργός Διαδρομές Νερού: Παραδοσιακή διαχείριση υδατικών πόρων και η βιώσιμη προοπτική της. Athens, Greece: Εκδόσεις Ελληνικής Εταιρείας, 2013, pp.52-54.
  • Lekakis S, Pantzou N, Papadopoulos D. Μνημεία, πρακτικές και διαδρομές του νερού: Η εθνογραφική μελέτη της παραδοσιακής διαχείρισης των υδάτινων πόρων στην Αμοργό. In: Chatzikonstantinou,K, ed. Αμοργός Διαδρομές Νερού: Παραδοσιακή διαχείριση υδατικών πόρων και η βιώσιμη προοπτική της. Athens, Greece: Εκδόσεις Ελληνικής Εταιρείας, 2013, pp.49-50.
  • Lekakis S. The Cultural Property debate. In: Smith,J;Plantzos,D, ed. A Companion to Greek Art. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, pp.683-697.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Lekakis S, Turner S. Προσεγγίζοντας το τοπίο "από τα κάτω". Η αγροτική πολιτιστική κληρονομιά της Νάξου. In: Αγροτικά μνημεία της Τήνου. Κτίσματα ταπεινά, κτίσματα του τοπίου. 2023, Tinos: Νεφέλη.
  • Srivastava A, Kinnaird T, Turner S, Sevara C, Holcomb J, Lekakis S, Shillito LM. Agricultural terraces in the Mediterranean: a multidisciplinary approach to understanding human-landscape interactions. In: EGU General Assembly 2022. 2022, Vienna, Austria: European Geosciences Union (EGU).
  • Crow J, Lekakis S, Turner S. Τοπίο και οικισμό στη Βυζαντινή Νάξο. In: Η Νάξος διά μέσου των αιώνων. Πρακτικά του ΣΤ΄ Πανελλήνιου Συνεδρίου. 2021, Damarionas, Naxos.
  • Lekakis S. Η διαχείριση της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς^. στην Ευρώπη και την Ελλάδα^. Μια επισκόπηση. In: Η αρχαιολογία στην Ελλάδα του σήμερα: μνημεία και άνθρωποι σε κρίση. 2016.
  • Ganiatsas V, Lekakis S. The MuA Project: A Value-Based Database for the Documentation, Assessment and Monitoring of Architectural Heritage at Risk. In: The Protection of Archaeological Heritage in Times of Economic Crisis. 2014, New Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Lekakis S. “To the splendour of our Byzantine heritage”. Managing Orthodox churches in the island of Naxos. In: Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean Conference. 2014, Naxos Chora, Greece: Norwegian Institute at Athens.
  • Lekakis S. Διαχείριση μνημείων σε κίνδυνο. In: Μνημεία της Νάξου σε κίνδυνο, οι πολίτες μιλούν γι’αυτά. 2010, MONUMENTA Publications.
  • Lekakis S. The concept of authenticity in managing cultural heritage resources; The Aegean paradigm. 2009, Oxford: BAR International series 1975.
  • Lekakis S. Creating a basic schema for the “experiential approach” in site management; the visitor perception. In: Archaeology and the politics of vision in a post-modern context. 2008, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

• Edited Books

  • Gratsia I, Gkoumopoulou G, Lekakis S, Belliou F, Ninos G, ed. Tracking the architecture of Athens. Recording the buildings 1830-1940. Athens: MONUMENTA, 2021.
  • Lekakis S, Pantzou N, ed. Εισαγωγή στη διαχείριση πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς^. Μια κριτική επισκόπηση του πεδίου στην Ελλάδα. Athens: Asini, 2020.
  • Lekakis S, ed. Cultural heritage in the realm of the commons: Conversations on the Case of Greece. London: Ubiquity Press, 2020.
  • Lekakis S, Gratsia I, Sideri A, ed. Acting for Monuments [Πράττουμε για τα Μνημεία]. Athens: MONUMENTA Publications, 2016.
  • Lekakis S, Gratsia I, ed. Real fairy-tales of Naxos. The Archaeologists narrate. [Αληθινά Παραμύθια της Νάξου. Οι Αρχαιολόγοι διηγούνται.]. Athens: MONUMENTA Publications, 2013.
  • Lekakis S, Gratsia I, ed. Monuments of Naxos at risk; the citizens’ voice. [Μνημεία της Νάξου σε κίνδυνο. Οι πολίτες μιλούν γι'αυτά.]. Athens: MONUMENTA Publications, 2010.

• Editorial

  • Sakellariadi A, Lekakis S, Dragouni M. Πρώτο σημείωμα επιμελητών Κριτικών Μελετών για την Πολιτιστική Κληρονομιά. Critical Studies in Cultural Heritage 2022, 1(2), 1-5.

• Online Publications

  • Lekakis S. Tracking Ilissos river in Athens. HYDRIA Project: Collection, Storage & Distribution of Water in Antiquity. Linking Ancient Wisdom to Modern Needs. 2013. Available at: http://www.hydriaproject.net/en/greece/relevance10/.
  • Lekakis S. The Aqueduct of Eupalinos at Samos. HYDRIA Project: Collection, Storage & Distribution of Water in Antiquity. Linking Ancient Wisdom to Modern Needs. 2013. Available at: http://www.hydriaproject.net/en/greece-samos-eypalineion/importance20.
  • Lekakis S, Chrysanthi A. Sustainable heritage management … for whom? A critique on contemporary economics of culture & the use of Information and Communication Technologies towards a symbiotic management strategy”. 2011. Available at: http://www.lse.ac.uk/europeanInstitute/research/hellenicObservatory/CMS%20pdf/Events/2011-5th%20PhD%20Symposium/Lekakis.pdf.
  • Lekakis S. Η απίστευτη ιστορία του σπιτιού του Μακρυγιάννη στο Άργος. MONUMENTA, 2009. Available at: http://www.monumenta.org/article.php?perm=1&IssueID=4&%20lang=gr&CategoryID=19&ArticleID=407.
  • Lekakis S. Διαδρομή: “Ακολουθώντας” τον Ηριδανό. 2008. Available at: http://www.monumenta.org/article.php?IssueID=3&lang=gr&CategoryID=7&ArticleID=159.
  • Lekakis S. Γιατί τα κτίρια της οδού Αρεοπαγίτου 17-19 θα σωριαστούν σε ερείπια. MONUMENTA, 2007. Available at: http://www.monumenta.org/article.php?IssueID=3&lang=gr&CategoryID=7&ArticleID=159.

• Report

  • Lekakis S. Archaeology on the Front Line: Cultural Politics and Archaeological Projects in the Land of Asia Minor (1919-1922). RCH, 2022. PIXELS@humanities.

• Reviews

  • Lekakis S. Contested Antiquity: Archaeological Heritage and Social Conflict in Modern Greece and Cyprus, Esther Solomon (ed.) (2021). Journal of Greek Media & Culture 2022, 8(2), 267-269.
  • Lekakis S. Ξαναδιαβάζοντας την ιστορία των Ονειρευάμενων της Κορώνου. Σκέψεις πάνω στο βιβλίο του Charles Stewart: Dreaming and historical consciousness in island Greece. Ναξιακά Γράμματα [naxiaka grammata] 2016, 20, 8-14.
  • Lekakis S. Review: The past in the present. A living heritage approach - Meteora, Athens 2014. AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology 2016, 5, 191-202.
  • Lekakis S. Conserving and Managing Ancient Monuments. Heritage Democracy and Inclusion. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 2015, 17(3), 287-289.
  • Lekakis S. Βιβλιοκρισία: A singular Antiquity. Archaeology and Hellenic identity in twentieth-century Greece. Αρχαιογνωσία 2011, 2011, 379-384.