International Forum “Maritime Heritage and Fishing Traditions”

Living maritime heritage will be the focus of a forum under the auspices of UNESCO, which will be held in early September in Burgas. The international conference "Maritime Heritage and Fishing Traditions: Communities, Policies and Sustainable Development" will take place on September 3 in the conference hall of the Chengene Skele Cultural and Tourist Complex and on September 4 at the Ethnographic Museum - Burgas. The event is organized in partnership between the Municipality of Burgas, the Regional Center for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO, the Burgas 2032 Foundation and the Regional History Museum - Burgas, with the participation of experts and scholars from the University Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe, as well as representatives of museums and non-governmental organizations from Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Romania, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus, Ukraine and Italy. The Forum aims to promote and safeguard the intangible cultural heritage related to the sea and fishing traditions, as well as to support the development of policies in accordance with the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Within two days, the participants will discuss how living maritime heritage can be sustainably integrated into the cultural and tourism policy of modern maritime cities, including in the context of the candidacy of the Municipality of Burgas for European Capital of Culture. The forum's program includes the presentation of research on living fishing practices and knowledge, interpretation of maritime heritage, and discussion of policies for its sustainable conservation and development, connecting scientific and expert insights with the experience of local communities and cultural institutions. The panels will focus on the documentation and analysis of traditional practices, new forms of presentation through museums, interpretation centers, exhibitions and films, as well as the relationship between intangible cultural heritage, marine resources, the local economy and urban cultural and tourism policy. The forum will contribute to the development of recommendations for policies and practices aimed at integrating living fishing traditions and maritime heritage into the long-term development of Burgas as a modern cultural and maritime city, establishing it as a center for the preservation and promotion of intangible cultural heritage in the Black Sea region.