On Monday, 26th of September 2022, the Confluences Partnership held its third hybrid Plenary meeting, aimed at building a common project focussing on climate risk to cultural heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Established following a meeting in April 2019 (co-organised by the Cyprus Institute, the EFA and the Embassy of France in Cyprus) of the francophone educational and research institutes from the Eastern Mediterranean, the Confluences Partnership aims to organise a range of common training and research efforts in the fields of archaeology, history, and heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean.

As the partnership grows, it will reach out to natural partners in the host countries, as well as relevant authorities in those countries, in order to establish the broadest possible basis for cooperation around the region. The priority focus established at this meeting was to develop a common online portal, which can in particular focus on the risk of climate change to cultural heritage in the entire region.

The meeting was attended by Dr Véronique Chankowski (EFA Director), Dr Eric Tosatti (Director of the Institut Français de Chypre), Dr Bertrand Dubart (Chargé de la programmation culturelle of the Institut Français de Chypre), Dr Carole Roche-Hawley (Directrice, Département d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’Antiquité, IFPO), Dr Nicolas Jarraud (CyI Assistant Vice-President for Institute Affairs), Prof. Fadi Comair (EEWRC Director), Prof. Michel Menu (Principal Research Scientist at APAC Labs), CyI Assoc. Prof. Sorin Hermon (Head of Digital Cultural Heritage research group at STARC), and CyI Assoc. Prof. Nikolas Bakirtzis (Director of the Andreas Pittas Art Characterization Laboratories – APAC Labs).

Attended online the meeting were also H.E. Mrs. Salina Grenet-Catalano (Ambassador of France to Cyprus), Dr Andreas Nicolaides (Aix-Marseille), Dr Anne Mailloux (Aix-Marseille/LA3M), Dr Jean-Noel Baleo (Director, AUF-Moyen Orient), Dr Marie-Dominique Nenna (CEALEX Director), Dr Odile Le Brun (Choirokitia mission), Dr Laurent Coulon (Director, IFAO), Dr Joachim Le Bomin (Responsable du pôle archéologique de l’lFAO), Dr Sabine Fourrier (Laboratoire HiSoMA, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée/Kition and Salamis Missions), Dr Anna Cannavo (Laboratoire HiSoMA, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée/Amathus Mission), and Dr Jean-Denis Vigne (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN)/Klimonas Mission).

Source: The Cyprus Institute | Latest News (https://bit.ly/3BV2lnX)