About the Conference
The conference Contemporary Topics in Heritage for Sustainable Development will be held on 24 September 2026 at the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) in Zagreb. It is organized by the Centre for Sustainable Development through Culture (CSDC) at the Institute for Development and International Relations and the Centre for Cultural Heritage at the Academy of Arts and Culture, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Held as part of European Heritage Days 2026, the conference will bring together researchers and professionals in the field of cultural heritage to discuss contemporary heritage-related issues.
Today, heritage is no longer understood as a static collection of tangible and intangible assets that merely need to be preserved and interpreted. Rather, it is a dynamic and frequently contested field in which the social, political, economic and technological transformations of the contemporary world intersect. In the context of accelerating global processes, including digitalization, climate change, migration, tourism, urbanization and shifting identities, the concept of heritage is continually being redefined, as is the role of the professionals, institutions and communities that create, safeguard and transmit it.
One of the key challenges concerns sustainability: how can heritage be preserved in the face of climate change, natural disasters and intense tourism pressure while simultaneously ensuring its accessibility and relevance to contemporary society? Digital technologies offer new opportunities for documentation, interpretation and participation, but they also raise questions concerning authenticity, long-term preservation and digital inequality.
There is also a growing need to involve communities in heritage-related decision-making, shifting the emphasis from institutional management towards participatory models. In this context, questions of representation, inclusion and the visibility of marginalized groups are becoming increasingly important, as are issues surrounding “difficult” or contested heritage, which require sensitive and responsible approaches to interpretation.
Furthermore, heritage is increasingly becoming a space for social dialogue, but also for conflict, ranging from questions of ownership and restitution to differing interpretations of the past. In these circumstances, heritage professionals face the need to adopt interdisciplinary approaches and new working methodologies, while continually reassessing their own practices.
The conference seeks to provide a forum for discussing these and other contemporary heritage-related issues, to encourage the exchange of knowledge and experience, and to contribute to the development of innovative and inclusive approaches in both theory and practice, thereby marking European Heritage Days 2026.
In addition to facilitating the exchange of academic and professional knowledge, the conference aims to foster stronger cooperation among research and professional centres operating in Croatia that address culture, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, the arts, sustainable development and education, but have not yet worked together in a coordinated manner. The conference will provide an opportunity for centres working on related topics to come together, present their activities and explore opportunities for long-term cooperation. This will create scope for interdisciplinary dialogue on current challenges and future perspectives in the field of heritage, as well as for considering potential forms of cooperation and the role of existing centers. In this regard, we see the conference as a starting point for future collaboration among centers on a range of topics relating to culture, education and sustainable development.