Topical issues of cultural heritage of the Baltic Sea Region countries discussed in Gdansk
On 11-13 September 2023, representatives of the Department of Cultural Heritage participated in the 8th Baltic Sea Region Cultural Heritage Forum held in Gdańsk, Poland ‘Heritage and Crises’. It was not by chance that the forum was held in Gdańsk. It was in this city by the Baltic Sea, at the National Maritime Museum in Poland, that the first Baltic Sea Region Cultural Heritage Forum of was held 25 years ago. Hence, cooperation in the field of cultural heritage protection has been ongoing for 25 years. During this period, effective practice of exchanging important information, sharing experience, understanding cultural heritage, protecting heritage of historic towns, underwater heritage preservation, conserving cultural heritage, and implementing new technologies in this process has developed among cultural heritage protection specialists from different countries.
During the forum, the cooperation between the Baltic Sea Region countries in the field of cultural heritage protection was reviewed over the entire 25 years of its activity. Participants also discussed the current challenges in safeguarding maritime heritage and explored future perspectives. Particularly they emphasized challenges of our time, such as Russia's aggression against Ukraine, difficulties in underwater heritage protection - theft, heritage destruction - during the war, the application of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, and practices in the Baltic Sea Region countries.
During the forum, experience of implementing the Hague Convention in the Baltic Sea Region countries were discussed, urgent tasks, the impact and application of new technologies, as well as the practice and need for new synergies in the region, were reviewed. During this event, three new working groups were set up: Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property, Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and Climate Change Impact on Cultural Heritage. Illegal trafficking of cultural values becomes particularly active during military conflicts, so this working group faces new challenges. In recent decades, the impact of climate change on heritage has been observed worldwide: floods, droughts, hurricanes, and undesirable temperature fluctuations affect both underwater and terrestrial heritage. Therefore, the activities of the Working Group on the Impact of Climate Change on Heritage become increasingly relevant. Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Working Group plans to hold a comprehensive conference on this topic in Lithuania in 2024.