Welcome
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the Organising Committee, I have the honor to invite you to the 4th International Euro-Mediterranean Conference (EuroMed 2012). The venue of this event is at the entrance of the ancient city of Amathus, by Limassol.
Cyprus is the third largest Mediterranean island at the crossroads of three continents, located in one of the most famous archeological areas of the world. Its civilization starts around the 10th millennium BC and has a high number of monuments and sites registered on the UNESCO WHL. Cyprus cultural heritage is the most important living treasure of its people. It is through this that its identity can be expressed and an awareness of its historical continuity through time can be created.
From 29th October to 3rd November 2012 we will have the opportunity to come together, exchange our know-how and experiences in the Cultural Heritage research as well as the current and future worldwide developments in this area.
This conference will be held during the period of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union and just before the final negotiations at the European Union on the European Regional Funds and the next Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, which will be the biggest in the world in terms of financial support on research, innovation, technological development and demonstration activities.
The government of the Republic of Cyprus has included the EU Cultural Heritage policy and the Europe 2020/Innovation Union Initiative as important thematic priorities in the work programme of the presidency of the Council of the European Union (Decision 11447/11 of the EU Council from 17.6.2011). Consequently, the EuroMed2012 agenda will focus on themes aiming at contributing to the programme of the Cypriot Presidency in the area of Cultural Heritage. Moreover, the EuroMed2012 will enhance and strengthen international and regional cooperation and promote awareness and tools for future innovative research, development and applications to protect, preserve and document the European & World Cultural Heritage. Our ambition is to host an exceptional conference by mobilising also policy makers from different EU countries, institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe, UNESCO, ICOMOS, CIPA, ISPRS, ICCROM, etc) and professionals as well as participants from all over the world and from different scientific areas of Cultural Heritage (Architecture, Civil Engineering, ICT, etc).
Protecting, preserving and presenting our Cultural Heritage are frequently interpreted as change management and/or change the behavior of the society. Joint European and international research produces a scientific background and support for such a change. We are living in a period characterised by rapid and remarkable changes in the environment, in the society and in technology. Natural change, war conflicts and man-made changes, including climate, as well as technological and societal change, form an ever-moving and colorful stage and a challenge for the society. Close cooperation between professionals, the policy makers and authorities internationally, is necessary for research, development and technology in the field of cultural heritage.
Scientific projects in the area of cultural heritage have received national, European Union or UNESCO funding for more than thirty years. Through the financial support and cooperation, major results have been achieved and published in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings with the support of professionals from many countries. The European Conferences on cultural heritage research and development and in particular the biannual EuroMed conference have become regular milestones on the never-ending journey of discovery in the search for new knowledge of our common history and its protection and preservation for the generations to come. They also provide a unique opportunity to present and review results, and to draw new inspiration.
The agenda of this unique conference will include hundreds of excellent oral and poster presentations, as well as workshops and demonstrations from academia and industry, reflecting the wide scope of our work in the area of cultural heritage. We are expecting policy makers, professionals, students and delegates from more than 60 countries of the world to attend this special Euro-Mediterranean conference which is dedicated to the protection, preservation and e-documentation of the Cultural Heritage.
The ultimate aim of the 4th EuroMed conference will be to bring together as many stakeholders as possible from different backgrounds in order to achieve a high level of mutual understanding of the needs, the requirements and the technical means of meeting them. Therefore, our common goal is to focus on interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary research on tangible and intangible Cultural Heritage, the use of cutting edge technologies for the protection, preservation, conservation, massive digitalisation and visualization/presentation of the Cultural Heritage content (archeological sites, artifacts, monuments, libraries, archives, museums, etc). At the same time, the event is intended to cover topics of research ready for exploitation, demonstrating the acceptability of new sustainable approaches and new technologies by the user community, SME’s, owners, managers and conservators of cultural patrimony.
It is very important that policy makers and a wide public are involved in management of the cultural heritage, and it is useful to inform European citizens about recent developments and scientific achievements in this area. The entire poster exhibition as well as special conference sessions will be dedicated to awareness (outreach) of the public in the whole field of Cultural Heritage.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to this particular international conference. We are confident that everyone will greatly benefit from this event.
Dr. Marinos Ioannides
Conference Chair