A major international conference ,, First World War in the collective memory – Exchange of experiences in the Balkans “, dedicated to the cultural heritage and tourism memorial of the Great War, organized by HAEMUS – Centre for Scientific Research and Promotion of Culture will be held in the City Hall Center on05-06.11.2015.
The conference will be opened on November 5 at 10 am by her Excellency Laurence Auer, Ambassador of the Republic of France in the Republic of Macedonia. The conference will be presented experiences from Macedonia, the Balkans and Europe’s cultural heritage and development of the memorial tourism. Within the conference a round table on “World War in Macedonia, potential for development of tourism Memorial” will be held, an exhibition by the French Institute inspired by the Great War, and the Craft Bazaar with motifs from the First World War.
Eastern Front, known under many names in historical records, has great importance for the history of Macedonia and the Balkans. Especially, at the modern territory of the Republic of Macedonia took place some of the biggest battles that killed thousands of soldiers of many nationalities and religions, which are buried on more conceptual organized necropolises/cemeteries. The architectonic remains in places where battles took place, includes parts of the destroyed complexes of bunkers, positions, machine gun nests and trenches that can be seen today. They comprise the physical remains of significant points in European and world history in order to explain the reasons that led to the creation of ‘Modern Europe’.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, in cooperation with the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) is the preservation and valuation of the cultural heritage of the First World War in the Balkans, including Macedonia. To emphasize the importance of this period, an international conference on “First World War in the collective memory – Exchange of experiences in the Balkans” is organized. Considering the experience with WW1 heritage and the memorial tourism of some European countries, this conference will allow the exchange of ideas regarding the WWI topic on the Balkans, which will open and allow new opportunities for cooperation. We do hope that this will create new knowledge about the WWI in Macedonia, a period for which there are hardly domestic scientific records.
The main reason for starting an international conference on the WWI topic in Macedonia and the Balkans is promotion of the cultural heritage of this period. It would contribute to the creation of some domestic archives of materials, as well as the exchanging of international experiences. Building human capacities who would participate in the dialogue for peace and reconciliation in the Balkan countries through scientific research and understanding of the past of this period, is also one of the aims of the project.
A specific aim of this project is to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to present the cultural heritage from WWI; raising awareness of the importance of the WWI and its role in the collective memory and intercultural dialog for peace and reconciliation of the Balkan countries.
The main topics of the conference are:
• Landscape and human interaction
• Material culture
• Managing heritage
• Memorial tourism
• Current research
The conference is being organized by HAEMUS – Center for scientific research and promotion of culture and the project is implemented with financial support by the region of Lower Normandy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, in cooperation with the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) and the Program for decentralized cooperation between the Region Lower Normandy and Republic of Macedonia, as well as the support by theMinistry of Local Self Government of the Republic of Macedonia.
Official web site : http://ww1conference2015.com/
In the framework of the programme
for decentralized cooperation between Lower Normandy and Macedonia
