Organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA, the conference was attended by the representatives of Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey and the host Ukraine. Two representatives were invited from each country – a scientist and a cultural heritage protection expert, who implement nuclear methods for the protection and study of cultural artefacts. The representatives delineated their working potentials and the cooperation so far, while introducing plans for bilateral and multilateral project cooperation.
The joint conclusion of the meeting is that the growing role and importance of scientific research in the area of protection and presentation of cultural artefacts undoubtedly leads to improvements in the characterization of heritage objects, while at the same time raises the level and the quality of heritage protection. Various approaches and potentials were presented, noting among those a significant advancement in the use of analytical methods in the heritage protection and museum sectors, which is undeniably a result of the IAEA activity in this field in recent years. Croatia was represented by Dr. Stjepko Fazinić from the Ruđer Bošković Institute and Mario Braun, Director of the Croatian Conservation Institute, who presented the 27-year-long cooperation of their two institutions in applying nuclear energy for the protection of cultural heritage.