A Different Crete: The IDAology Research Program — From Shepherding on Psiloritis Mountains to the Digital Realm.

The world of Crete can be understood as a living mosaic unfolding across space and time, within which smaller worlds coexist and interact, shaping either balance or imbalance in the island’s natural and cultural environment. The cultural landscape of Crete is constantly composed and recomposed as a unified yet dynamic image of contrasts, differences, and interlinked elements that stretch from deep antiquity to the present day through an ongoing evolutionary process.

One such enduring link is the practice of shepherding and the shepherding world of the Psiloritis mountains—a continuum that connects today’s communities with the very first shepherds who both shaped and were shaped by the island’s highland environment. This continuity formed the starting point for the present thematic approach, where Mount Ida finds its voice through the convergence of people and technology, research and documentation, the local and the digital.

The University of Crete, the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, and the Argastiri Cultural Institution, through three complementary directions—cutting-edge technologies, scientific documentation, and cultural management—developed the IDAology research program as a data ark, an experiential platform, and a living narrative.

More specifically, the program consists of:
 a) a search engine functioning as a cultural heritage repository, bringing together documentation, cultural elements, interviews, and snapshots of shepherding life
 b) a virtual reality application that immerses the user in the three-dimensional environment of the shepherding world, and
 c) an augmented reality application designed for primary school children, where the protagonists of shepherding life—shepherds, flocks, stone-built mitata huts—come to life as narrators of everyday experience on Psiloritis.

The repeated reference to shepherding and the shepherding world of Psiloritis reflects its central role within the program. Under this title, and with the contribution of collaborators and the support of the local community, a proposal was completed in 2021 for its inclusion in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Greek Ministry of Culture. This recognition effectively provided a formal framework for the material collected and produced, shaping the thematic direction of the project through continuous feedback up to the present day.

This work was followed by three ethnographic documentaries, produced under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, focusing on the evolution of shepherding across generations: its unwritten institutions, customary practices, the oral code of law expressed through oaths, and the social networks and hierarchies formed as enduring bonds among people. One of these documentaries, Niza: The Oath and the Unwritten Law of Shepherds on Psiloritis, continues to be broadcast on subscription television Cosmote tv.

At the same time, the technologies developed within this emerging field of Digital Culture gave rise to new thematic chapters—new microcosms emerging from the broader world of shepherding. These include the wool cycle and the Digital Museum “Adraktos,” the Weaving Structure in Anogeia (set to begin operation in November), and projects centered on dry-stone architecture, such as the virtual experience “Metartum,” where mitata huts and dry-stone constructions are reintroduced as interactive artistic spaces. These initiatives are grounded in the coexistence and interweaving of the traditional with the contemporary, the vernacular with the innovative, and the fusion of art, craft, and technology as drivers of social creativity and engagement.

All these elements emerge at a time when tourism is being redefined, seeking uniqueness beyond the saturation of standardized experiences. These new forms of travel invest in active, experience-based engagement rooted in sensory perception, authenticity, and participation. In this context, experience-driven tourism favors immersion and interaction, attempting to recreate a sense of wonder in contrast to the growing disenchantment of overburdened urban environments.

Within this framework, the cultural identity of what we may call “Different Crete” should not act as an accelerator, but rather as an accumulator—a repository or vessel of the unique diversities each place holds. The central objective, therefore, must remain the enhancement of everyday culture, which in turn generates and renews the culture of visitation.

This marks the fundamental distinction between cultural planning and branding: transformation must begin at the structural level before it can appear on the surface. Strong local cores and sustainable communities are those capable of supporting a healthy tourism model, one in which local specificity becomes globally relevant, and the place opens itself outward to the world.

Through the digital tools and collaborative frameworks developed within IDAology, such connections become possible: the seasonal movement of flocks from the Nida plateau to the shores of the Libyan Sea; the milking of sheep in the highlands of Psiloritis and the plains of Amari; cheesemaking within the dry-stone landscapes of the mountain; and the continuous weaving of a loom in Axos. These are fragments of lived experience that have escaped the physical boundaries of their environment and now exist within the boundless realm of a digital universe.