The 5th international scientific multidisciplinary conference "Mediterranean Islands Conference (MIC-Vis 2024)", organized by the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences and VERN' University, has ended.
The conference was held on the island of Vis from September 18 to 21, and brought together more than two hundred scientists and experts from all over the world , who, through the presentation of more than 150 papers, discussed the economic and social development of the Mediterranean in the context of global events.
Renewable energy sources, energy self-sufficiency, demography, migration, tourism and climate change were some of the main topics discussed at this year's conference, and participants largely agreed that current geopolitical events in the world are changing the agenda and affecting the development aspect of the Mediterranean, especially in the segment of natural resource exploitation.
The challenges in these areas were also highlighted by the Director of the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Prof. Dr. Sc. Željko Holjevac , who indicated at the opening that " maritime heritage, artificial intelligence, migration trends, climate change, smart tourism, sustainability, biodiversity, youth and activism, and fisheries are important topics and challenges for the Mediterranean region" .
One of this year's keynote speakers, Prof. Dr. Sc. Milan Puh from the University of Sao Paolo in Brazil, explained that phenomena in the Mediterranean need to be viewed from the context of the interconnectedness of the Mediterranean region, global migrations, and the possibilities of a decolonial approach.
"The process of interconnection in the Mediterranean has been going on since the 16th century, and since then, the so-called project of civilizing or changing societies that were considered traditional has been going on, in a way that seeks to create a universal culture and civilization," emphasized Dr. Puh, who was joined by introductory presentations by Prof. Dr. Sc. Robin Degron from the French University of Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne and Dr. Sc. Dinko Radić , director of the Vis Regional Museum.
As part of the conference, an international exhibition of student photographs was held on the theme "Colors of the Mediterranean", and the best author was Zrinka Zagorec from the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb, who was awarded a valuable gift from Canon.
