Important Facts

The theme “Delicate topics – Challenging audiences” covers the following topics:

~ Museum education as a tool for discussing complex issues:
Being a refugee, religious conflicts, poverty, multiple identities, traumatic memories, human rights, health issues, marginalized communities, endangered cultural heritage, natural environment at risk, challenges and threats of the virtual world, etc.

~ Museum education as a vehicle for alternative interpretations:
Shedding light on hidden, unknown or misinterpreted aspects of material and intangible heritage or artistic creation, challenging mainstream interpretations and encouraging new glances on past and present historical events.

~ Catering for the underserved communities and audiences:
Museum education initiatives that ensure accessibility and inclusivity, in the framework of a constantly changing social and cultural landscape. Innovative activities and educational material for historically underserved and marginalized audience groups (the elderly, people with disabilities, the mentally ill, the imprisoned, religious / ethnic or cultural minorities, immigrants, refugees, drug addicts, students requiring particular treatment, etc.).

In Athens-Greece, exclusively on site, from 18 to 22 November 2024.
From 18 to 20/11 presentations will be hosted at Benaki Museum - Pireos 138.
Thursday 21/11 is dedicated to interactive educational visits at selected Athens museums.
On Friday 22/11 there is an optional day trip to museums and monuments of  Laconia - Southern Peloponnese (extra charge).

The Conference is open to anyone wishing to attend it – ICOM members, Non ICOM members and Students.

However, only ICOM members may make a presentation (Research papers, Thematic papers, Market of ideas, Posters, Organization of Workshops).

All you have to do is Register via this site (see Home page). You will be asked to fill in and submit the relevant application form for Participants (ICOM members, Non ICOM members and Students).Your registration will be completed after the on line payment of the Conference fee.

All you have to do is Register via this site (Home page). You will be asked to fill in and submit the relevant application form for Speakers / Presenters. The Call for Papers will be open until the 15th of June.

Submitted proposals will be examined by the Conference Jury Committee and applicants will be notified respectively, via e-mail, by the 7th of July. In case a proposal is accepted, the candidate speaker / presenter will be asked to confirm his/her participation by
1. filling in and submitting on line the relevant application form for Participants
2. paying the Conference registration fee, the latest on the 31st of August. 

In case your proposal has not been accepted by the Jury Committee, you are more than welcome to join the Conference, as a participant, by filling in and submitting on line the relevant application form for Participants. Your registration will be completed after the on line payment of the Conference fee.

Speakers may use any of the ICOM languages – English, French or Spanish.

However, the Conference official languages are Greek and English, therefore bilingual interpretation will be provided during keynote speeches, research / thematic papers, market of ideas and awards presentations - ceremony.

Workshops and educational visits will be held in English.

In this respect, speakers using the French or Spanish language for their presentation, must ensure that all their presentation slides are in English, or with English translation, and that the text included on each slide is as detailed as possible.

The Conference will be held exclusively on site. Part of the presentations might be offered on line or might be recorded and visible on YouTube. This possibility will be confirmed in due time.

For ICOM members:

For Non ICOM members

For Students

The Conference registration fee includes:

- A closing reception at the Benaki Museum, at the end of the third day (20/11)
- Coffee breaks and light lunches (18 - 20/11)
- Conference material (bags, information material, publications, etc.)
- Guided tours at museums (apart from the educational visits)
- Other cultural events to be confirmed.

On Friday 22/11, participants may join the optional day trip to museums and monuments of Laconia - Southern Peloponnese , with the following extra charge:

Price: 30 €
Price when registering in November: 50 €

The day trip includes bus transport to different sites of Laconia - Southern Peloponnese , guided tours at museums/monuments and a light lunch.

As flight tickets and accommodation are not included in the registration fee, presenters and participants will have to cover their expenses and make their own booking arrangements. An indicative list of suggested hotels, nearby the Conference venue, is provided on this site (see Accomodation).

For any queries regarding the event, please contact us via <cecaathens2024@gmail.com>.

The coordinators will get back to you as quickly as possible on working days.

Guidelines for posters' presentations

1.    Posters have to be printed at home by the presenters themselves and brought to Athens.

2.    All posters will be mounted on Monday the 18th, before the opening of the Conference, and namely from 8.00 to 9.30 a.m. 

3.    Each poster is allocated a particular space in the Benaki Museum "Hall". Posters will be presented alphabetically, according to the speaker's first name.

4.    Posters will be hung on the wall, with the use of double-sided tape, provided in situ.

5.    Posters will remain in the Benaki Museum "Hall", from the 18th to the 20th of November. 

6.    Posters' presentations will take place on Monday (17.00 - 18.00) and Wednesday (14.30 - 16.00). During these two time zones, speakers may stand by their posters and share with participants who want to learn more. This is a good opportunity to meet professionals and to share your work in detail with many others in the sector.

7.    Poster dimensions: A1 sized, 23.4 x 33.1 inches.

8.    Poster material: Paper, in an appropriate quality and weight, to be hung on the wall with the use of double-sided tape.

9.    As posters are not academic presentations, it is advised that they contain a very short text (max. 250 words) highlighting your project's importance and include the following information:
- Name of the author, institution and e-mail address
- What the subject is and why it is important
- How the project was original
- Results or end products
- Consequences or follow-up.

10.    It is also important that the Poster is visually attractive, in order to illustrate the main key points which address the Conference theme. Images or diagrams should be large and attractive enough to promote your work. All pictures should be in excellent resolution for large print.                

Guidelines for speakers

1. All presenters will attend the Conference in person. As you already know, on line presentations are not foreseen.

2. You may present in any of the ICOM languages – English, French or Spanish. However, the official languages for the Conference are Greek and English, with a bilingual interpretation of presentations. French or Spanish speakers must ensure that their presentation slides are in English, or with English translation, and that the text included on each slide is as detailed as possible.

3. During your presentation, please:
-  provide context for the audience to understand your museum/site
-  speak slowly, so that international audiences can follow your presentation
-  arrive at least 15 minutes before your presentation's session starts, in order to prepare yourself
-  respect the allocated time, to ensure the Conference runs smoothly, that is 7 minutes for the market of ideas, 15 minutes for the thematic papers, 20 minutes for the research papers and 30 minutes for the key note speeches. 

4. The slides of your presentation must be submitted to <cecaathens2024@gmail.com>, no later than the 8th of November, so as to give the organization team the possibility to check the technical details. Presentations cannot be uploaded on site at the Conference. For file size larger than 20MB, please save it on Google Drive or use a file sharing platform such as WeTransfer and share the link with us. You retain full copyright over your slides but grant CECA the rights to use these as appropriate on the CECA websites.

Guidelines for workshop coordinators

1. Although bilingual interpretation (Greek and English) will be provided during keynote speeches, research / thematic papers, market of ideas and awards presentations - ceremony, Workshops and SIG Workshops (11 in number) will be held only in English.

2. It is important that Workshop coordinators respect the allocated time, to ensure the Conference runs smoothly, that is 90 or 120 minutes, accordingly. 

3. Coordinators may consult the Conference Secretariat, in situ, so as to ensure that all the equipment needed for the implementation of each workshop is available in the "Workshop Room" (microphone, laptop, projector, board etc.) 

4. The Conference Secretariat will provide the coordinators with the list of people that have registered to participate in each workshop. The selection of workshops will be made on a "first come, first served basis", either via google forms, or in situ, during the 1st day of the Conference (a relevant notification will be sent by mail).