ICUA Zadar Participation in Bulgaria
International seminar on regional cooperation of countries of the Black Sea and Mediterranean region in the field of underwater archaeology
From 23rd to 31st October 2021 the Bulgarian National Centre for Underwater Archaeology (CUA) in Sozopol organised a seminar involving young representatives of organizations from the Black Sea and Mediterranean region working in the field of Underwater Archaeology and Maritime Cultural Heritage. This seminar was envisaged as a starting platform of the newly established network. The organization of the seminar was a project of the CUA Sozopol Centre within the UNESCO Participation Programme 2020-2021.
The guest participants of the seminar were:
- Helen Bardas, Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and the Korseai Institute of Historical and Archaeological Research representing Greece,
- Jelena Čelebić, Koç University of Istanbul representing Montenegro,
- Nada Kamel, Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage representing Egypt,
- Ordanche Petrov, Institute of Old Slavic Culture representing Northern Macedonia,
- Ouafa Ben Slimane, National Heritage Institute of Tunisia representing Tunisia,
- and Ivan Vidulić, International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar representing Croatia.
One of the seminar activities was to allow each representative to present the state of art in underwater archaeology in their countries – underwater heritage, involved institutions, legal framework, and ongoing projects. By presenting the level of development of underwater archaeology and maritime cultural heritage in their respective countries, as well as the common and individual challenges they encounter, the participants were engaged in discussion of how these challenges may be solved either from previous experience or from new approaches.
The director of CUA Sozopol Nayden Prahov gave a lecture on the state of underwater archaeology in Bulgaria and their ongoing research in the harbours of Sozopol and Nessebar, as well as the deepwater archaeology Black Sea MAP project. In the scope of the seminar, CUA Sozopol organised introductory courses in underwater photogrammetry, aerial bathymetric and marine geophysics presented by experts and technicians working within the Bulgarian centre.
The aim of the project was to establish a network between their organisations for the purpose of further actively developing and functioning of the network through mutual cooperation on projects, exchange of specialists, organisation of workshops and sharing of knowledge, skills, and information.
Sincerely hoping this collaboration marks the beginning of fruitful cooperation between the mentioned organizations and that new approaches and insights in researching and protecting the maritime cultural heritage could be enhanced and implemented in each country.
