The International Conference "Heritage of the Pond Landscape" within the INTERREG project "Heritage of the Pond Landscape" took place in Gmünd, Nové Hrady and Třeboň.
The conference was organized by the International Traditional Knowledge Institute Foundation (ITKI) represented by Andreas Salvator Habsburg-Lottringen, the Danube University in Krems represented by the Dean of the Faculty of Education, Art and Architecture Christian Hanus and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice represented by Dalibor Štys from the Faculty of Fisheries and Water Conservation.
The conference lasted three days, the first day took place in the Palmenhaus in Gmünd, the second day at the castle in Nové Hrady and the third day was an excursion in the Třeboň pond system, led by Miroslav Hátle, head of the Třeboňsko Protected Landscape Area Administration. Among the lecturers were several colleagues from the Faculty of Fisheries and Water Conservation University of South Bohemia, the Danube University, the ITKI association and others.
Among the speakers I would mention Helena Mayer from the European Commission, the secretariat of the "Restore our Oceans and Waters" mission, who informed about the plans of the mission, the practical implementation of which was officially launched on 29 September 2021. so-called lighthouses. They are:
- The Danube River Basin: protecting and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity (fresh water),
- Atlantic and Arctic coasts: protection and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity (marine),
- The Mediterranean Sea basin: pollution prevention and control,
- The Baltic and North Sea basins: making the blue economy carbon neutral.
Pietro Laureano from ITKI, a direct partner of UNESCO, came up with the initiative. He proposed to prepare an application for the entire Třeboň region and the Waldviertel to the World Heritage List. The Danube University has extensive experience in the preparation of these applications, it participated in the preparation of the successful application Danube Limes (Limes Romanum) and in the preparation of the application of West Bohemian Spas.
