On the occasion of the International Day for Monuments and Sites in 2017, the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology organized its annual Scientific Conference in Shtip, Republic of Macedonia. The Conference was hosted by the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University Goce Delcev.
The program of the 2017 Conference integrated different focuses involving the new tendencies in the treatment of tangible and intangible culture and natural heritage, as well as the main international initiatives in the field.
In her welcome address, the Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences Dr. Sonja Petrovska highlighted that the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology has built a great reputation by providing a forum for dialogue of all stakeholders in the field of heritage and the education and scientific research of the past. Dr. Petrovska stressed in her greetings that the Faculty and University had a great pleasure to cooperate with ICHA for this conference, as well as in numerous previous occasions with a strong believe to help scientists and practitioners to be heard, interact and envision solutions that benefit scholarly communication.
The session on the protection of cultural heritage during armed conflicts was led by the prominent international expert Professor Krste Bogoevski. Profesor Bogoevski, museologist and former member of the Board of the International Committee of the Blue Shield presented the new approaches on protection of cultural heritage in the light of the contemporary security challenges in the Near East and Mediterranean.
The Director of the Macedonian Institute of Folklore and President of the Macedonian Association of Ethnologists, Professor Zoranco Malinov led the session on the protection and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage. The session presented the different experiences from international projects and initiatives in the field and the cooperation with UNECSO in the light of the last visit of Macedonia of UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
Profesor Namichev, a prominent expert in conservation and restoration of traditional Balkan architecture was invited to speak on the architectural heritage, and the literate Aleksandar Kirkovski, on the shared literature heritage of the Balkan nations.
The international trends of cooperation in the field of promotion and protection of cultural heritage were presented in a separate session facilitated by the leading ICHA representatives. The President of the Scientific Board of ICHA, His Excellency Dr. Ljuben Tevdovski, presented the context, objectives, policies and prospects of international cooperation in the light of the decision of the European Parliament and the Council to designate the year 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The ICHA Board Secretary Angela Sokoloska presented an analysis of the policies of the world leading nations in the field of protection and promotion of cultural heritage in the light of the G7 Florence Declaration, while the ICHA project manager and prominent culture and media specialist Alek Ristevski presented the specific case of China.