IRMO hosted a conference on “Contemporary topics in the field of heritage for sustainable development”

On September 24, 2026, IRMO hosted a conference on “Contemporary topics in the field of heritage for sustainable development”, as part of the celebration of European Heritage Days 2026. The conference was jointly organized by IRMO’s Center for Sustainable Development through Culture (CSDC) and the Center for Cultural Heritage of the Academy of Arts and Culture of the J. J. Strossmayer University in Osijek. It brought together researchers and professionals in the field of cultural heritage who jointly discussed contemporary heritage topics such as climate challenges, sustainability and heritage; new approaches to heritage management; contested and difficult heritage; and heritage and tourism. This opened up space for discussion on the above, as well as other contemporary topics in the field of heritage, through the exchange of knowledge and experiences. In addition, the aim of the conference was to achieve stronger cooperation between research and professional centers operating in Croatia, dealing with the topics of culture, cultural heritage (tangible and intangible), art, sustainable development and education, but which have not yet worked in synergy. In addition to the organizers, the conference was attended by representatives of the Center for Industrial Heritage of the University of Rijeka; the Center for Research on Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Faculty of Education, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek; the Center for Transdisciplinary Promotion of Sustainable Development – OdRaST of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split; the Center for Cultural Heritage Management of Varaždin County (CUKUR); and the International Center for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar. They form the backbone of future cooperation, and the desire is to expand cooperation to other centers operating in Croatia on related topics. The conference took place in a very pleasant atmosphere and contributed to both initial acquaintance and the detection of possible ways of cooperation through, for example, the preparation of joint research, organization of conferences, project applications, publishing activities, and the like. The publication of a Book of Abstracts from the conference is planned.