An Educational Toolkit Full of Currants. From Memory to Play: the Black Corinthian Raisin Becomes a Tool for Learning and Creativity

The collaboration for the development of the educational material and the new publication, implemented within the framework of the joint Interterritorial Cooperation Project “Primarolia – On the Routes of the Black Corinthian Currant”, has been completed. The project was coordinated by ACHAIA S.A. – Development Agency and involved Local Action Groups (LAGs) from the Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands. The action comprised two main components.

The first concerned the creation of an educational toolkit for Primary Education, addressed to pupils and teachers in the currant-producing regions. Available in both physical and digital form, the toolkit includes educational games, activities, printed and digital material on the history and the nutritional properties of the black currant—a product that shaped the economic, social, and cultural identity of the Peloponnese, Western Greece, and the Ionian Islands.

The second component involves the publication of the book Leafing Through… Currants. The Routes of the Corinthian (Black) Currant from the Peloponnese and the Ionian Sea to the Ports of the World: History, Sources, Memories and Culture [ISBN 978-618-00-6123-9] (in Greek). The edition presents the history, culture, architecture, testimonies, and memories surrounding the black currant in Greece and in major European port cities of the 19th and early 20th centuries, extending to contemporary production, intangible cultural heritage, and nutritional value.

The scientific editing of both the book and the educational material was carried out by Christos Chrysanthopoulos, PhD in Digital and Public History (University of Patras) and Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of West Attica. Material from the research conducted in the other actions of the Interterritorial Cooperation Project was also utilised, in collaboration with Panagiotis Angelopoulos, Sotiris Bolis, and Giannis Papagiannopoulos. This material is now made available to the public and the educational community, with the aim of supporting local education and connecting children with the history and culture of their region. Teachers interested in using the material may contact the local Development Agencies participating in the programme.

The Interterritorial Cooperation Project “Primarolia – On the Routes of the Black Currant” is implemented under the Rural Development Programme of Greece 2014–2020 (RDP), Measure 19, Sub-measure 19.3 (Interterritorial LEADER/CLLD Cooperation), with the participation of the following partners:

• ACHAIA S.A. – Development Agency of Local Authorities (Coordinating LAG)

• Cooperation Network of the Ionian Islands Region – R.U. Zakynthos

• Olympia Development Agency S.A.

• Cooperation Network of Kefalonia and Ithaca

• Messinia Development Agency S.A.

• Northern Peloponnese Development Agency S.A.

This action aims to connect cultural and agricultural heritage with contemporary education and local development, promoting a model of sustainable learning and culture centred on the black Corinthian currant—the emblematic product of the Greek South’s outward-looking identity.