MONUBASIN 2024 1st Circular

Dear Colleagues,  

With great joy, but also emotion, we are pleased to announce that the University of West Attica, the National Technical University of Athens, the University of IUAV Venice, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of L’Aquila will organise the 11^th International Symposium on the Conservation of Monuments in the Mediterranean Basin (MONUBASIN).

The seven years that have passed since the organisation of the previous Symposium, have changed the world and each of us personally. The COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the subsequent economic crisis made it impossible from practical and ethical perspectives, to organise the MONUBASIN Symposium under the terms and conditions that would bring the best possible outcome. The nature of the MONUBASIN Symposium, that is, its direct relationship with culture and our humanitarian values, led us to the decision to wait for the appropriate conditions to be formed so that we can allow participants to attend in person.

We hope all of you will contribute and support us in this new beginning, which continues the tradition of the ten previous Symposiums [Bari (1989), Geneva (1991), Venice (1994), Rhodes (1997), Seville (2000), Lisbon (2004), Orléans (2007), Patras (2010), Ankara (2014) and Athens (2017)].

Theme and Topics
The theme of this Symposium is “Exploring Material, Techniques and Technological Advances for Conservation, Urban Restoration and Management of Cultural Heritage in the New Era”. The new era is marked by and has characteristics such as the recurring anthropogenic crises (e.g., pandemics, war, migration and economic crisis), including climate change, as well as impressive technological advancements, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) within cultural heritage ecosystem. The theme of the Symposium refers to the materials, techniques and the state-of-the-art technological advances used for damage assessment, rehabilitation and restoration in urban environments in the direction of sustainable and long-lasting conservation. The thematology of the 11^th MONUBASIN Symposium includes aspects of Cultural Heritage Management related to conservation/restoration procedures and techniques (e.g. recording, documentation, protection and monitoring tasks), as well as the novel approaches for promoting and presenting cultural artefacts to the public and relevant interest parties in the new digital era of cultural heritage management.

Important information

Call for abstracts
Authors are invited to submit an abstract (2 pages maximum) by the 15th of February 2024 through the online submission system using the proposed template (see details here) in one of the following thematic areas:

1. 1. Historical and Structural Aspects of Monuments

   2. Natural and Anthropogenic Damage Hazards

   3. Methodologies for Characterisation and Damage Assessment

   4. Digital Techniques and Information Management for Cultural Heritage

   5. Technologies for Damage Rehabilitation and Sustainable Preservation

   6. Decorative Architecture Design, Planning and Cultural Heritage Management

TimeTable
The Symposium will be held at the University of West Attica, Athens Greece Conference Centre from the 17^th of June until the 19^th of June 2024. The timetable is:

• First Circular – Call for abstracts: October 2023
• Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 15^th of February, 2024
• Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 1^st of March, 2024
• Second Circular and Registration Open: 10^th of March, 2024
• Deadline for full paper submission: 30^th of April, 2024
• Announcement of Programme: 10^th of May, 2024
• Symposium starting day: 17^th of June, 2024

For further information, you may contact the Symposium organising committee via email (monubasin2024@gmail.com).

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who may be interested in this event.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Athens.

Kind Regards,

Professor Fulvio Zezza, President of the Symposium and Coordinator of the International Group on the Conservation of Monuments in the Mediterranean Basin (I.G.C.M.M.)  

and

Associate Professor Dimitrios Kouis, Department of Archival, Library and Information Studies UNIWA-Athens, Coordinator of the Organising and Scientific  Committee

Professor Emeritus Maria Koui, School of Chemical Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, NTUA, Coordinator of the Organising and Scientific  Committee

Symposium Secretariat

email.    monubasin2024@gmail.com
web.      https://monubasin2024.alis.uniwa.gr/